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---I
had never met Mr. Rodgers, but the summers of my childhood
had his exotic (to me) handiwork as a backdrop: black
baseboards and Aubussons, tasseled silk curtains, and
walls painted pale yellow and a ubiquitous murky sage
green. These interiors were so different from those in
my Mississippi Delta hometown, which were all English
furniture and cotton slipcovers and Oriental rugs, that
in Nashville I felt I was in a glamorous movie (Carole
Lombard in "My Man Godfrey," maybe).
---When I finally received
some of the props, I was grateful to my mother for passing
them on, but I felt like Mr. Rodgers was my real benefactor.
---"What was he like?"
I asked Albert Hadley, the equally legendary Manhattan
decorator who is from Nashville and once worked as Mr.
Rodger's assistant. "Well, he was THE decorator in
Nashville. He had classical taste. But his color sense
was quite daring for that time." Mr. Hadley visited
my great-grandmother's house before he went off to serve
in World War II; he saw some of the pieces now in my apartment.
"If I remember correctly, the drawing room had pale
blue walls with a lilac rug and yellow damask curtains.
It was like magic-Mr. Rodgers made it all work."
My parrot-green Chinese Chippendale sofa was also in that
room, along with the yellow damask throw pillows that
must have been made to match those curtains. |
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