Albert Hadley: “The Dean”

Interior designer Albert Hadley is the great American design icon who is an institution by himself. Many current top designers trained in his school, including David Easton, Bunny Williams, Mariette Himes Gomez,and Geoffrey Bradfield.

Hadley is a Tennessee native. Since childhood, he was interested in architecture, art, and fashion, and his parents always supported his artistic talents. He received his education in Tennessee before moving to New York, where he attended the Parsons School of Design, where he later taught for five years in New York and Paris.

Hadley's amazing Drawings

Hadley’s design aesthetic is always welcoming to new ideas. He tends to focus on the architectural aspect of spaces. In his designs, Hadley was influenced by Dorothy Draper’s use of bold colors and grand scale in her interiors, and by William Phalmann, who was known for his eclectic look that mixed different periods and elements. He was also influenced by the surrealistic art of Salvador Dali.

A chair with an abstract needle point pattern

Hadley worked with designer Eleanor Brown at McMillen Inc. before joining Sister Parish in 1962. Hadley partnered with Mrs. Henry Parish II, also famously known as Sister Parish, and created the prestigious decorating house of Parish-Hadley. Their partnership was balanced; Parish’s approach was rooted in English traditionalism, while Hadley’s disciplined approach remained open to new interpretations.

Sister Parish and Hadley

In the sixties Hadley was involved in completing a White House project and later assisted Jacqueline Kennedy when she moved to her Fifth Avenue apartment in New York.

In 1999, he started his own firm, Albert Hadley Inc. His distinguished and influential design makes him a celebrated taste maker who always delivers the appropriate aesthetics.

Red lacquered Strié painted wall

Mrs. Vincent Astor's house

Dark sophistication

I should have added this image to my previous posts on canopies and green bedrooms...

Photo 1 courtesy of House Beautiful
Photo 2 photography George Chinsee
Photo 3 Albert Hadley: The Story of America’s Preeminent Interior Designer
Photo 4 photography John T. Hill
Photo 5 photography William P. Steele
Photo 6 photography Mary E. Nichols
Photo 7 photography William P. Steele