magnificent, big, splendid- grand style-it’s good!
this week i attended the design bloggers conference here in la. the highlight of the conference was bunny williams tuesday morning speech, i am a huge admirer of her work, read here and here. she has impeccable taste and more important she is truly one of the most lovely people i have ever met! style and grace- a grand combination!
in her talk she spoke about who had inspired her throughout the years. nancy lancaster was at the top of the list. nancy, an american, was a 2oth century taste-maker who lived in london and started the firm colefax and fowler with her design partner john fowler. their style can be defined as grand and their style i like!
many, many years ago when i was in london i went to colefax and fowler and saw the magnificent yellow iconic nancy lancaster room- truly magnificent! what a treat, what a lesson, what an experience! ever since i have truly been a pupil of grand style!
magnificent spaces, big rooms, splendid antiques- grand style- it’s not just good, it’s great!
enjoy a few more of my favorite grand spaces!



































I too attended the Design Bloggers Conference and was thrilled to witness the presentation by the gracious Bunny williams. She truly was the highlight of the conference. A glass of champagne at 10:30 in the morning and a lively dose of Hardy from the dirty south wine blog made for an interesting day.
Isn’t life interesting?! It took a woman from Virginia (nancy Lancaster) to really “do” english grand in england…and it took another virginian (Bunny Williams) to show the rest of us! I cant say how many afternoons i’ve spent with Ms. Williams book “an affair with a house”…I am a big fan of both of the ladies of virginia, and I’m also a big fan of yours, Mr. Sikes, and hope I’ll have a book of yours to enjoy soon?!
Mark, Bunny is a very nice lady, at parish hadley she was known affectionately as “Attack rabbit” ! John rosselli her hubby is no slouch either. I should know, having worked for years with tice alexander who worked at parish hadley along side bunny. i am glad you got to meet her, and envy you having seen the famous buttah yellow drawing room at colefax fowler. a huge inspiration for mario buatta as well. great post!
wasn’t bunny amazing! I love that lady!!! I want to be her adopted daughter.
i am OBSESSED with JASPER CONRAN’s home! love.
Mark,
As always, a wonderful and enchanting piece. I adore Nancy Lancaster designs. A true Master…AS they all were and still
are…For the bloggers who met Bunny Williams…I do hope you
had a chance to meet with her wonderful husband, John Rossini
(ms), He is and always has been the best source for all we designers
in Boston, New York and beyond. Amazing how two so very gifted and fun people met, fall in love and got married!! His antique shops were like salons. Mark Hampton, Mario, and Sister Parrish…To name a few.
It was always a delight and so much fun to be there…A great couple!
Thank you, MSS