The Best of ELLE DECORATION: Visiting decorator Tony Duquette

Hollywood decorator Tony Duquette (1914 — 1999) was born on June 11. All his life he built according to the laws of cinema, and his house in Beverly Hills became an ideal setting, in which the owner was both the main actor and director

The walls of the dining room are decorated with printed cotton panels with a “malachite” pattern designed by Tony Duquette. The decorator painted the Indian carved ebony console white.

Photo: Richard Powers

Hollywood’s most famous designer Tony Duquette (1914 — 1999) liked to compare himself to the mythical Phoenix bird. The fire seemed to be chasing him: a fire destroyed one of his most famous works — the St. Francis exhibition pavilion in San Francisco, and a few years later – his own estate in Malibu. But, like a fairy—tale bird, Duquette was reborn from the ashes time after time – each of his next projects became brighter and more theatrical. His own residence “Downridge” in Beverly Hills also did not escape the fire, but the fire, in the words of the classic, “contributed a lot to its decoration.”

The living room at Tony and Elizabeth Duquette’s house. Above the front door is a collage by Tony Duquette “Priestess’s Robe”. The screens and the phoenix sculpture are also his work. To the left of the door on the easel is a painting by Elizabeth Duquette. There is a carpet of the XIX century on the floor.

Photo: Richard Powers

The fire seemed to be chasing the decorator: the fire destroyed two of his best projects. The villa did not escape this fate, but like a Phoenix, it was reborn again

Hall. The door, which depicts a female figure, leads to the toilet. The author of the painting is Elizabeth Duquette. The door portal was made in Italy in the XIX century. The console table made of deer antlers is the work of Tony Duquette.

Photo: Richard Powers

Tony Duquette was a set designer, decorator and just a spoiler of fate. Several generations of American designers consider him their teacher: Duquette’s career lasted more than half a century. One of his first fans was the legendary Elsie de Wolfe (Elsie Anderson de Wolfe) — actress, socialite and decorator. She was credited with the honor of creating this profession (until the beginning of the XX century, upholsterers and architects were engaged in interior design in America).

In the 1940s, Duquette worked actively in cinema and theater, creating sets and costumes. When he married the artist Elizabeth Johnston, Mary Pickford became the bridesmaid, and among the guests were such stars as Fred Astaire, Greta Garbo and Gloria Swanson. In 1951, his personal exhibition was held at the Louvre. Duquette’s clients included Elizabeth Arden and oil magnate John Paul Getty.

Living room. The Murano glass chandelier and the sculpture table with a glass lid are made according to the sketch of the owner. The panels decorated with shells are part of an artificial grotto built by Duquette for one party.

Photo: Richard Powers

At the age of 37, Tony Duquette was awarded a solo exhibition at the Louvre — an unheard-of success for an American decorator

The dresser in the dining room, designed by Duquette, featured in several films, including the musical “My Fair Lady”.

Photo: Richard Powers

Duquette’s own home in Beverly Hills became his manifesto. The dwelling, designed by architect Casper Ehmcke, seemed spacious to the guests — but it was another optical illusion. In fact, the area of the house is only 83 square meters. meters. Thanks to the mirrors on the walls and ceilings, the rooms looked bigger than they really were. There was no room for a dining room in principle, and Duquette, remembering about it at the last moment, adapted a garage for it!

The self-critical decorator compared himself not only to the phoenix, but also to less glamorous representatives of the feathered world. “Like a mad magpie, all my life I have been hoarding beautiful things, ugly things, outlandish things — from deer antlers to Thai figurines made of gilded wood, filling countless boxes, baskets and… houses with them,” he recalled in his declining years.

Duquette placed the dining room in an annex to the house, which originally served as a garage. The room is furnished with oriental splendor: the decorator actively used exotic artifacts to decorate it.

Photo: Richard Powers

Duquette did not recognize the boundaries between reality and illusion. He created interiors for cinema and life according to the same principles

Canteen. To visually “lift” the low ceiling of the former garage, the decorator lined it with mirror panels. The furniture is from the Duquette collection.

Photo: Richard Powers

The Hollywood visionary did not recognize the boundaries between reality and illusion. He created interiors for cinema and for life according to the same principles. Priceless antiques were side by side in the house with objects made by himself: sometimes they were the results of an inspired impromptu, collected from materials that came to hand, and sometimes — the “legacy” of past projects, which the owner was sorry to part with.

Elizabeth, who shared her husband’s passion for theatricality, decorated the doors of the house with murals — free imitations of the rocaille frivolities of the XVIII century. The pride of the couple was a garden with exotic plants, gazebos and terraces. Duquette and his wife lived in Beverly Hills for only a year, and then there were new moves and new houses, which they again had to equip for themselves.

The emerald-black secretary in the living room is one of the first items made according to Tony Duquette’s sketches. The customer was Elsie de Wolff. According to her will, all the things created for her by Duquette returned to the author after her death.

Photo: Richard Powers

Meanwhile, the house has been replaced by a whole series of “star” tenants, including Marlon Brando and Dza Dza Gabor. Twenty years later, the Duquettes moved in again. After the death of the owner in 1999, the house was acquired by his business partner Hutton Wilkinson (Hutton Wilkinson). He made every effort to preserve the interior as it was during the lifetime of the owners. The magnificent illusion has outlived its creator. What’s not a happy ending?