The Devoted Classicist Speaks

A Garden Room created by John Tackett Design
during a renovation in University Park, Dallas

It is hoped that all in the Baltimore area can join me on the evening of April 12, 2017, at Evergreen Museum & Library, 6:30 pm.  John J. Tackett will speak on the topic of the legendary firm Parish-Hadley and how it served as a training ground for me and dozens of other interior designers and architects.  I will also discuss current trends in residential architecture and design and take audience questions on the subject -- with cocktails and a light supper -- all in the beautiful Bakst Theatre in historic Evergreen Mansion, 4545 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21210.  The event is part of The House Beautiful Lecture Series of Johns Hopkins University.  Advance registration is required.  For more information and tickets, click here.

Manhattan Double Wide

128 East 73rd Street, NYC, began as two houses
dating from the 1880s faced in brownstone.
Architect A. Wallace McCrae put them together
in a 1928 Georgian Revival renovation.
Photo: Brown Harris Stevens.

While most of the clients of John Tackett Design have no interest in having their homes published, on-line real estate listings ultimately get around those objections.  In this case, the death of the gentleman soon after the house was complete and now the lady just last November has led to a former architectural project coming on the market complete with photos and floor plans.

More accurately, the lowest level would be the Cellar; it was further
excavated, the elevator service extended, and fitted for archival storage.
The level below the sidewalk would be the Basement; the clients were
not interested in the garden accessed through the butler's room.
Image: Brown Harris Stevens.

This was one of my first commissions after opening my own office.  The planning and construction for renovation was undertaken from 1987 to 1989 with help from my former Parish-Hadley colleague Paul Engel and Hannington Engineering Consultants.  The general contractor was Crawford Construction, one of the best builders in Manhattan at the time for high-end residential renovations. 


The Entrance Hall received a new marble floor but the
wall treatment of applied moldings was extant.
Photo: Realtor.

The interior designer was hired after construction was already underway, but some revisions were made to the drawings to meet the designer's demands.  Otherwise, the designer had complete carte blanche for the furnishings in terms of both concept and budget with the results as shown here.


The 30 ft wide Living Room is where the unusual
width of the townhouse can be fully appreciated.
The paneling dated from the 1928 renovation but
the lighting and climate control systems were new.
Photo: Brown Harris Stevens.

The clients and their two young sons brought only their clothes, their art, and a few recently acquired antiques from their previous residence, a contemporary penthouse that had been decorated by John Saladino.


The niches flanking the chimney had shaped shelves for display
that were removed to realize the designer's scheme.
The closed door opens to the Pantry.
Photo: Brown Harris Stevens.

The house is located on a particularly attractive block and had last been decorated by my former employer, Albert Hadley of Parish-Hadley.  The owners sold only because the new wife wanted a "fresh start" at a new address.  (A detail of their River House apartment appeared on the dust jacket of PARISH-HADLEY: SIXTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DESIGN, by the way).


The Pantry, between the Living Room and the Dining Room,
was fitted as a full kitchen with custom mahogany cabinets.
A rolling library ladder allows access to the upper
cabinets. A secondary stair, just out of view on the left,
allows direct access to a full kitchen on the Basement level.
Photo: Realtor.

Much of my design work focused on bringing the systems of the house up to date and the auxiliary spaces as the architectural design of the primary rooms remained unaltered.

The Dining Room with marble bolection chimneypiece
and paneling from the 1928 renovation.
Not seen are a pair of angled closets that, along with
the angled windows, give the room an unusual plan
for a townhouse.  The floor was supplied by the
interior designer.
Photo: Realtor.

The Stair Hall gives an idea of the limitations of the original house.  Because of the width, there would have been only a primary room at the front and back with the stairs in between.


The Stair Hall on the Parlor Floor.
The clients' collection of bronze sculpture by Aristide Maillol
required planning for structural support in the old timber structure.
A crane brought in the sculpture before the painting, etc., was
complete and sat in place inside its crate.
Photo: Brown Harris Stevens.

Although it may be difficult to determine in this photo, the Master Bedroom had been handsomely detailed in a revival of the Louis XVI style during the 1928 renovation and a wide opening breached the party wall of what had been the two separate houses.

