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The word Tudor sounds prim, proper, and vaguely inflexible. But Tudor houses--distinguished by half-timbering, dark wood trim, and outsize chimneys--are more versatile than you might think, if you have the […]

THINK OF IT AS A MODERN BACHELOR PAD--but one that lacks a bachelor. Hank Perlman's apartment in New York's Greenwich Village is decorated in masculine blues, has a huge plasma […]

DON'T TELL MARIO BUATTA, the renowned Prince of Chintz, but sometimes removing that famously busy fabric does the trick. Designer Libby Moulton had already picked out the perfect chintz for […]

WHEN YOU'RE DESIGNING the former carriage house of President Woodrow Wilson, a little respect for history is helpful. But too much respect would make it more museum than home. Designer […]

DESIGNER KEITH IRVINE had known J. Seward and Joyce Johnson for many years, and had designed multiple houses for them. But they had been out of touch for awhile when […]

AMANDA BENCHLEY ALWAYS KNEW she had terrific friends. But she never knew that she also had at least one Superfriend, a seemingly mild-mannered type who had the ability to transform […]

IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO. And to decorate--a designer's not much without a client. Even when both halves of the partnership are represented, however, there's no guarantee that they will […]

IF YOUR LAST NAME IS FORD--as in the venerable auto-making family--you are born prepared to bit the road when the moment is right. Anne Ford, an author and the daughter […]

FROM THE GREATEST GENERATION to Generation X, the media love to lump Americans into groups. But most people don't fit neatly under one label--they often straddle more than one generation, […]

HIGH SCHOOL IS NOT USUALLY the place where people meet their interior designer. But that's exactly how Gary and Nada Safady found David McCauley for their brand-new house in the […]

A GOOD DESIGNER can be inspired by anything, no matter how small--the curve of a chair splat, say, or the grain in a hardwood floor. So when Atlanta-based designer Sherrill […]

WHEN INTERIOR DESIGNER Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz tells you he's definitely planning on a white Chistmas this year, he's not under the illusion that he can control the weather. Snow or no […]

AN EASY, COMFORTABLE GLAMOUR permeates every room of this historic shingle-style house in the Hamptons on Long Island. It looks like a roaring fire has been set to welcome family […]

Elia and Mariana Zois inherited some friendly ghosts when they bought their large loft on the second floor of 420 West Broadway. If friendly ghosts sound like something out of […]

THE POET PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY called Italy a "paradise of exiles," and its lure has always been especially strong for British and Americans who want to surrender to a more […]

WHEN JACKSON BROWNE wrote his 1980s satirical ode "Lawyers in Love," he poked fun at a world where designer jeans were de rigueur. Luckily, he never mentioned interior designers. It […]

WHEN TIM NETT AND Megan Derry first saw their Los Angeles home, it didn't have a sign saying, "Harrison Ford Slept Here." But the Cape Cod--style house is indeed the […]

ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY. That's how Maggie DiStefano felt after a run-in with a decorator who left much to be desired. "I had just finished doing a townhouse in New […]

THE HAMPTONS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN one of the most eastern parts of the country, and not just in terms of geography. The land of hydrangeas and cedar shingles has often […]

DECORATOR SCOTT SALVATOR has a motto when it comes to clients: "People either have style or they have taste," he says. "Good taste is just taste you agree with. So […]

EVEN THE NAMES of the patterns in the Oscar de la Renta Decorative Fabrics Collection evoke a languid tropical grandeur: Checkered Lotus, Jaipur Crest, Indian Summer. The cottons and silks […]

WHEN LOS ANGELES-based designer Jeffrey Marks first saw the house that he would eventually buy, he felt transported to the golden era of silver screen musicals. "When I walked into […]

Naples, Florida, is a sedate haven on the Gulf of Mexico. Understated Midwestern-style affluence reigns over manicured lawns and pristine beaches touched by a gentle surf. One Saturday last February, […]

THE AMERICAN WEST IS A MYTHIC CONCEPT that exerts a powerful, though not always positive, force on designers. It has made them throw Navajo blankets with abandon and mount antlers […]

"I'M A NURTURER," SAYS JAN RODEN, A DESIGNER and shop owner in Virginia. Not only does she coddle her decorating clients, but she also moved from northern Virginia down to […]

