In a 1961 article, The New York Times described socialite Lee Radziwill as "the epitome of all that is considered chic, and therefore elegantly understated, in the world today." She was born Caroline Lee Bouvier, the younger sister of Jacqueline Kennedy and, later in life, the third wife of a one-time Polish prince. She also, if magazine features on her homes are any indication, was an of-era bailiff of extravagant decor. For example, in 1966, Vogue photographed her and her family in their lush London residence (↑), designed by Italian decorator and set designer Renzo Mongiardino. Here the patterns were so pervasive and the exotica so dense and gilded, the characters in the shots are almost swallowed entirely by overplump cushions and indefatigable pattern. When, two decades later, in 1982, Architectural Digest stepped into her New York home, it was clear that a happy affliction for engulfing pattern could not be assuaged.
Lifestyle blog Cote de Texas recently dove deep into AD's coverage of Radziwill's Park Avenue penthouse apartment, which she casually picked up after divorcing the aforementioned former prince. Many of the items inside (the Louis XVI marquetry tables, for instance) come directly from her London perch, as well as her former NYC digs. "I don't belong to the school of interior design that believes in effacing every five years," she told AD in '82. Have a look, below:
· In a London Drawing Room [Architectural Digest]
· Architectural Digest: Lee Radziwill [Cote de Texas]
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