2017 : A Year To Remember !

A favorite gift this year - Stubbs and Wooton slippers!

What a year!  I ended it with a blast as over sixty dear friends showed up for my birthday!  Thanks again to the hosts, plus my friends and family !

All set for the guests!

Since I received over 82 pictures of the merry revelers, I decided to not show any of them!  No favoritism here!  I was also delighted to be pleasantly surprised as my family came down just for the party!

Pillow in Brunschwig and Fils, "Le Zebre"

Another fave gift (there were many) was this lovely pillow from old friend, Judith Auclair, of Maison Auclair...you can find her at MP Interiors, suite 302, Miromar Design Center, Estero, Florida (just north of Naples)...happy 2018 !!! 

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KIPS BAY PALM BEACH: Impressions

Dean with designer Susan Zises Green,
Kips Bay PB Showhouse 2017

Thanks to the prodding of my good friend the designer, Steven Matable, Billy and I visited Palm Beach 
(with Steve) to see the first annual Kips Bay Palm Beach Decorator Showhouse -
 I was tickled pink to run into Susan Zises Green there, as she was a friend of my former mentor and friend, the late Tice Alexander.  Her room was a stunning confection in Quadrille and Alan Campbell prints with a delicious shade of amethyst playing off of a unique one of a kind rug.

Susan Zises Green, via House Beautiful

Designer Steven Matable in Lisa Erdmann's room- KBPBDS 2017

We got a kick out of this bright yellow room by Lisa Erdmann Associates-

Bierly-Drake for KBPBDS 2017

Loved this chair treatment, possibly inspired by Pauline de Rothschild...

Stephen Mooney for KBPBDS 2017

This upstairs library by Stephen Mooney reminded me of the New York penthouse I worked on with the late Parkin Saunders- where once upon a time Joan Crawford lived!

Christopher Maya for KBPBDS 2017

One of my favorite rooms was this one- as it had a Giacometti white plaster lantern, table top, and wall plaque !!!

Fernando Wong for KBPBDS 2017

This modern sculpture in the garden was the first thing you saw upon approaching the house- stunning!  

Perhaps the best of all was visiting my dear friend, decorator Louise Cronan at her restored 1924 cottage near El Cid...it seemed as if we left one showhouse and entered another!  No surprise as she is one of the most brilliant designers I know.  
Her mother decorated the house in Atlanta that Miles Redd grew up in!  A very talented family to say the least.  DF *****

LOOK BACK: Muse Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg- FORWARD: Todd Alexander Romano

Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, Horst

I think the first time I ever met Todd Romano, was in the office of the late decorator Parkin Saunders- and I recall being impressed by his personal style, very 1930's playboy, very Baron de Gunzburg!  (He was wearing an ascot perfectly knotted)  I'm sorry to say, we haven't had a chance to reconnect since that first meeting which must have been about 1995.  

Interesting to note, that the Baron, a stylish figure in European and (North) American society, first settled in Hollywood- and later went to New York. 

Todd is now based in San Antonio, Paris, Los Angeles and New York- Click aqui to find out more about the ultra glamorous and very interesting Nicolas de Gunzburg.  Check out this fabulous portrait of Todd Romano which reminds me so much of the Horst photograph of Nicolas, who was known as "Nicky".  (aka Nikki)

Todd Alexander Romano

In researching the Baron, I learned, not surprisingly, that he had been a muse and inspiration to designers Bill Blass, Oscar de la Renta, and especially Calvin Klein, who considered the Baron to be a style mentor.  When, after his first big fashion show, Calvin approached the Baron to ask his opinion, whether it was a success or a flop- the Baron said "You showed great courage".  Wow!  Can you say "concise" ?

Adding further parallel interest to my story of two gentleman of great style,  Todd has done extensive work for Suzy Hilfiger, a wife of the fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger.  Check out Todd's beautiful site here and you can see for yourself the extent of his talent and fabulous point of view.

I had posted previously about Todd's recent completion in Naples, Fla. of the former cottage of Albert Hadley- which made the cover of House Beautiful, for the second time!  (first time was when Albert was still the owner)  This then reminded me of how my other decorator friend, Mario Buatta, had designed a maisonette previously belonging to Sister Parish - for his client Patricia Altschul.

