Of the over a dozen residences owned by the famed horticulturalist, art collector, and Listerine heiress Bunny Mellon and her family, none were published at length during her lifetime. Though her 1962 redesign of the White House Rose Garden for her friend Jackie Kennedy was well known (a Washington Post columnist once noted that Mellon had "more influence in shaping Jacqueline Kennedy's taste than anyone else in her life") our idea of her interior decorating skills was largely restricted to the occasional batch of listing photos and a few snippets of info, like the fact that one of Rothko's largest ever paintings hung in her Virginia great room. Recently, Architectural Digest commemorated the late master of casual chic by publishing some photos from her archives, including those of the library of her 4,000-acre farm in Upperville, Va. (pictured above). When furnishing the place, Bunny told decorator Bruce Budd to make pieces look like they "were just brought down from the attic." But don't be fooled by the commitment to unpretentiousness; the lady had some serious chops.
Muted colors reign in Mellon's Antigua residence, which sports a Diego Giacometti cocktail table and a framed museum poster depicting another Rothko.
John Singer Sargent's 1882 Miss Beatrice Townsend hangs above the mantel in Mellon's Manhattan residence.
English master John Fowler designed the dining room in Mellon's NYC abode, which has walls crosshatched with lapis lazuli–blue paint.
· Tour the Exquisite Homes and Gardens of Late Design Legend Bunny Mellon [Architectural Digest]
· All Bunny Mellon coverage [Curbed National]
· All Printed Page posts [Curbed National]