The Master Bedroom with a sitting and sleeping area.
Photo: Brown Harris Stevens.

The Master Dressing Room was an existing space that was updated with new closets as mirror glazed French doors.


The Master Dressing Room millwork dates from the
late 1980s renovation.
Photo: Brown Harris Stevens.

The Master Bathroom was also an existing space with a pair of gilded mahogany lavatories supplied by the interior designer who also provided the black and white marble floor.  (Despite my warning that the effect would be optical, the installation went ahead; it was immediately covered with a rug).


Master Bathroom with the bathtub flanked by a
water closet on the left and a shower stall (beyond the
shirred curtained door) on the right.
Photo: Realtor.

The Library on the same floor as the Master Suite serves as a Family Room.  The Tudor Revival oak paneling dates from the 1928 renovation.


With the exception of the television, the Library retains the
late 1980s décor.
Photo:  Realtor.

The wonderful frosted glass lens over the skylight, a detail that I have repeated over the years, was a feature dating from the 1928 renovation.  Exterior flood lights were added on the roof so that it becomes a recessed light fixture in the evening.


The top floor Stair Hall.
Photo: Realtor.

The top floor was reserved for use by the sons.  The front had been a suite that was reconfigured into two bedrooms, both with mahogany trim and inset panels upholstered in fabric.


The front, west bedroom on the top floor.
Photo; Realtor.

The boys' bathroom was also mahogany.  In the photo, the French door on the left opens to a closet and the one on the right opens to reveal the shower stall. 


The boys shared this bathroom on the top floor,
benefitting from the natural light of the skylight.
Photo: Realtor.

Not shown in photos, but seen in the plan was a playroom/sitting room created for the boys.  A structural steel beam was hoisted up by a crane to allow a wide doorway in the central structural wall.  French doors that are hinged to fold back on each other was devised to give privacy to the grandmother to sleep over on occasion in the space to the east.


The pin marks the property in this aerial view to the south.
Although the garden faces south, the tall apartment buildings
on the next street block the sunlight.
Image:  MapQuest.

The house is offered for sale at $42 million by the agent who specializes in the best Manhattan listings, Paula Del Nunzio, of Brown Harris Stevens.  Additional photos were provided by the listing at Realtor.com.  In some cases, the images are distorted, sometimes compressed or stretched to fit the real estate company's template, so try to take that into account when the proportions seem off.  And it was intentional that the interior designer's name does not appear in this blog.  See the regular web version of The Devoted Classicist, if this is being read in an alternate format, to scan the Labels categories for posts on other Manhattan townhouses.

Merry Christmas, 2015

Sketch by John Tackett for John Tackett Design

Happy holidays to all my Devoted Readers.  2016 will bring many posts that are hoped to be particularly interesting, along with updates of projects by John Tackett Design.  Best wishes to you all! _ John

John Tackett is a Branch of the Parish-Hadley Tree of Life

John Tackett's design for a Garden Room in a renovation of a 1930s
house in the Volk Estates area of University Park, Dallas, Texas.
Image: John Tackett Design and The Devoted Classicist blog.

I have known all about Brooke Astor's Money Room, a famous space now revered by traditional decorators and architects, for 35 years.  Blessed with the classic proportions of a top Pre-War Park Avenue apartment building and given more than just a bit of help by knowing what to play up and what to play down, the expertly edited room was a great influence on this impressionable twenty-something.  But by the time of my tenure, however, it existed only in this one transparent image below, part of a slideshow presented to Parish-Hadley clients on occasion to illustrate a point.

Brooke Astor's "Money Room" decorated by Parish-Hadley in the 1970s.
Photo: ALBERT HADLEY: THE STORY OF AMERICA'S PREEIMINENT INTERIOR DESIGNER

Mrs. Astor had given the name to a room in her apartment where she determined the beneficiaries of cash gifts from the Astor Foundation charities as well as from her own fortune provided by her late husband, Vincent Astor (son of RMS Titanic victim Jacob Astor).  The room was on the lower level, originally a separate full-floor apartment and later joined to her own with the insertion of an interior staircase.  Brooke Astor was about to leave on a trip the next day when she told Albert Hadley that he could redecorate the Drawing Room of her mother's former apartment if the work could be completed by the time of her return in only two weeks.  The whole Parish-Hadley office immediately sprang into action the next day along with their team of tradespeople and workrooms. 


