Above all, one must not believe that beauty is a good fortune that only a few can obtain.
Like most books, Villa Décor was a collaborative effort. I am especially grateful to the gifted designers who allowed us to photograph their work: Roberto Agnolini, John Bobbitt, Gerrie Bremermann, Margaret Chambers, Donald Coan, Price Dixon, Sherry Hayslip, Dianne Josephs, John Kidd, Janie Petkus, Christina Phillips, Marilyn Phillips, Lynn Sears, Tony Stavish, Cecilia Talley, Clair Talley, Beau Theriot, Richard Trimble, Rebecca Turner Wiggins, Deborah Fain Walker, Liz Lank Williamson, and Warren Wyatt.
Thank you, too, to those who graciously opened the wrought-iron gates to their secluded estates, allowing us entry into their private worlds: Roberto Agnolini, Barbara and Barry Beracha, Jean Brainerd, Joan and Robert Donner, Kathleen Luby, Kelli and Christopher McGuire, George Pelletier, Sarah and Stephen Pitt, Bonnie and Bo Purvois, Pamela and Shane Reynolds, Evelyn Rucker, Sandy and Tom Rouse, Melinda and Mike Russ, Sarah and William Rutherford, Patrice and Charles Shelby, and many others.
An especially warm thank-you to the friends who kindly gave their time and energy or offered an introduction or an idea: Janet Altman, Ed Bickers, Judy Blackman, Donna Burley, Bruno de la Croix-Vaubois, Adrienne Doherty, Roblyn Herndon, Joe Lugo, Carol Seay, John Sebastian, Fannie Tapper, Jayne Taylor, Medora White, and Mike Williams.
Thank you to the most wonderful and effective public relations team an author could have: Doris Bass, Judy Blackman, Carole Lou Bruton, Jane Dunne, Linda Gibbons, Nancy O’Neill, Linda Staley, and leader Medora White.
I have true admiration and appreciation for the talented photographers with whom I worked: Dan Piassick, Emily Minton, Janet Lenzen, Alise O’Brien, and Jeffrey Millies.
Villa Décor is also the result of the unfailing interest of editor Madge Baird, whose efforts I appreciate and friendship I value.
Surely, this imperial black-and-white guest room would have been the envy of Marie Antoinette, who was known to indulge her passion for toile. Both wallcovering and fabric are from Pierre Deux. Pillow fabric is by LeeJofa. Headboard is from Wallner Antiques in Chicago, while swing-arm lamps were air-freighted from Besselink & Jones, London.
Transporting old-world elegance to a sumptuously dressed bedroom are a desk, chair, and accessories swept from Paris’s flea markets. All stand camera ready in anticipation of weekend guests. Fabled toiles came to the United States after the American Revolution. Popular as they are, Americans still use them more sparingly than the French. We are also more likely to mix them with solids, stripes, and checks. The key to deft blending is staying within one colorway.
As befitting an Italianate villa, furnishings are not only of similar visual weight but also in scale with a sumptuous space revering symmetry. Matching Italian sleigh sofas from Cache anchor the room, with chairs from the Cameron Collection settled nearby. The leather bench is from Therien & Company, San Francisco, while the coffee tabletop was once an antique iron gate. Roman baths sprayed with flowers date from the seventeenth century.