The House in Good Taste: Design Advice from America’s First Interior Decorator

In this timeless 1913 book, the first lady of American interior design defines her decorating methods and philosophy. Elsie de Wolfe pioneered the concept of the home as a representation of the owner’s identity and her practical approach to creating spaces for gracious entertaining illuminate the attitudes of a century ago while retaining their resonance for modern-day interior designers. Includes period photographs. AUTHOR: Elsie De Wolfe (1859 1950) is regarded as America’s first interior designer. Starting with her first official commission in 1905 at Stanford White’s Colony Club, she designed the interiors of homes for Amy Vanderbilt, Anne Morgan, Henry Clay, and Adelaide Frick, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Styled as Lady Mendl after her marriage to an English aristocrat, she lived in the limelight and spearheaded a new American style that swept away Victorian-era holdovers.