The Dining Room of a new house designed by John Tackett
for a vacant waterfront site in Palm Beach, Florida.
The chairs are the "Jack" model by Bunny Williams Home.
Drawing by John J. Tackett.

The room was emptied and the furniture sent out for re-upholstery.  The walls were painted with a subtle yellow marble finish but the most memorable feature was the floor; the herringbone parquet floor was scraped and stained in two tones of varying zig-zag stripes, an innovation at the time.  An often over-looked feature of the room was the curtains hanging from big gilded rings on wood poles.  The curtain fabric, and the whole point of telling the story here, was a custom pattern that Mr. Hadley had just designed.  It was printed with a large scale, "Tree of Life" motif that resembled stylized embroidery in brown on natural linen.  The whole team labored diligently with designers Kevin McNamara, Bunny Williams, and Harold Simmons working late on the Sunday night arranging books and hanging pictures before Mrs. Astor's return the next day.  The room was a huge success but virtually unknown to the rest of the decorating world outside Parish-Hadley until it was published in 2005.


John Tackett's design for a new house on a secluded, wooded, hilltop site
in Nashville, Tennessee, is organized so all room benefit from the views.
Drawing by John J. Tackett.

This and many other stories about the company are told by thirty-one former employees in the new book released today, October 6, 2015, PARISH-HADLEY TREE OF LIFE; AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF THE LEGENDARY DESIGN FIRM.  As those who worked there earned the equivalent of an advanced degree in design, they are known as "alumni."  In an unusually high number of instances, the "graduates" went on to found their own firms.  Examples of their work, influenced by their Parish-Hadley education, illustrate the book.


John Tackett's design for a new house in Nashville features a service entrance elevation
that is pleasing to the owner who almost always uses this entrance as well.
Drawing by John J. Tackett.

Brian J. McCarthy had the idea for the book which had Albert Hadley's blessing before his death in 2012.  (Sister Parish died in 1994).  Bunny Williams volunteered her help in making the book a reality and they are listed as co-authors.  But co-editors would be more accurate as each chapter is told in the words of an alum.  In addition to chapters by Brian and Bunny, other well-known designers such as David Easton, William Hodgins, David Kleinberg, Michael Whaley, and Thomas Jayne relate their experiences at Parish-Hadley.  Plus there are others -- no less talented -- such as John Tackett, known to you all as The Devoted Classicist.

John Tackett's design for a new house in Miami Beach features a
circular Entrance Hall decorated with a Neo-Regency palm tree motif.
Drawing by John J. Tackett.

Not wanting to spoil the experience for those who will read the book, the decision was made not to reproduce any of the images from the book for this post.  As might be imagined, the book could have been published as several volumes but was eventually reduced to a usable 288 pages.  So here are a few of the John Tackett Design images that had to be cut from the final product. 

John Tackett's design for a new house on a minimal lot in Dallas was part of
a development of other homes of similar size and materials while otherwise being unique.
Drawing by John J. Tackett

PARISH-HADLEY TREE OF LIFE: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF THE LEGENDARY DESIGN FIRM can be ordered at a discount from The Devoted Classicist Library, an affiliate of Amazon.  And if you do not have the 1995 book PARISH-HADLEY: SIXTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DESIGN or the 2005 book ALBERT HADLEY: THE STORY OF AMERICA'S PREEMINENT INTERIOR DESIGNER, these can be ordered by clicking on the title.   For additional features of The Devoted Classicist blog, see the regular on-line/web version here.   See more examples of my work by going to LABELS on the web version and clicking on "John Tackett Design Portfolio."   Also, see the photos on the Facebook page of John Tackett Design.



John Tackett's design for a new house in the style of a Creole cottage.
Drawing by John J. Tackett.

The Theatre at Fontainebleau

The Imperial Theatre at Fontainebleau
Chateau as restored, May 2014.
Photo via Daily Mail.

