White on White

You probably already know this. It’s like someone telling you that sugary snacks are not good for you. But if you read the text from the Elle Decor piece on John Dransfield’s and Geoffrey Ross’s home, above, you know that Parish-Hadley originally decorated the house.

Which you can see hither and yon. My image comes from Influential Interiors by Suzanne Trocme, but the house also appears in Parish Hadley, Sixty Years of American Design. Which I don’t own, but yearn for. I thought this was the case (that this was the same house, not that I yearned for the book) when local dealer, Barbara Farmer called to tell me she had the magazine and the book open on her desk.

The previous owner of the home moved here, a spot also decorated by Albert Hadley. All beautifully crafted with white walls. White walls may be the theme for the rest of July.
Images from top, Dransfield and Ross in Elle Decor, July/August 2010, photography by Simon Upton; Albert Hadley from Influential Interiors by Suzanne Trocme, photography Michael Mundy, I think; Albert Hadley from House Beautiful, photography by Simon Watson.
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20 thoughts on “White on White

  1. Blogging ESP or something along those lines. I was consulting that very story on D & R's place — hunting for an answer regarding paint color — at the very second your latest post went up!

  2. Patricia-

    It is the clarify and focus of these rooms you love.
    They are composed.
    They are balanced–but in an original way.
    Each piece is quality but not boring or trite.
    The rooms are neutral but light-hearted and fresh.

    Of course you like them. You could walk right in today–or in ten years or twenty–and you would feel at home.
    cheers, DIANE
    http://www.thestylesaloniste.com/

  3. As much as I crave color, have noticed over the years that most of my favorite rooms usually feature a lot of white.

    Although bluish whites turn me off, I could definitely go for an entire house done in Pointing by F&B.

  4. They are indeed. I've had white walls in my NYC apartment for many years (Cameo White by Benjamin Moore after many different trials), and recently experimented with painting the walls in my living room a beautiful green. Big mistake! So it is back to white.

    The images are inspiring!

  5. I have that book, and would be happy to send it to you, if you would like. You have "sounded" a little down lately, and your posts are a daily pleasure for me.

  6. Ditto on what Diane says!

    I wonder if the owners like the white floors better than the dark wood?

  7. white walls are definitely cooling — which is why one should have a summer house/ a winter house/ a mountain house and a beach house!!!!!

  8. love the gleaming white floors-wish I could have them but they would be scuffed and filled with paw prints before breakfast was over!

  9. Yes Please – lots of posts on white walls, and why they work, and why when you live with them for a while you know you can know longer do color!

  10. When that room appeared in House Beautiful it held my attention for a long time. I am having an inner dialogue with myself about painting my taupe walls white and I probably won't be able to hold out much longer. Every blog and magazine I look at these days features rooms with perfect creamy white walls.

  11. Mrs. B: I'm panicking. Do you know what has happened to Frognall Dibdin? His blog is no more.

    Yes, for the record: those white rooms are lovely and the floors slay me – tho I would not want to mop them…continuously…

  12. I remember in some article or another about the large room that Albert Hadley was quoted as saying that he considered his great accomplishment was persuading the then owner not to freshen the French gray paint, but to let it age…

    The room is lovely in all its permutations. The bottom room is how my living room is supposed to look. Supposed to.

  13. well… you pulled the post right out of my mouth ! brava !

    no disrepect to Mr's Dransfield and Ross, but that original Parish Hadley scheme could very well be perfection -one of my most favorite rooms ever! SO chic !!

    thanks again for saying what all of us were thinking

    -Oliver

  14. i noticied slow love on your desk – l loved that book and read it in one summer afternoon outside in the shade before the heatwave. loved it – did you?

  15. My first thought upon seeing this room re-envisioned was that it looks like two newlyweds just moved in with the help of grandma's left overs. It's a smattering of this and a smattering of that. What's that melange of pieces on the table in the middle. It looks like the basement of John Roselli's old shop. I felt this beautiful room that Albert Hadley had done so well before was mucked up with garage sales leftovers and more. Moreover, the vignette on the cover is bizaar…who is going to sit there? It's all a stage set for a very boring play.

  16. Diane – I do think you are right – your comment brought it into focus for me.

    Voice Talk – the beauty of paint! You can always start over.

    Robin – That is incredibly generous. Thank you, you have no idea how much the offer means. You hang onto it – things are looking up.

    Katie – I do, too. I actually think both show a good little bit of dirt. Maybe they don't have dirt. Hmm…

    Anon – Regarding Frognall, I don't. A few people have contacted me asking the same thing; I'll let you know if I hear anything.

    Oliver – it is one of my favorites as well. It is an amazing room.

    Marnie – I loved every page. We are so lucky, Dominique is coming here to speak in the Fall.

  17. Wow, super sleuth!! I have read all about those two AH designed homes and then fell head over heels for the D&R house but never put two and two together. She is the one that moved out…

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