Nantucket's Influence on
the Dean of American Interior Decoration-Billy Baldwin
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With less than a month away from the 2020
Nantucket by Design
event, we thought it was a great time to highlight the influence Nantucket had on world-renowned interior decorator Billy Baldwin.
Enjoy the rare footage from a 1976 interview from the NHA archives and learn how his legacy lives on today.
Also, time is running out! Please be sure to purchase your All-Access Ticket today to the amazing 2020 Nantucket by Design lineup of events!
Above: Billy Baldwin in his New York apartment, provided by Veranda Magazine
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Next in our series of impressions of our island, we feature
Sailing Nantucket: An Essay by Gary Jobson
. Celebrated sailor, author, television commentator, and America’s Cup winning tactician, Gary shared this historic photo essay in the summer of 2018 on what Nantucket sailing is all about.
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Billy Baldwin summered on and off Nantucket Island since childhood and retired here in 1973, a decade before his death. In this excerpt from an interview done for the Nantucket Historical Association and Nantucket Channel 3 in 1976, he shares a few memories and experiences as a child with his family in ‘Sconset during their summer holidays and talks about the subtle influences that later emerge in his decorating aesthetic.
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Nantucket's Profound Influence on the Life and Career of Billy Baldwin
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Baldwin’s influence on generations of American decorators was “profound,” says
Jeffrey Bilhuber
, a New York-based decorator who acknowledges that the design for his own Rose Cottage on Nantucket was inspired by Baldwin’s work. “I idolized Billy Baldwin because he represented clarity and confidence that only American decorators bring. His rooms did not pretend to be in any other time or place. He really was the originator of the American decorating standard.”
“He had a uniform,” recalls Liz Winship, an owner of
Nantucket Looms,
a mainstay of the island’s design and artist culture and a frequent stop for Baldwin. “He loved the color navy blue. He wore this Amish jacket that we sold at the Looms. It had a very simple, plain design—no buttons but snaps. He wore loafers with no socks and blue jeans with a crease that could cut you.”
Winship had just begun working at the Looms in the mid-1970s for its then-owners Bill Euler and Andy Oates, both of whom were great friends of Baldwin’s. “He ended up designing two of his famous slipper chairs wrapped in rattan, and he had Nantucket Looms weave fabric for the back and seat, and we would take orders on them,” says Winship.
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Baldwin's signature slipcover chairs in the living room of New York-based decorator
Jeffrey Bilhuber's
cottage on Nantucket.
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Nantucket Looms storefront
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History Topic: Billy Baldwin (1903-1983)
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Photo provided by Veranda Magazine
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One of the most influential American tastemakers of the last century, William “Billy” Baldwin grew up in Baltimore, Md., in the suburb of Roland Park. He said, “If one is born a Baltimorean, one remains such for life, no matter where it takes you.” However, Billy did move on to New York City, encouraged by his friend and dramatic tango partner, Alice Garrett. In New York, he met key figures important to the evolution of his professional career, such as composer Cole Porter and designer Van Day Truex.
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Billy Baldwin, known for years as the "Dean of American Interior Decorators," was born in Baltimore in the early years of the 20th century. A rebellious aunt, married and living in Hartford, Conn., who had been introduced to Nantucket by her husband, invited the family for the first of what turned out to be a lifetime of summers in ‘Sconset. By Billy’s account, it was simple living in those days before the First World War. No plumbing, no electricity, no nightlife at all, but lots of glamorous theater people from across America.
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He remembered vividly his first summer love: a low-seat, ladder-back Windsor chair, old and in bad repair, that he begged his father to purchase from the owners of the house they rented. It went back to Baltimore with him - the first of many, many chairs in his life - at about the time this portrait of him was painted.
Billy credited old Nantucket aesthetics for his famously-understated design instincts, perhaps unwittingly built on the Quaker simplicity that had ruled the island for so long in the 18th and 19th centuries. His signature slipper chair- shown here from our collection, with a replaced cover over the original woven grass upholstery- and a similar ottoman drew from the stark simplicity, executed with quality, elegance and timeless style, that he saw reflected in the façades up and down Main Street, and found in that ladder-back side chair that had entranced him as a boy.
Baldwin lived on Nantucket for the last ten years of his life, claiming that his modest, two-room guesthouse on the property of generous friends was his favorite of a lifetime of homes
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2013.19.37. Chair. Vintage design upholstered slipper chair by Billy Baldwin. Bequest of Andy Oates.
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2013.19.38.Ottoman. Vintage design upholstered ottoman by Billy Baldwin. Bequest of Andy Oates.
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Above right: 2013.19.2. Panting. Portrait of Billy Baldwin by Rita Baldwin. Bequest of Andy Oates
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Modern Take on Design:
Danielle Colding Design Inc.
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Provided by NYSID Design Students
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Colding’s designs, like Baldwin’s, convey the American spirit through the incorporation of nostalgic furnishings with a modern sense of comfort and style. Signature Baldwin elements such as the neutral-colored walls and the armless accent chairs with heavy bases can also be seen throughout the space.
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Elegant simplicity defined Billy Baldwin’s approach to decoration. He would have been drawn to a piece such as this hand-hammered silver bowl in the style of 18th-century Nantucket silversmiths. Join master silversmith Steve Smithers in learning to create this piece destined to become a family heirloom.
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Win a Pair of Billy Baldwin Slipper Chairs!
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As fabulous as Billy’s work was he is, perhaps, most well known in design circles for his furniture; and the piece of furniture which he is most famous for is his slipper chair. He once said, “Small women and football linebackers find it equally comfortable!” Although the slipper dates from the 18th century, Billy is credited with taking the chair out of the boudoir and giving it a home throughout the house. Simple, clean-lined…it’s perfect for almost anywhere.
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Billy Baldwin Studio has generously donated a pair of large slipper chairs (image above) to the Nantucket by Design Silent Auction. Stay tuned for details!
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Thank you to our New York School of Interior Design students for their “modern take” research.
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Thank You to Our Sponsors
Presenting Sponsor
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For more information about Nantucket by Design, please contact:
Director of Corporate Development
Stacey W. Stuart
508-228-1894, ext. 130
Follow us! @NantucketbyDesign #NantucketbyDesign
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