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by Janet Ramin
with The Sheffield
School of Interior Design
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Dorothy Draper may not have been the first high society
interior decorator, but she was the first successful
female commercial interior decorator. In an era where
most female interior decorators gravitated to their rich
friends' homes for design jobs and architects were
chosen to work on commercial projects, Draper broke the
mold and pursued public commissions as well as
residential jobs.
Born into a wealthy family
in exclusive Tuxedo Park, New York, Dorothy Tuckerman
did not have to lift a finger to make a living. She
married well-connected Dr. George Draper and eventually
bore him three children. |
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Most women of this
Edwardian era would consider their life complete, but
Dorothy Draper was no ordinary person. Dissatisfied with
just being a housewife and society matron, Draper
started designing her own home. Overwhelmed by
compliments they soon received, the Drapers quickly sold
their home and bought another one to design. Soon she
was doing her family friends' homes and from there she
took the plunge into commercial projects.
Helping her take the
plunge was one of her close friends, real estate
developer Douglas Elliman. Elliman provided Draper with
contacts to land projects including large apartment
houses and high-end public lobbies. Her first major
project was the Carlyle Hotel in New York City in 1930.
She designed the space in the current Art Deco style.
Elegant friezes of stylized Greek maidens and athletes
against dark walls looked down from the ceilings. |
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Her next major project was
the apartment house complex, Hampshire House, located at
Central Park South. Draper envisioned a mixture of
English and Italian baroque throughout the space.
Oversized black and white doors line the marble tiled
corridors. Plaster reliefs carved in the ornate style of
Grinling Gibbons decorated the walls. Her signature
style of large floral prints in bright colors against
striped walls brightened up the rooms.
In 1939, Draper left for
San Bernardino, California to design Arrowhead Springs
Hotel and Spa. The space included public lobbies,
restaurants, lounges, a theater and guest rooms.
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Through this project,
Draper popularized the "Hollywood Regency" style of
design. Glamorous sets of luxurious materials, oversized
furniture, and sparkling chandeliers became de rigueur
in taste. |
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Draper's fame spread and
in 1941, the Drake Hotel owner invited Draper to Chicago
to design the Camellia House Supper Club. Draper wanted
to design an escape from the dreary Chicago winters and
created an indoor tropical paradise. She incorporated a
pink camellia bush motif throughout the space and
installed garden furniture in the lounge, creating an
outside/inside mixture of space.
The most enduring project
she designed was the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulpher
Springs in West Virginia. Draper not only designed the
space, she created furniture for the hotel — such as the
"dresk" a combination dressing table and desk. She also
designed the china, tableware, menus, right down to the
matches. She was one of the first designers to approach
a project and design the total environment — everything
the client needed, she provided. |
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Other projects Draper went
on to design were the Mark Hopkins and Fairmont Hotels
in San Francisco, the Roman court restaurant at the
Metropolitan Museum in New York, and the International
Hotel at Idlewild (now JFK) airport. She was so
successful at promoting her grand style and producing
for her commercial clients a healthy profit that her
clients dubbed the positive effect "draperizing".
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Draper added to her
success by writing in 1939 a decorating manual called,
Decorating is Fun! Later on, she launched a nationally
syndicated advice column, "Ask Dorothy Draper". She was
truly light years ahead of the do-it-yourself decorating
craze when she offered the average housewife and husband
the tools to transform their ordinary homes into a
unique, creative expression of their personality.
The change of aesthetics from 1950s onward to a more
minimalist austere style dimmed Draper's influence and
she was almost forgotten. Her ornate and exuberant style
were seen as garish and campy. Then as tastes changed in
the 1980s, post-modernism made Draper's designs hip
again. Her imaginative use of historical sources, lavish
patterns and bold colors once again attract designers
and clients today.
–Janet Ramin, Sheffield School of Interior Design
www.sheffield.edu
Additional
Resources:
September 29,
2007 / Alexandria, Virginia
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The
Potomack Company to Auction Historic Items from Dorothy
Draper Era At The Greenbrier Resort
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Amazon: Entertaining is Fun: How to Be a Popular Hostess
by Dorothy Draper
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Amazon: In the Pink: Dorothy Draper: Americas Most
Fabulous Decorator
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Amazon: Designers on Designers: The Inspiration Behind
Great Interiors
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Arrowhead Springs Resort: Hollywood "Golden Age"
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Canadian Interior Design: Dorothy Draper: Creating the
Bold and Mischievous Style 1889-1969
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Downtown: Pair of Dorothy Draper Cabinets for Sale
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Eye Level: Presenting Dorothy Draper
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Flickr Photos - Dorothy Draper
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Harvard Design Magazine: Curtain Wars
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Homes Real Estate Guide: Dorothy Draper Design Revival:
Still Astonishing
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Kindel Furniture Company, The Dorothy Draper Collection
for Varney & Sons
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Museum of the City of New York: The High Style of
Dorothy Draper
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New York Home Design: The Draper Effect
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Paul
Ratchford Named President and Managing Director of The
Greenbrier
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Retrospective at The Museum of the City of New York
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The Greenbrier Resort Celebrates 'The High Style of
Dorothy Draper'
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The MIT Press: The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda
Arts 25
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Travelogue: The Greenbriar West Virginia
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Tuxedo Park Preferred Properties
"Good showmanship is the answer.
The colour of your front door announces your personality to the
world." - "Too much of anything is the beginning of a mess." -
Dorothy (Tuckerman) Draper
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