For The Love of Books!

A little over a month ago, Barbara and I took in the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library’s Annual Book Sale, which takes place yearly at Fort Mason. This is the mother of all book sales and is billed as the “West Coast’s Largest Book Sale”. Needless to say we were in!

We had tickets for the first day member’s preview and upon arrival it was clear that we were the amateurs, although we quickly formulated a plan: First, Design Books then Cookbooks and then everything else. The line of literally hundreds snaked around the adjoining pier and people came prepared with suitcases on wheels along with every type of portable carriage imaginable.

We managed to score a few gems including “Good Taste Costs No More” by Mr. Richard Gump from 1951, and a couple of early works by local favorite Diane Dorrans Saeks.

Here are some of the other treasures we managed to claim:

We plan to report back on all the great content in later posts. We’ll be back for more books next year…until then, happy reading!

David Hansen

* All photos by David J. Hansen and Barbara Ashfield for Ashfield Hansen Design Inc.

From The Hand of Mr. Hampton...The Sequel

Back in March I posted some illustrations of the late, great Mark Hampton, which continue to inspire and amaze me. At that time I said I would post more at a later date. Here they are as promised.
I wish I had the time and wherewithal to produce depictions as accomplished and charming, however Mr. Hampton's expertise will have to do for now.

A beautiful rendering of a room by the fabulous Madeleine Castaing from the "Legendary Decorators of The Twentieth Century" book.

Taken from the books "On Decorating" and "Legendary Decorators of The Twentieth Century" these illustrations convey a warmth and character lacking in traditional photographs.

A beautiful Cognac colored library taken from the "On Decorating" book.

A Black and White inage of Mr. Hampton's own Manhattan Dining room from the "On Decorating" book.

A beautiful image of a traditional Dining room treated in a contemporary manner with two tables and Mies van der Rohe chairs from the "On Decorating" book.

To my knowledge both books are sadly out of print, but are available from online retailers...for a price!

David Hansen

It's All in the Hand

Recently I have been inspired by the illustrations of the late, great Mark Hampton. Much has been written in the blogosphere about him and as you probably know, Mr. Hampton was an incredibly talented and very prolific designer who sadly passed in 1998. During his career as a “Decorator” (something people used to be proud to be called) he worked for some of the most talented and well-known firms of the day including David Hicks (with whom he was in partnership), Sister Parish and the prestigious McMillen & Co.

Portrait of Mark Hampton by Henry Koehler which graces the back cover of the Legendary Decorators book.

Mr. Hampton wrote two books; Mark Hampton on Decorating, published in 1989, a collection of essays and illustrations largely drawn from his columns in House & Garden magazine and Legendary Decorators of the Twentieth Century (there is that word Decorator again) published in 1992 which profiled everyone who was anyone in the decorating world from Elsie DeWolf and Billy Baldwin to Madeleine Castaing. Sadly, both books are now out of print but widely available from used sources online. I was introduced to the Legendary Decorators book by my business partner Barbara, who had used it as a text when she was studying at the New York School of Interior Design.

An illustration by Mr. Hampton from the On Decorating book which talks about "The Incomparable Reds" *Notice the Modigliani painting reflected in the mirror that belonged to the owner's grandmother.

Both books are filled with grisaille (monochrome) and full color watercolor illustrations done by Mr. Hampton in the most delightful manner. These illustrations give credence to the fact that there is nothing more beautiful than something done by hand. In this age of mobile phones, email and Twitter, it is rewarding to look at something that is clearly not rushed or immediate. It is apparent by looking that these illustrations that it took a great amount of time to convey the feeling of the space in a far superior way than any photograph or computer illustration would allow.

An illustration of the dressing table belonging to Mr. Hamptons wife in their New York residence from the On Decorating book.

An illustration of a room done by the master Billy Baldwin from the Legendary Decorators book showing Baldwin's trademark etageres.

I have only included some of my favorites from the two books here and encourage you to seek out these books and experience the magic or Mr. Hampton’s hand for yourself. I will post more of these fantastic images as part of another post.

David Hansen

Viva Los Libros!

It has been hard getting back on the blogging horse, but we thought we would start out talking about a favorite to all designers, design books. I don’t know a designer out there who doesn’t love (or obsess about) design books. We thought we would take the next few posts to talk about some of our favorites and talk about some new discoveries.

David Hicks: Designer / Ashley Hicks 2003
I received this book as a Christmas gift last year and fell in love with David Hicks, and his aesthetic all over again.
The book has a forward by Tom Ford which gives some insight into Hicks’ influence.
Hicks was the master when it came to the marriage of traditional and modern English style. His interiors from the 60’s and 70’s convey what I have always thought about Interior Design, that there are no rules as long as rooms are done with taste and style. The rooms in the book look as fresh today as when they were done some decades ago.
A new generation of designers has become interested in David Hicks after seeing his daughter India (pictured in the book as a young girl) acting as the host of the Bravo TV network show Top Design.
This book is a must for anyone interested in the melding of traditional and contemporary design.

David Hansen

The book cover

One of the great interiors featured in the book