Architects + Designers

AD Remembers Bunny Mellon

Architectural Digest pays tribute to the design icon, who passed away on March 17th at age 103





Wood floors painted in muted colors, inspired by Swedish interiors of the 18th century, were a constant in Mellon’s rooms, from Antigua to Manhattan to Paris, because, as she once explained, “I like the way marble floors reflect light, but these are warmer and quieter.” Plainspoken Provençal furniture was deemed appropriate for the Virginia countryside, though suavely mixed with blockbuster modern art and humble-chic tables made by the craftsmen on her farm; dix-huitième antiques were welcomed in the couple’s urban settings, the Louis XV and XVI treasures loosened up with refreshingly simple, small-patterned fabrics and the presence of flowering plants nestled in handwoven baskets that she often soaked in water to keep the fibers pliant. Paintings by major artists were propped here and there, on tabletops and sometimes against the backs of chairs, the casualness bringing a sense of intimacy and charm to works that could have been hanging in museums. Mellon is also largely responsible for the enduring popularity of potted topiaries—rosemary, thyme, and the like trained into spheres and set on tabletops like green planets in a miniature solar system. The plants' quiet visual rhythm seemed to underscore their owner’s belief that rooms should soothe rather than enliven.

“Nothing should stand out,” Bunny Mellon told The New York Times in 1969. “It all should give the feeling of calm. When you go away, you should remember only the peace.”