“If it’s not fabulous its meaningless!”-Hutton Wilkinson
Both fabulous
and
meaningful are the homes in Paris, New York and California, a palazzo in Venice, a palace in Saudi Arabia and a Bangkok hotel are just a few of the design projects that dot designer and tastemaker Hutton Wilkinson’s remarkable resume. As the Owner, Creative Director and President of design firm Tony Duquette Inc, Wilkinson has, for over fifty years, carried on the legacy of lavish and grand glamor, even when popular culture shifted interior paradigms towards minimalism, mid-century, and Shabby Chic.
“I’m searching for inner peace through materialism," laughs Wilkinson, and one is unsure if he is being serious or silly. Very quickly you determine that he is both. A perennial quick wit and a lover of all things luxe.
Hutton Wilkinson was born in Los Angeles, California and practically grew up in the architectural offices of his father and grandfather. At eighteen, he had the opportunity to apprentice under the renowned American designer Tony Duquette, known for his opulent interior decoration of iconic Hollywood homes. After working for Duquette as a volunteer apprentice for two years and then three more as a paid assistant designer, Wilkinson opened his own successful interior design firm while still collaborating frequently with Duquette for the next twenty-five years as they shared an overall aesthetic philosophy. “My motto to live by was Tony Duquette’s favorite expression ‘more is more’”, exclaims Wilkinson. “I’ve also been known to preach that, "I pray every night that people with taste get money and people with money get taste.” Wilkinson pauses before delivering his punchline, “My prayer was answered, and the answer was ‘no’!”
While sourcing one-of-a-kind antiques and creating custom-designed furniture ensure that no two spaces are the same, the color green is prevalent in many of Wilkinson’s projects. “Tony Duquette taught me that green was a neutral color and it just happens to be (along with coral) my favorite hue in a strong malachite or emerald shade. Green envelops a room and creates the perfect background for patterns or gilded highlights, it is cool, soothing and solid.” As for white walls, Wilkinson subscribes to the theory that the fewer there are the better. “Never say never but... beige or an all-white room is the sure sign that I had nothing to do with its conception” affirms Wilkinson, who orchestrates a symphony of color and pattern in perfect proportion and harmony. He favors almost anything chinoiserie or trellis pattern involving some kind of border. One of his latest design collaborations is a hand painted mural collection with Paul Montgomery inspired by exotic destinations seen in old Hollywood films. “I like wallpaper and where it's called for, I use it liberally, the more the merrier across walls and ceilings, around moldings and furniture, inside of drawers and closets, if you’re going to wallpaper, do it all and make a statement.
Dawnridge, the legendary Beverly Hills home of designer Tony Duquette has been where Wilkinson and his wife Ruth call home since 1999 when they purchased and refurbished the extraordinary house and gardens, continuing to use it as the headquarters for the design organization. Now comprised of four different structures, Wilkinson’s favorite spots are the big room and green room at Tony’s house or his wife’s dressing room at Casa la Condesa. Ever in favor of sharing the splendor, Dawnridge is often used for editorial photo shoots and is available to rent for private events.
Recently, Wilkinson decided to join the flocks of snowbirds who migrate to Florida where so many of his clients and friends winter. He has put the finishing touches on his Singer Island Apartment overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in a style which he describes depreciatingly as “drunk and disorderly". The aesthetic was created using a collection of mismatched hand-blocked India prints with their borders cut off and later applied around moldings, baseboards and ceilings to fashion the backgrounds that embrace the rooms. Antique carpets from China, Morocco and India along with Nepalese woven animal prints lay the foundation below. The upholstered furniture is comfortable and the armchairs for the most part are antiques. To maximize leisure time at home, Wilkinson knocked down the walls on the first floor to create a fluid living space with two alcoves nestled off the living room serving as a television room on one side and a library on the other. He purchased another apartment directly above, connecting them with a circular staircase that spirals up to the master bedroom, boasting his and hers en-suite dressing rooms and bathrooms for himself and his wife Ruth.
Always one to embrace new ideas and creative challenges, Wilkinson continues to produce signature capsule collections in partnerships with some of the most highly esteemed creators in interior design such as Remains Lighting, Jim Thompson, Maitland Smith, Patterson Flynn Martin, and Mottahedeh. He finds inspiration through books and travel citing India, South America, Southeast Asia and China to be some of his top visual ports of call.
Circling the globe truly fuels all of Wilkinson’s diverse passions. He is the author of over a dozen books, including four best sellers, and the designer of Tony Duquette Fine Jewelry, a coveted bespoke one-of-a-kind collection seen on runways for designers such as Tom Ford, Gucci, Oscar de la Renta, and Balmain as well as waking red carpets on the likes of Sharon Stone, Faye Dunaway, Liza Minnelli, Drew Barrymore and Reese Witherspoon. He likens his jewels to children. “After I send them out in the world it is always a joy to see them again. My jewelry is collected all over the world so in the rare chance I walk into a room and spy a beautiful lady wearing a treasured piece, it is like seeing my children again” he explains. Wilkinson dreams of the opportunity to work his 18K gold bijoux magic on some large and extraordinary precious stones. As for decorating, he is currently designing a house for clients in Wellington Florida as well as a duplex apartment in New York City and a house on Palm Beach Island with a grand apartment in Paris and homes in Los Angeles already on the schedule for the new year. The preeminent designer has no plans to slow down and hopes to continue to be enthusiastically open to everything the universe presents to him. “If I ever write my biography,” he pauses and smiles, “I think the title will be Once Was Enough’.”
A FEW FAVORITES OF HUTTON WILKENSON
FLOWER: I love Gardenias and Rubrum Lilies and China Lilies both for their beauty and their scent.
CHAMPAGNE: DOM and RUINART which he has been pouring at parties from the time he was 18, long before it was taken over by LVMH
PAINT SHADE :
I like a bright coral color which I mix myself for applications on jobs where it is needed.