Sometimes it is hard to believe that this is the fortieth anniversary of my summer spent as an architecture student at L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts at Fontainebleau.  In addition to studying history and design, I had my first formal classes in historic preservation/adaptive use and garden design, two areas that would later figure prominently in my career.  With direct exposure to exemplary buildings, memorable landscape sites, and exquisite decorative arts, the whole Fontainebleau experience provided a formidable boost to my education.


The Courtyard of Honor, Fontainebleau.
Photo via Wikipedia.

Except for notable field trips, classes were held in a wing of the chateau that was historic but not part of the museum.  My class also benefited from other behind-the-scenes access, one of the best being able to see the preserved theatre, off-limits to the public at the time as it was considered a fire hazard.


A circa 1910 view of the Imperial Theatre, Fontainebleau.
Photo via Wikipedia.

The Imperial Theatre was designed by architect Hector Lefuel and built for Napoleon III from 1853 to 56.  It replaced the smaller Comédie Theatre and was built with a capacity for 400 within the existing shell of a wing.


The chateau during the era of Napoleon III, 1862.
The theatre is noted by the "T" towards the lower right.
Image from Private Collection.

The design was inspired by Marie Antoinette's theatre at Versailles which was admired by Empress Eugénie.  It was inaugurated in May 1857 and only saw fifteen performances during the reign of Napoleon III.

Exterior elevation drawings showing the courtyard and
garden sides of the wing, indicating the position of the theatre.
Image from musee-chateau-fontainebleau.fr

At the time of my visit in 1975, the theatre was a dusty jewel box, a time capsule cracked open to reveal a Louis XVI Revival interior that had been essentially untouched for 120 years.  There was not even electricity; with the windows shuttered, the only illumination that day came from a backstage skylight and a flashlight.


The lower level, or parterre prior to
restoration.
Photo via musee-chateau-ontainebleau.fr



The unrestored first dress circle of the theatre.
Photo via musee-chateau-fontainebleau.fr

As the class gathered on the lower flat area in front of the stage, our eyes got accustomed to the dim light.  The furnishings were still in place, I noticed as I lifted the corner of a dust sheet covering the particularly long canapés that provided seating for the parterre.  The next level up was the first dress circle that included the imperial box with the second dress circle above that; these had individual fauteuils under the sheeting as did the boxes on the fourth level. 


A pre-restoration view of the Imperial Theatre,
Fontainebleau, showing one of the stage sets.
Photo via musee-chateau-fontainebleau.fr

But the most interesting artifacts were the painted stage flats, the scenery that could be raised and lowered by a wench in the attic.  It was all preserved as the theatre had not been used since the Nazi occupation.


The machinery in the attic to raise and lower
the scenery.
Photo via musee-chateau-fontainebleau.fr

The restoration was achieved through a campaign led by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and Emir of Abu Dhabi.  The sheikh, the supporter behind the Louvre Abu Dhabi, runs the world's second-largest sovereign wealth fund (following that of the King of Thailand) with Forbes reporting assets of $773 billion. 


The patron of the theatre's restoration,
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, right.
Photo from Getty Images via Daily Mail.

The Imperial Theatre is accessible by guided tour only, available every afternoon except Tuesdays.  What a treat to know that this architectural treasure may now be visited by the public.


The Imperial Theatre, Fontainebleau.
Photo via Daily Mail.

Parish-Hadley Tree of Life

PARISH-HADLEY TREE OF LIFE
is a new book to be published October, 2015.
 

There is a new book in the works, PARISH-HADLEY TREE OF LIFE: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF THE LEGENDARY DESIGN FIRM, being developed by Brian J. McCarthy and Bunny Williams that will focus not only on the firm, but will also feature thirty-one of the former employees who have gone on to successful careers on their own.  Because of the unique learning environment created by Sister Parish and Albert Hadley, the "graduates" of Parish-Hadley are known in the design profession as "alumnae" with their experience compared to an advance degree in design.  Each of the 31 alumni interviewed have a chapter in the book giving a personal reflection of the firm with illustrations of their work past and present.

