"Rooms with a View" Honors Hadley

Interior designer Albert Hadley has been called “The Dean of American Design." With the late Sister Parish, he formed New York's Parish Hadley Associates in 1962, which was, undoubtedly, the creme de la creme of the interior decorating world for several decades. Among its clients were Astors, Gettys, Paleys, Rockefellers and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. But though his clients were often high society types, Hadley's design philosophy has always favored the down to earth. As he told New York Magazine, "It’s what you can achieve for the simplest person. Glamour is part of it, but glamour is not the essence. Design is about discipline and reality, not about fantasy beyond reality.”This year, Hadley is the honoree at the annual benefit "Rooms with a View" at Southport Congregational Church on November 5-7. For the show, twelve designers who are alumni of either the prestigious interior design firm Parish Hadley or of Albert Hadley, Inc., his firm that followed, create a five-foot-by-eight-foot room which pays homage to his style. For the show, Southport Congregational Church's newly renovated Gothic style fellowship hall, and the church library metamorphose into a series of sophisticated miniature rooms. Over in the church's education wing is a Marketplace featuring more than 30 vendors offering elegant jewelry, home accessories, antique prints, art and unique items of clothing to tempt visitors. Delicious homemade lunches and desserts are available at the Marketplace Cafe.

The twelve designers creating this year's spaces are a who's who of the field. The list includes: Harry Heissmann of Harry Heissmann, Inc; Pamela Banker of Pamela Banker Associates; Libby Cameron of Libby Cameron, LLC; Susanne Earls Carr of Susanne Earls Carr, Incorporated; David Easton of David Easton Incorporated; Thom Filicia of Thom Filicia, Inc.; Thomas Jayne of Jayne Design Studio, Inc.; David Kleinberg of David Kleinberg Design Associates; Brian McCarthy of Brian McCarthy Inc.; Brian Murphy of Brian Murphy, Inc; Michael Whaley of Michael Whalley Interiors, Inc; and Bunny Williams of Bunny Williams Inc.

"Rooms with a View" takes place Friday and Saturday, November 5 and 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, November 7, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission is $20. A gala preview of the show, with refreshments, takes place Thursday, November 4, from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Tickets are $125. Albert Hadley will present a slide show at a wine and cheese event on Saturday, November 6, from 5-7 p.m. Tickets are $75. For tickets or more information, call (203) 255-4538 or visit the website.  Proceeds from "Rooms with a View" support the work of Southport Congregational Church, particularly within the Greater Bridgeport area.

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