Doyenne of Design
July 1, 2005
When Rose Tarlow was asked to submit her biography
as part of her 1995 induction
into the Interior
Design Hall of
Fame,
the Los Angeles designer offered up two
simple sentences
to summarize
her 30-year career.
Even in her book The Private
House, Tarlow is
tight-lipped on the design principles that
guide her work for
such
power players as Barbara Walters,
David Geffen
and Eli Broad, among
others.
Nevertheless,
what Tarlow lacks in candor, she more than
makes up for
in
productivity, including the recent unveiling of a
25-piece line of her
signature “imagined” antique furnishings
through
Holly Hunt,
new additions to
her Melrose
House textile collection, an
updated series of botanical
prints, and
lamps, linens, place
settings
and
cashmere bed throws due out later this
year.
She is
also
putting the finishing touches on five
new high-profile
residential
projects, including an estate in
Aspen
and a yacht. In her Los
Angeles
showroom, we found
Tarlow in a surprisingly forthcoming mood as she
talked about
how her childhood, interest in astrology
and fascination
with
powerful men influence her life
and work.
In Rose Tarlow’s own home in Bel-Air, vines cascade
down the walls of
the living room and around the
bookcases.
Do you prefer clusters of things around a room or is your aesthetic more minimal?
I like minimalism, but not if it’s too studied. I don’t like anything that looks studied. I don’t say you can’t study—just don’t let it look that way. For instance, none of my pieces are from antiques. But they look like they could be, because I see a chair with a fabulous leg and the rest of it is hideous, so I make what I call a “do-over.” And then I increase it or make it smaller or may use it as a table leg. Design is a whole dictionary of elements I use in my own way.
What five words would you use to describe yourself?
Discerning. Perfectionist. Design integrity. Fresh simplicity. And . . . well, eccentric.
Why eccentric?
Everybody says I’m eccentric, so I guess I am. I think I was born eccentric. For me it’s a playfulness—wanting things not to be like everything else. I was at a party the other day, and 10 of us were sitting around a table talking and laughing. We were all kind of eccentric, but different. I turned to my friend and said, “Did you ever notice that one normal person can bring down a whole table?” That’s also true with a room. If everything is too stiff and upright, you’re afraid to put anything of yourself in it. So when I say eccentric, I want something that really reflects the person; not just a room full of comfortable things. Do you know anything about astrology? I think it gives you a pretty accurate handle on people.
Do you use astrology when you’re selecting or working with clients?
No. If I’m hiring somebody, I do. Probably because it gives me lots of information. But in terms of clients, personality is much more important because I don’t like confrontation. So we both have to feel safe with each other.
Do you believe astrology reflects the things you like or don’t like?
Not really. Most of that is developed through background, childhood and what [people have] lived with all their lives. I’m doing another house right now with a very prominent person, and I sensed from being in his home that he and his wife like fabrics that are very soft and sensuous. Usually people, when they’re designing, they don’t realize it, but they are picking things from memory that they’ve known as a child.
Below: The garden entrance to Rose Tarlow–Melrose
House. Following page: A
client’s Los Angeles bedroom.
If you want a room to reflect the personality of the homeowner, do you tweak every piece of furniture in it or just a piece or two?
Every chair and every piece of furniture is personal. Each has to have its own character. Consequently, every room has its own personality and hopefully it has a little of the person in it, too. It’s like writing a book. First you create characters and then you tell a story. And when you finish, it no longer belongs to you. It becomes a living thing that others enjoy.
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