The Parish-Hadley story is an very unique one; no other interior design firm - ever- has produced so many designers who left to establish their own studio.  Brian had the idea for the book about eight years ago.  He developed an outline and discussed it with Mr. Hadley (who passed in 2012 following Mrs. Parish's death in 1994) who was very excited about the project.  But Brian's own book, LUMINOUS INTERIORS: THE HOUSES OF BRIAN McCARTHY, came first.  When Brian told Bunny about his idea when they were both at the Nashville Garden & Antiques Show, she was very enthusiastic and promised her full support.  The next week, Bunny was in a meeting at Abrams and happened to mention the idea; the publishers jumped on it, giving the book an immediate green light for Stewart, Tabori and Chang, using the same book agent Jill Cohen, art director Doug Turshen and creative team that both Bunny and Brian had used before on their own books. In addition to the very readable text, the book also promises to be visually interesting.  Advances in digital imagery will avoid the muddy results of historic black & white photos that have plagued design books in the past.  Plus there are many new color never-before-published images.

The image used for the book jacket (and that may change) is one of my favorites of the Parish-Hadley projects, the Living Room of Nancy Pyne in Peapack, New Jersey.  Both partners had a hand in the design and the result is quintessential Parish-Hadley -- comfortable yet refined and with an architectural sensibility in the furnishings without being too rigid.

The title of the book expresses Albert Hadley's appreciation of the traditional motif, the Tree of Life.  The mythology of the sacred tree dates back to a number of ancient civilizations including the cultures of pre-Islamic Persia and ancient Egypt as well as other Asian, European, and Native American beliefs.  The motif gained wide-spread exposure as a popular design on 17th century printed cotton bedcoverings from India, the palampores which often featured a Tree of Life as a central figure.  The Tree of Life motif was also developed in Persia and China in the 18th century with adaptations for the European market where various goods were marketed.  Crewel embroidery was also used to represent the motif in England, often a natural color wool yarn on a colored background;  a wallpaper representation of this was an Albert Hadley favorite.

And not insignificantly, there will be a short chapter on John J. Tackett that Devoted Readers will not want to miss.  Plans are for an October 13, 2015, release with Hearst Publications -- Elle Décor, Veranda, and House Beautiful -- hosting a gala launch on that date.  So there will be plenty more about the book in the magazines in the coming months.  But for those who cannot wait to see the book on store shelves, pre-ordering at a discount price is available here.

Another Storey

John Tackett Design.
A Proposed Addition and Improvements
to a New House Under Construction.
Image: The Devoted Classicist blog

A colleague has interior design clients building a very large house custom designed by a local architect.  In addition to a substantial main block, there are extensions in both directions with almost endless passages to room after room on the Ground Floor.  So it was a surprise to be contacted about a possible expansion while the house was just starting construction.

There was interest in having parents occupy the planned Master Suite on the Ground Floor, requiring the homeowners to relocate to the Second Floor and push the guest rooms to a new Third Floor.  The interior designer wisely advised against expansion of the Ground Floor, already a maze many time larger than the main block.  The program for John Tackett Design was to suggest an upward expansion of the main block without increasing the overall roof height, and propose some detailing to give more architectural interest.  The foundation was complete and framing underway but the structural engineer gave approval for the proposed added storey.  My quick sketch over a reduced-size print of the original construction drawing is shown.

A very deep porch is replaced with an entrance terrace (already in place) with a rusticated limestone first floor giving a visual base for applied limestone pilasters and a limestone pediment.  Instead of the over-sized brown brick with white mortar originally planned, I suggested a traditional-sized brick in a buff ochre color with matching mortar to compliment the proposed buff Minnesota limestone.  The windows were already on order, but I did suggest changing the Upstairs Center Hall window over the front door, and the window of the two-story Secondary Stair Hall seen on the front of the house.  Also, my design changes the front door to a narrow pair and alters the sidelights, transom and limestone surround.

The interior designer who had apparently expressed concerns throughout the original design process was thrilled with my proposal.  And the homeowners were ecstatic.  But the parents, who were not part of the discussion, balked at the thought of moving in with their adult offspring.  "Never!" was their reported comment.  So this has been one last view before going into the Unbuilt category in the files.

Florence de Dampierre

A painted secrétaire à abattant from
THE BEST OF PAINTED FURNITURE

The first U.S. shop devoted entirely to eighteenth and nineteenth-century painted furniture, Florence de Dampierre Antiques, opened in New York City in 1985.  Immediately, it was a great success, drawing popular decorators and A-List clients to the SoHo shop.

