913 North Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. This was the address of actress Marlene Dietrich in the early 1930s.
I have liked actress Marlene Dietrich as long as I can remember and truly enjoy the design of the 1930s. Dietrich rented this breathtakingly beautiful house from her friend Countess Dorothy di Frasso. The latter was a larger than life, wealthy lady. She used the mansion to host some of Hollywood’s most extravagant parties before renting it to Marlene Dietrich. The mansion served as the perfect movie star setting. I visited the estate some years ago.
The estate located just north of Sunset Boulevard house was built in 1926.
The approximately 8,000-square-foot main house on the property has four bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms, a mirrored dining room, striking wallpaper – hand painted directly on to the walls, and vast grounds, along with a two-bedroom guesthouse and a pool.
The house was decorated by Elsie de Wolfe, an expressive grande dame who is now largely credited with inventing the interior design profession.
Elsie de Wolfe carried an absolute horror for the heavy and dark furniture of the Victorian ages and made it her life mission to lighten and brighten. She wanted light, style and elegance.
Elsie De Wolfes career started with the influential Colony Club in New York asking her to decorate their smart headquarters at Madison and Thirty-first street. Architect Stanford White specifically wanted Elsie to do the decorations. The commission was abundantly high and established Elsie de Wolfe as an interior designer. She went on to obtain clients from the highest social circles including the Vanderbilts and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
De Wolfe paired utmost sophistication with the feeling of light and livable. De Wolfe loved elegantly hand painted murals, large windows and equally large mirrors to bring the grandeur of a room to life.
De Wolfe removed the heavy and dark and brought in comfort, elegance and simplicity. She dismantled draperies in order to let in the light. She replaced dark colors with beige and ivory. “I believe in plenty of optimism and white paint,” she declared, “comfortable chairs with lights beside them, open fires on the hearth and flowers wherever they ‘belong,’ mirrors and sunshine in all rooms.”
Elsie de Wolfes book on interior decoration originally published in 1913 – The House in Good Taste – is back in print. You can check it out on Swedish sight Adlibris or here on Amazon.
I really enjoy interior design from the 1930s and I adore the Art Deco design displayed in this Dietrich mansion. So elegant and filled with light.
What do you find beautiful? How do you want your home to be?
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