For thirty years, Evelyn and Lawrence Brandt have lived in an elegant brick house in Washington, D.C. Lawrence, a successful developer and the son of an architect, built himself, and […]

ANN AND LOU STRAWN'S HOME SITS ATOP A SMALL hill in an exclusive Dallas neighborhood. Surrounded by trees, the brick-faced, Edwardian-style house looks from the outside like a sheltered English […]

THE VERY LAST PEOPLE YOU'D expect to buy an undistinguished 1970s-era A-frame house are Leonard and Evelyn Lauder. After all, as chairman and senior corporate vice president of the Estee […]

AS THE SAYING GOES, YOU HAVE to lead, follow, or get out of the way. Apparently the acknowledged doyen of American interior design, Albert Hadley, never got the message, for […]

THE OWNERS OF LONGLEAF Plantation, a new vacation house that stands beside a surging creek in a Mississippi woodland, live only half an hour's drive away in what their decorator, […]

L'Impero is only six months old, but it seems to have been around forever. Such timelessness is difficult for any restaurant to achieve, although the most shocking thing about L'Impero […]

You'd think that designer Oscar de la Renta would have his feet up on a sofa at this point in his career. But one night last fall at the High […]

ON NEW YORK'S PARK AVENUE, ALL THOSE LIMESTONE and marble facades can be a challenge to a designer: how to see past the neighborhood's formality to create a look that's […]

The denizens of the wine world are often long on opinions but short on personality. Not so Serena Sutcliffe, head of Sotheby's international wine department. Nearly six feet tall, with […]

Manhattan's famous skyline is the ultimate work in progress--older buildings are perpetually making way for bigger, taller (and sometimes even better) ones. While the world has recently seen landmarks tragically […]

No matter how many years have passed since you stood at a blackboard, September still delivers that twinge of excitement triggered by a new box of crayons or pristine composition [...]

The yellow T-shirt said it all: "Keep Austin Weird." Worn by a woman in downtown Austin last summer, it speaks volumes about how far the city, formerly Quirk Central for […]

AS FAR AS DESIGN GOES, Seattle is usually associated with the high-tech stuff: aerospace pioneer Boeing, computing giant Microsoft, and that aging skyline icon of lofty ambition, the Space Needle. […]

You might think that eighty-eight-year-old Robert Mondavi would be coasting at this point in his life. After all, the man is synonymous with American wine, and the Mission-style winery tower […]

If you'd like to be remembered as you see yourself, get your portrait painted by a top specialist in the field. If you've been to the best houses for dinner, […]

A new brasserie uses bold color for the ultimate basement conversion Chefs are often nonchalant about the look of their restaurants. Give them a gigantic stove and they won't sweat […]

Acclaimed British theater director Stephen Daldry makes his feature-film debut with Billy Elliot. The plot: An 11-year-old North England coal miner's son discovers a love for ballet during a brutal […]

"IF SOMEONE ASKED ME WHO WERE THE FIVE most consequential designers of the twentieth century, Giorgio Armani would definitely be on the list," says noted costume curator Harold Koda. "He […]

To go along with a remarkable cultural renaissance, the British capital is bursting with recently opened or refurbished hotels. Here are six of our favorites THE RITZ Like a fading […]

A new kind of spring garden has bloomed in New York City. At Shiseido Studio, you can tiptoe through make-up and fragrance products from the high-end Japanese beauty firm. "What […]

The Metropolitan Museum's newest galleries are probably its best--which is, given the competition, no small compliment. IN THE TRIUMPHANTLY RENOVATED Greek Galleries at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, one […]

On a recent visit to Minneapolis, I had just gotten off the plane when I noticed an older man traveling with a young girl. They were about to get on […]

Last night Lauren Bacall was telling me, in her signature smoky tones, all about how Humphrey Bogart had Leslie Howard to thank for his big break in the movies. That's […]

NEW YORK'S Limelight Marketplace, which debuted this spring, is a collection of some sixty stalls ingeniously tucked among Gothic-style quatrefoils and winding stone staircases. On a recent summer day, here [...]

Steamy August days call for a cool drink to serve your party guests. And since gin is coming back in a big way, with more fine, small-batch versions than ever, [...]