Florence de Dampierre

In addition to being a dealer in the loveliest antique furniture, Florence de Dampierre has designed limited edition reproductions and has written five successful books.


Books by Florence de Dampierre.
Image from www.florencedammpierre.com

WALLS: THE BEST OF DECORATIVE TREATMENTS is especially noteworthy as it features a University Park/Dallas renovation project by John Tackett Design.


A John Tackett Design project featured in
WALLS: THE BEST OF DECORATIVE TREATMENTS

Florence de Dampierre will present a talk using images from her books as well as her own interior design projects as a guest of Decorative Arts Trust, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Saturday March 28, 2015, 10:30 am in the museum auditorium.  The public is invited and the event is free with museum admission.

Merry Christmas

A sketch by John Tackett Design
for the Small Dining Room of a new house
proposed for Palm Beach, Florida.
The Devoted Classicist

There is a long tradition, over 35 years now, of my making my own holiday greeting cards.  Some have been printed with rubber stamps and one year, the fold-out cards were printed using the diazo process, the ammonia vapor "blue-line" print that was used for architectural drawing reproduction at the time.  There was even a linoleum block print one year.  But by far the most common printing was done by photo-copying my own sketch, using the common Xerox machine and card stock.  Usually, a bit of color was added with felt-tipped watercolor pens.  The image here was colored with Prismacolor pencils with the wreath added to the bust just for illustration of this post of The Devoted Classicist.

Image via MapQuest.

A John Tackett Design project is often the subject illustrated for the cover of the card.  In recent years, however, it has sometimes been an unrealized project.  That commission may have been "put on hold," a status used more often than a definite cancellation.  So, the holiday card illustration was an opportunity to revive an old sketch, with a wreath or Christmas tree added, to get one more chance to spark some interest.  Such is the case this year.


Image via Christian Angle Real Estate.

The scope of the project was to do a preliminary study to build a new house on a vacant waterside lot at 488 Island Drive, on Everglades Island on the Intercoastal Waterway.


Image via Christian Angle Real Estate.

The site is a little over a half-acre with water frontage on two sides.  There are views to the Lake Worth Lagoon and the marina to the north, and to the golf course of the exclusive Everglades Club to the east.  The vacant land is still available, at this writing, and can be yours for $9,975,000.  And if you do decide to buy it, please feel free to contact me.  I have some great ideas for it.

Best wishes to all my Devoted Readers for a very merry Christmas and the happiest New Year ever!

Gracie Mansion

Gracie Mansion, official home of the mayor
of New York City.
Photo via Architectural Digest.

There has been a storm of Sharknado intensity in the social media this week about the donation of $65,000 worth of furniture from the mall/mail-order store West Elm for Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor of the City of New York.  Attention-getting headlines such as this one from Curbed New York, "De Blassios Swap 300-Year-Old Antiques for West Elm at Gracie," incited indignation that the comparatively uncouth new First Family of NYC would not appreciate the relatively lavish refurnishing untaken during the Bloomberg years, all paid for by private sources including a significant amount donated by Bloomberg personally.  But it must be noted that the West Elm furnishings were for the private quarters of the residence and were given to the Gracie Mansion Conservancy, the non-profit group that supports the historic and decorative aspects of the property.



The Entrance Hall in 1946.
Image via Corbis.

The Gracie Mansion Conservancy was founded in 1981 at the start of a $5.5 million renovation that was carried out 1981 to 1984 during the administration of Ed Koch.  Two interior designers at their peak of popularity, Albert Hadley of Parish-Hadley Associates and Mark Hampton of Mark Hampton LLC, were invited to donate their services to decorate the mansion.  Albert was to create a viable décor for the public rooms in the historic part of the house, essentially the Entrance Hall, Parlor, Sitting Room and Dining Room in addition to the State Guest Room suite.  Mark was to decorate the Visitor's Entrance Hall, the Banquet Hall, and the Ballroom, all in the 1966 addition designed by architect Mott B. Schmidt and named in honor of former Mayor Robert Wagner, Susan, who had worked towards the creation of the wing but died before it was completed.

