Sister Parish: The Life of the Legendary American Interior

Sister Parish: The Life of the Legendary American Interior Designer

Sisterâ€”as she was always called by family and friendsâ€”was born Dorothy May Kinnicutt into a patrician New York family in 1910 and spent her privileged early life at the right schools, yacht clubs, and coming-out parties. Compelled to work during the lean years of the Depression, Sister combined her innate design ability with her upper-echelon social connections to create an extraordinarily successful interior decorating business. The Parish-Hadley firmâ€™s list of clients reads like an American Whoâ€™s Who, starting with Astors, Kennedys, Paleys, Rockefellers, and Whitneys. She helped Jacqueline Kennedy transform the White House from a fusty hodge-podge into a historically authentic symbol of American elegance. For her clients, she was an indispensable presence, both in their salons and designing them. Sisterâ€™s style, marked by cozy, airy, colorful, but understated elegance, came to be known as "American country," and its influence continues to this day.

Compiled by Apple Parish Bartlett (one of Sisterâ€™s daughters) and Susan Bartlett Crater (a granddaughter) from Sisterâ€™s own unpublished memoirs, as well as from hundreds of interviews with family members, friends, staff, world-renowned interior designers (Mark Hampton, Mario Buatta, Keith Irvine, Bunny Williams, and her long-time partner Albert Hadley, among many others), and clients (Annette de la Renta, Glenn Bernbaum, Mrs. Thomas Watson, et al.), Sister Parish takes the reader right into the housesâ€”and the livesâ€”of some of the most fascinating and famous people of this inimitable womanâ€™s time.

Long out of print, this acclaimed biographyâ€”a New York Times Notable Bookâ€”of the doyenne of American interior design is once again available to acquaint a whole new generation of designers and design lovers with the charismatic woman who redefined interior design in America. Fully updated, the revised edition features a new Foreword by Albert Hadley and an Appreciation by Bunny Williams, who began her career at Parish-Hadley.

A New York Times Notable Book
Praise for Sister Parish:

"Sister Parishâ€™s reminiscences, along with those of her friends and admirers, bear a remarkable resemblance to what one remembers about her interior decoratingâ€”warm, personable, cozy, thoughtful, harmonious, satisfying, impeccable. An enchanting compilation."â€”George Plimpton
"In my novel People Like Us, I based the character of the famous society decorator Cora Mandell on Sister Parish. Apple Parish Bartlett and Susan Bartlett Crater have presented a loving portrait of her, as well as a superb social history of her era."â€”Dominick Dunne
"If you love design, history and a good biography, you are sure to enjoy this book!"â€”Annechovie blog

"What makes this biography so enjoyable is that it compiles Sister's own unpublished memoirs with stories from family members, friends, staff, clients and world-renowned interior designers. . . . All generations of decorators and designers will appreciate this look at the life of this American icon." â€”From the Right Bank blog

"Compiled from Sister's unpublished memoirs and augmented by many interviews with friends, family, staff and fellow design icons, it is a wonderful insider look at an era and a life." â€”Quintessence blog

"This book is a MUST HAVE for any design library of substance or design student." â€”Architect Design blog
Country USA
Manufacturer Vendome Press
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 9780865652941
ReleaseDate 2012-09-01
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780865652941

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Vendome Press
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	9780865652941
ReleaseDate	2012-09-01
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780865652941

Sister Parish: The Life of the Legendary American Interior Designer

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