Mitchell Owens: Revise, Recycle, Recover: Billy Baldwin and Villa Fiorentina

New York School of Interior Design presents a lecture by Mitchell Owens, executive editor of Elle Décor, on the renowned American decorator Billy Baldwin’s designs for Villa Fiorentina. Baldwin designed interiors for the likes of Cole Porter, Jackie Kennedy, Greta Garbo, and Diana Vreeland. He favored clean-cut and colorful interiors, and, unlike most interior designers, he was often inclined to use client’s existing furniture. Villa Fiorentina, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Harding Lawrence and located at St Jean Cap Ferrat in France, was one of Baldwin’s most ambitious projects. His decor for this sprawling estate was inspired by the dazzling blue of the Mediterranean and complimented the Lawrence’s eclectic collection of Oriental and European furniture as well as Old Master, 19th-century, and contemporary paintings. Mitchell Owens has written and lectured widely on interior, landscape, and fashion design as well as social history. He also edited Elsie de Wolfe: The Birth of Modern Interior Decoration (Acanthus Press, 2005) and Jansen (Acanthus Press, 2006) and is working on books about tastemaker Pauline de Rothschild and decorator Ruby Ross Wood. This is the second in a series of three lectures by Mitchell Owens on the behind-the-scenes stories of celebrated 20th-century residential projects. For more information visit www.nysid.edu. EVENT DETAILS: Wednesday, March 11, 6pm New York School of Interior Design 170 East 70th Street (between Lexington and Third Avenues) Free RSVP to [email protected] or 212.4721500 ext. 405