ALBERT HADLEY (1921-2012)

" Life  is  all  about  manners.     Nothing  else  matters. "

-Albert  Hadley,   House  Beautiful

ALBERT   HADLEY,   " the   Dean   of   American   Decorating, "
passed away on March 30th at the age of 91, the last of a generation of interior decorators.  Hadley's influence and the range of projects in which he collaborated would seem to touch three centuries, let alone the two in which he lived.

 "  Make    your    home
as    comfortable    and    attractive    as    possible
and       then       get       on       with       living .
There's       more       to       life       than      decorating. "
-Albert  Hadley,   The  Story  of  America's  Preeminent  Interior  Designer


" Perhaps    his    most    celebrated    work    was
the   library   at   the   Park   Avenue   home   of   Brooke  Astor.
(above and below)He transformed a high-ceilinged faux-French drawing room into a strikingly elegant space with red-lacquered shelves and brass trim befitting a client who had given considerable philanthropic support to libraries, especially the New York Public Library. "
- New York Times
Miles Redd, who apprenticed under Bunny Williams,
paid homage to Hadley in his recent Library.
" Both  independently  and  as  a  partner  with  the  prominent  interior  designer  Sister  Parish,   Mr.   Hadley   created   residences   for   an   illustrious   roster   of   clients   with   resonant   family   names   like    Astor,   Grunwald,   Paley,   Rockefeller,   Bronfman,   Getty,   Whitney  and   Mellon,   not  to  mention  Al  and  Tipper  Gore,  Mike  Nichols  and  Diane  Sawyer. "

Albert  Hadley  and  Sister  Parish
His   taste   was   relatively   spare   and   modernist,   but   he   was   willing   to   mix   ideas,   drawing   on   a   deep   knowledge   of   design   history.
And   reflecting   his   own   moderate   temperament,   
he    had    a    keen    sense    of 
how    much    was    too    much
and    how    much    was    not    enough.
He  and  Mrs.  Parish,  whose  work  was  more  English  in  style,  worked  together  as  the  firm   Parish - Hadley   for   33  years,  creating  interiors  that  were  always  beautiful,  sometimes  lush  but  never  overstuffed.  "  -New York Times

 " Design      is      coming      to     grips      with      one's      real      lifestyle . . . 

Rooms     should     not     be     put     together
for     show
but     to     nourish     one's     well  -  being. "
-Albert Hadley, The Story of America's Preeminent Interior Designer

Some   of   the   most   accomplished,   household - name   decorators
of   the   20th - century   began  at  Parish - Hadley.
Mark Hampton was hired at Parish-Hadley in 1963.   Shortly  thereafter, 
Bunny Williams  was hired;  she shared an office with David Easton.

" A  lot  of  people  worry  about
the  ' wear  and  tear '  on  furnishings.
I  feel  it's  more  a  matter
of  people  treating  the  things  that  surround  them
with  respect. "

-Albert Hadley, The Story of America's Preeminent Interior Designer



Albert Hadley, his own bedroom
"  The       best      rooms      have      history      and      meaning : 
photographs   that   remind   you   of   someone,
furniture   that   has   a   story.
Whatever    you    put    in    your    house    should   be   interesting.
I  may  not  like  it,  but  that  doesn’t  make  any  difference.  "

". . .  And      decorating      is      not
about      dollars      and      cents ;
it’s      an      emotional      thing,     it’s      passion.  "

" ... Buying      a      painting
or     a     piece     of     furniture
just     because     a     famous     name     made     it
isn’t     passion. "

-Albert Hadley, Architectural Digest

"A few years ago, I was writing my book “The Finest Rooms in America,” a new take on the 1964 classic “The Finest Rooms.” (Albert explained that the earlier book had been partly his idea.) I asked Albert if I could include the wonderful sitting room of his New York apartment in the book. The day before we were to photograph it, he called off the shoot, explaining that the room was too modest to be shown with all the grand rooms he imagined I was including. But my book, unlike the first one, would show not just elaborate rooms but modest ones, too, with the idea — in part inspired by Albert’s design philosophy — that decoration does not have to be expensive to be fine. I explained that his sitting room would end the book, to demonstrate just that notion. He agreed to the photography, and I am fairly certain we took the last pictures of this apartment."  Thomas Jayne for New York Times

PHOTOS:
1. photo of Alberty Hadley by Rusty Walton
2. Astor Library rendering by Albert Hadley 
3. detail of Astor Library by Albert Hadley
4. Albert Hadley and Sister Parish in the Parish-Hadley office, 1960s
5. ,7., 9. Interiors by Albert Hadley, via House Beautiful
6. Albert Hadley design, via Architectural Digiest 
8. Master Bedroom in Albert Hadley's Manhattan Apt
10. Hadley's bookshelves in Schumacher Tortoiseshell wallpaper.
11. Albert Hadley
SOTHEBY'S Auction of Albert Hadley's pieces, one year ago...
SOURCES:
Architectural Digest, interiordesignquotes.com, and
SISTER: The Life of Legendary Interior Decorator, Mrs. Henry Parish, II