I recently was riding my bike down the alley where the entrance to Albert's former small guest house is located, and took this snap of it- after I showed it to Mario, he noted  "Very New England" - and indeed there is that quality to this charming property, located in the historic district of Naples.

I-fone photo by Dean

And here's the main house living room when Albert had it- a place where I spent many happy evenings of cocktails and long conversations!

via House Beautiful

And here is the same room from the Todd Romano decoration- some of the renovation had been done by previous owners who were subsequent to Albert's ownership.

Todd Alexander Romano, House Beautiful

What fun for me to have these talented gents in my life, and to have the Baron for inspiration- he makes me want to smoke so badly!  But, I did give up using Tenax in my hair back in the late 70's-
Don't you love how Nicky's hair is slicked back?  Not an easy look to pull off.  But in his day it was THE LOOK !  Check out Todd's Instagram too! DF *****

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COLOR STORY: Beautiful Browns

Billy Baldwin

Armato, Kelly Wearstler for Visual Comfort

William Rankin McLure IV

Alessandra Branca

Dean Farris

Ralph Lauren

Dean Farris Interior Design

Cognac, topaz, whiskey, cocoa, tete de negre, coco, coromandel, mahogany, oh the endless range of rich and elegant browns!  Mid week musings from DFS !

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MOOD BOARD: 03.07.17

via Dean Farris Interior Design, Naples, Fla.

via Michael Devine

Louise W. Cronan, via Cottages and Gardens

Capri, via internet

Los Angeles

Classic Mercedes-Benz

Eric Javits

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ROSE CUMMING: 100 Years of Elegance and Style

Thomas Britt, via Architectural Digest

Kudos must go to Chuck Comeau, of Dessin Fournir , for saving one of the most iconic and fabulous fabric houses of all time- ROSE CUMMING ! 

One hundred years ago , Miss Rose came to the United States, from her native Australia- and the interior design world has never been quite the same since!  Above, you can see my friend and mentor Thomas Britt's work- using the iconic and beautiful pattern known as "banana leaves".   Tom also used this (metallic) gold over taupe colorway in his own New York apartment- where I was first exposed to the grandeur and high style of his work- and the beauty of Rose Cumming's legacy to him, as he had been a personal friend of hers. 

Actually, I had first purchased yardage of banana leaves myself, in 1976, in the taupe colorway (sans the gold) for my Mother's home in Winston-Salem, NC.  She still has some of the pillows we made and loves them!



"Photograph courtesy of Dessin Fournir Companies" 

Ashley Comeau of Dessin Fournir, was kind enough to send these high resolution images of some of the most popular designs from Rose Cumming- and you may be interested in reading some of my previous posts on Miss Rose as well.  This is such a dynamic pattern, and it's been used by many top designers over the years. 

I had also installed the wallpaper version in my design studio bath in Winston-Salem, in the camel on black colorway, which was so striking and dramatic.

Rose Cumming "Photograph courtesy of Dessin Fournir Companies" 

Here's another very chic pattern, called "Sabu" - animal prints being something we never tire of!

Sabu by Rose Cumming, "Photograph courtesy of Dessin Fournir Companies"

Sabu in green, image via google

And here is "Zebrine"- another very popular and exotic but modern and current design, demonstrating how ahead of the times Miss Rose was.

Zebrine by Rose Cumming, "Photograph courtesy of Dessin Fournir Companies"

Zebrine wallcovering, Rose Cumming, via House Beautiful

I want to thank Ashley Comeau for her assistance with providing information for this post.  As you can see, we barely touched on this subject- one can read more about it in the beautiful book on Rose Cumming and Dessin Fournir here !  DF *****

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via Amazon books

 

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DECORATOR MOOD BOARD, Inspirations

Elsie de Wolfe

Michael Greer

Joseph Braswell

Cedric Dupont

Angelo Donghia

Dean Farris

Tom Britt

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PINK-ST VALENTINES: Decorator Scrapbook

Naples, Fla. Architect, Kasimir Korybut

William R. McLure, Birmingham, AL
 

Bill Rain, Miromar Design Center, mirror- Maison Auclair

Boca Grande, Fla.

Naples, Fla.

Blair House, Wash. D.C. Mario Buatta

Louisiana

First Lady, Melania Trump

Naples, Fla.

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