The May issue of House and Garden features a fantastic house in Beverly Hills that had been decorated by Elsie de Wolfe in 1936. The home's owner, Countess Dorothy di Frasso, had hired de Wolfe to decorate the house and inject it with some glamour, something that de Wolfe most certainly achieved. In 1947, Jose Iturbi, a Spanish composer and pianist, bought the house from di Frasso and amazingly left de Wolfe's handiwork untouched. According to Iturbi's goddaughter, he never replaced anything, something that is so remarkable given today's mindset of everything having to be new, new, new!
The house is quintessential Elsie de Wolfe. Chinoiserie is prevalent throughout the house, especially in the living room with its' Chinese themed wallpaper and trompe l'oeil bamboo moulding. Mirror, another de Wolfe hallmark, is found everywhere: in the living room's fireplace surround; the dining room's magnificent verre-eglomise walls; and in the bedroom's clear and topaz mirrored headboard and paneling.
Iturbi died in 1980, and I'm unsure who has been residing in the house. The house is for sale, and hopefully the new buyer will appreciate the house and its' heritage. The contents of the house will be auctioned off by Neal Auction House sometime this Spring.
(All photos courtesy of House and Garden)
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