Homes + Decor

Go Inside 15 Designers’ Own Homes

Find decorating ideas in the stunning living spaces of 15 extraordinary interior designers

By Jacqueline Terrebonne

March 7, 2016

Photo: Pascal Hinous
1/15
There’s no better way to discover a designer’s true style than to explore where he or she lives—a place where a decorator’s vision is allowed to soar unrestrained by a client's directives or budgetary constraints. When designing for themselves, these spatial magicians devise highly personalized rooms that capture our imaginations and can make us rethink what’s possible, in design and in life. To help harness that creativity and inspire your own decor projects, we’ve culled through our archives to find some of our favorite designers’ homes, from Anthony Hail’s legendary San Francisco apartment—a glamorous jewel box—to Victoria Hagan’s sophisticated yet easygoing family getaway in Nantucket. Spanning a wide range of styles, these residences are as much a mark of individual taste as they are timeless and beautiful.
In the August 1976 issue, AD marveled at Francois Catroux’s ability to reinvent the past with his rue de Lille apartment, on Paris's Left Bank. Inspired by the neoclassical character of the townhouse, the designer had the walls painted in swirling patterns to suggest marble and added carpeting that resembles intarsia.
Photo: Pieter Estersohn
2/15
At her Nantucket, Massachusetts, getaway, featured in the July 2015 issue, Victoria Hagan filled the living room with comfortable seating in a soft palette of neutrals and pale blues. Working with local firm Botticelli and Pohl Architects, she designed the space to let the outdoors in with a pair of doors to the terraces and large sash windows facing north and south.

Photo: Derry Moore
3/15
In a June 1991 article on her home in Southern California, Rose Tarlow said, “I was trying to prove to myself that you can create an ageless house.” Decades later, the living room stands the test of time, with its signature design elements, including ceiling crossbeams from an 11th-century English church, 18th-century French doors, and floors of 17th-century oak.
Photo: Derry Moore
4/15
In the library at his castle in Belgium, featured in October 1986, Axel Vervoordt created a warm and layered space with beloved antiques and a vibrant Agra carpet. The walls are covered in cordovan leather, and his hunting dog, Juno, rests in front of the fire.

Photo: Scott Frances
5/15
To create her family’s Manhattan residence, featured in April 2015, Alexa Hampton combined three apartments into a well-ordered space filled with lively color. In the entrance hall, she designed a silvery Gracie wallpaper that pulls tones from the adjoining rooms to unify the distinctive palette.
Photo: Charles S. White
6/15
Never one to shy away from bold statements, set decorator and interior designer Tony Duquette let his imagination run wild when creating his studio residence in Hollywood, California, featured in March 1978. The salon was conceived for large-scale entertaining, with a model for his Primal Sun sculpture suspended from an egg-carton ceiling in front of the stage.

Photo: Richard Champion
7/15
Mario Buatta opened the doors to his Manhattan townhouse apartment in the May/June 1974 issue, when his design business was just 11 years old, and declared, “This is the home of a collector.” The master bedroom displays some of his signature touches, including a Sheraton canopy bed dressed with Brunschwig & Fils fabric.
Photo: Roger Davies
8/15
When Michael S. Smith revitalized a timeworn Palm Springs, California, home, he combined several spaces to create an expansive media room, as featured in the April 2015 issue. Hand-carved oak panels add texture, and the furnishings include table lamps, cocktail tables, and club chairs from Smith’s own Jasper line as well as a 1980s Karl Springer mirror.

Photo: Angelo Donghia
9/15
Angelo Donghia restored a late-Victorian home in Key West, Florida, shown in the October 1977 issue, “by stripping and reducing everything to its most natural, primitive state.” In the breezy, low-key living room, Donghia placed the rug on a diagonal and rubbed the raw-wood walls with white paint.
Photo: William Steele
10/15
When interviewed for the July/August 1976 story on his Manhattan home, Albert Hadley said, “I can tell you that this apartment represents many years of accumulation.” This mind-set is reflected in his study, where a bulletin board he covered in treasured photos and mementos serves as a “changeable tapestry.”

Photo: Condé Nast Archive
11/15
Anthony Hail’s San Francisco apartment, published in the May/June 1972 issue, boasts an artfully composed collection of antiques. The designer devised an elegant living room punctuated with pieces including a Louis XV mantel, a Louis XVI trumeau, and an 18th-century Russian chandelier from the estate of decorator Rose Cumming.
Photo: Björn Wallander
12/15
For her bold, colorful weekend getaway in Hampton Bays, New York, featured in April 2014, Muriel Brandolini painted rooms in a deep, dusty palette. The dining room, which hosts frequent dinner parties, features vibrant green surfaces and a graphic carpet.

Photo: Tim Beddow
13/15
For the top floor of her English country estate, Anouska Hempel eschewed her signature dark, layered opulence for a much airier approach. In this guest bedroom, featured in April 2013, dramatic oak beams are the central focus for a space otherwise decorated in crisp whites and beiges.
Photo: William Waldron
14/15
Well known for his liberal use of color, Jamie Drake chose a striking shade of pink for the master bedroom in his Manhattan apartment, featured in April 2013. The bed is upholstered in a salmon-colored crocodile-patterned hair-on-hide, which is the perfect complement to the gray lacquered cabinetry.

Photo: Douglas Friedman
15/15
With stunning 27-foot-tall windows offering a dramatic view of San Francisco, it’s nearly impossible to notice anything else in the living room of Ken Fulk’s 1950s home by Bay Area modernist Warren Callister, featured in April 2014. On closer inspection, a collection of beautiful pieces comes into focus, including a vintage de Sede sectional sofa and a circa 1910 Steinway piano.