A 1983 sketch of a hall by Albert Hadley.
Image via One Kings Lane.

I worked at Parish-Hadley in the 1980s and assisted Mr. Hadley in the aspects of the Gracie Mansion project that required architectural input from designing the improvements to the State Guest Suite to locating electrical outlets and reviewing construction plans as they impacted the interior design.  The sketch titled "The Hall" above may or may not have been intended for Gracie Mansion but it is indicative of the drawings Mr. Hadley used to convey his ideas for committee approval and stir up support from his deep-pocketed friends.  And it is from the same time period as his involvement at Gracie Mansion.


The Entrance Hall circa 1985.
Photo via City of New York.

Although Mr. Hadley was not opposed to painting the floor in two tones of gray as a checkerboard, the results as carried out under the direction of the Conservancy (and executed by a compensated family member of the committee) were too theatrical, including the marbleizing of the stair risers (painted out in a later refurbishing) and the non-relating compass star. 


Albert Hadley's conceptual sketch of the Parlor
at Gracie Mansion.
Image via One Kings Lane.

Albert Hadley's concept for the furnishing of Gracie Mansion was not unlike that carried out for the second floor rooms at the White House for the Kennedys that he had worked on twenty years before with Sister Parish, later becoming her business partner in the legendary firm Parish-Hadley Associates.  The idea was to take some historic pieces of Mid-Atlantic, if not New York, origin of the late 18th and early 19th century and supplement them with quality new furniture and comfortable upholstery to allow these rooms to be realistically used on both daily and official entertaining occasions, not a museum setting despite the historic nature of the mansion.  It was not unlike how the Kennedys used the Yellow Oval Room, Family Dining Room and the adjacent hallways in the White House, decorated to be attractive enough for distinguished guests but comfortable enough for family use.


The Dining Room at Gracie Mansion, circa 1985.
Photo via City of New York.

Despite being known later as the Albert Hadley Refurnishing of the historic part of the mansion, very little of the work he proposed was actually realized.  Although Mark Hampton seemed to have fared better in the Wagner Wing, the Conservancy committee approved but prevented most of Albert Hadley's contributions from being realized.  The Dining Room was the one space where Mr. Hadley's ideas were clearly evident.  All the furnishings were donated by Hadley supporters including the scenic wallpaper.  Among Albert's own donations, in addition to his time, were the simple gauze curtains hung from stamped gilt metal valances; the committee fought him on those, insisting much more formal window treatments would be better suited for the room.  The final straw was the fitted carpet;  the multi-colored striped carpet had been selected for the adjacent sitting room and a durable dark green moire-patterned plush-cut carpet was specified for the Dining Room.  When the carpet company brought the goods (donated because of Mr. Hadley) to be installed, some ladies of the committee made a last-minute Executive Decision to switch the goods as the rooms were of similar size and the striped carpet could be stretched a bit to make up the difference.  Since there was not any patterned fabric in the room, they thought the more colorful carpet was better.  By the end of the day, Albert Hadley officially resigned from the effort and the committee was left to "play house" as it wished.


The visitor's entrance to Gracie Mansion
showing the 1966 Susan Wagner Wing.
Photo by John Foreman for
the Big Old Houses blog.

Despite press reports to the contrary, Mayor Ed Koch did not live in Gracie Mansion on a regular basis, preferring his rent-controlled apartment in Greenwich Village.  A rule that allows that the only overnight guests may be the immediate members of the First Family and the official guests of the City of New York prevented Mayors Guiliani and Bloomberg from cohabitating there with their girlfriends.  Mayor Bloomberg did contribute some of his own funds, however, to the $7 million restoration in 2002 with the interior design carried out by his decorator of choice, Jamie Drake.  Those interiors may be seen as photographed by Architectural Digest here.


Gracie Mansion as it appeared circa 1900
(prior to the 1923 restoration)
Image from Bettman Archives via Corbis.

More can be read about the history of Gracie Mansion on John Foreman's Big Old Houses blog here and on the official website of the City of New York here.  In summary, the mayors bring their own furniture for their private rooms and it looks like the Gracie Mansion Conservancy arranged for this donation by West Elm to supplement the De Blassios' belongings although the furniture officially belongs to the Conservancy.