Ellen Ward Scarborough
Luck, pluck and passion...

It's bold, theatrical, poetic and very Frenchy.  It is also smart and thoroughly well informed: Ellen Ward Scarborough's extroverted style has as much to do with a well traveled eye, and a deep knowledge of history, art and architecture, as it does with an untethered imagination and a rollicking sense of fun and fantasy.

Her collection of mostly European antique furniture and lighting — housed in three large, turn-of-the- century stone outbuildings surrounding a courtyard perched high on a riverbank at her Connecticut estate — look as though they might be props from a movie, opera or fairy tale designed by Jean Cocteau or Tony Duquette. If you're in the market for a milking stool or a spinning wheel, you've come to the wrong place.

How did this Chicago-born, Daughter of the American Revolution, MBA develop such a non-traditional, fanciful style? Her artistically inclined, architecturally curious grandparents and parents surely had something to do with it.  So did her years studying in Paris.  And her marriage to the worldly, articulate 28 Emmy Awards-winning news anchor Chuck Scarborough might be a factor. In the end, like most other unique talents in our world of interior design, Ellen Ward Scarborough's take on form, color and function is a matter of circumstance, luck, pluck and passion.

Her collection of mostly European antique furniture and lighting — housed in three large, turn-of-the- century stone outbuildings surrounding a courtyard perched high on a riverbank at her Connecticut estate — look as though they might be props from a movie, opera or fairy tale designed by Jean Cocteau or Tony Duquette.

THE STATS:
Born in suburban Chicago; studied Art History at Northwestern University; earned a BA history degree from North Central College; won an independent study fellowship to study architectural historic preservation In London; received MBA from Loyola University; studied art and architecture at the Parsons School of Design In Paris.

EARLY INFLUENCES:
Ellen grew up in a house filled with antiques — her grandparents and parents actively collected furniture.  Her uncle was a Frank Lloyd Wright buff, and the entire family took frequent architectural field trips:  they visited Williamsburg, Mount Vernon, the White House and dozens of other historic buildings, gardens and museums throughout the Midwest and the East coast. By the time she was 30, Ellen had traveled to Europe, Mexico, Central and South America, the West Indies and Turkey.  Both Ellen and her sister, Madeline Roth, are antiques dealers.

IT ALL STARTED WITH:
a commercial design business in Chicago. Ellen did her decorative homework outfitting model homes, executive offices, office building lobbies and apartment complex clubhouses. 15 years ago, she shipped her first container filled with antique furniture from France to New York: "That did it — I've never looked back. My life is a non-stop treasure hunt. Now I import about 6 containers a year from Europe and I also buy in the United States and South America."

DESIGN HEROES:
Dorothy Draper:  "When I was 20 I stayed at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and saw Draper's work in its original state.  It was spectacular: from the huge scale, to the highly contrasted colors, to the black and white checkerboard floors — I loved every bit of the drama and the boldness."

Antonio Gaudi: "His work is a total fantasy of shapes, color and materials – like a beautiful candyland."

Madeleine Castaigne: "I was so moved by her shop on rue Jacob in Paris. I met her nephew, who took me through her astounding apartment upstairs and her warehouse.  Castaigne's color palette was so intense – all of those beautiful blues and greens, always mixed with black accents. I also admire her classical Greek references."

David Adler: "His Chicago houses have such impeccable scale, fine details, and wonderful historical references.  His work is grand, without being grandiose."

Tony Duquette: "He created magical environments by combining sheer fantasy with a spectacular color sense: his use of ordinary objects in extraordinary ways was masterful."

Madeline Roth: "My sister has a vision all her own.  Her interior design reminds me of spare and dramatic movie sets from the 1930's and 1940's. We inspire each other."

Kelly Wearstler: "She's very talented: she mixes 60's modern with classical, Baroque and 18th century French brilliantly. She recreates mid-century modern with an inventive, personal touch."

FAVORITE ROOM:
"Exotic, fanciful and very colorful, every room in the Brighton Pavillion transports you to another place."

 FIRST REAL PIECE OF FURNITURE:
"I was 21 and furnishing my first home. I needed a dining table, a sofa and a bed, but I found an entire  marble and black and white glass 1920s soda fountain including a 12 foot long mahogany back bar, several mahogany booths, dozens of banana split dishes and tons of glass candy jars. I bought it all. To this day I have to force myself to buy practical and necessary pieces of furniture."

MOVIE MOMENTS:
"Some of the most glamorous movie bedrooms and bathrooms from the movies of the 30s 40s and 50s were designed by men: Cedric Gibbons, Edwin B Willis, Van Nest Polglase, Carroll Clark, Malcolm C Bert  and George James Hopkins.  Their work for The Women, Top Hat and Auntie Mame was beautiful."

ART, FILM AND FASHION HEROES:
Ludwig Bemelmans:  "He is a favorite from childhood:  witty, whimsical, charming and free spirited."

Christian Berard: "His painting style is beautiful, sketchy, and other worldly."

Oliver Messel: "I love his lavish, imaginative costumes and sets for ballet, opera, and theatre."

Jean Cocteau: "Such a compelling surrealism."

Anthony Minghella and set designer Michael Levine's production of Madame Butterfly: "It is the most ethereal and beautiful Butterfly production I have ever seen; it is as if they entered Puccini's soul."

Sir John Tenniel: "His illustrations for Alice in Wonderland  and Through the Looking Glass are imbedded in my brain. I love the exaggerated images, the checkerboard floors, the Queen of Hearts, the heraldic interiors."

Elsa Schiaparelli: "I love her outlandish designs, and the giant birdcage that was in her shop in Paris."

FATAL ATTRACTIONS:
"I always have been fascinated by the odd and the off beat — store fixtures and theatre props for example. I love pieces that evoke the worlds of fairy tales, grand old department stores — like the old Chicago Marshall Field's — and old movies, plays and operas."

QUICK FIX:
"Paint, paint, paint. If the furniture is bad or boring, paint it.  If the walls are bad or boring, paint them.  If the trim is bad or boring, paint it.  If there is no trim at all, create it with a paintbrush.  Dorothy Draper did exactly that at the Greenbrier during the war — she couldn't find any wood trim so she simply painted it on."

PET PEEVES:
"I dislike rooms with a too diminutive scale. Rooms with inferior trim, doors or windows that are accented are bad.  I dislike too many objects or pieces of furniture in a room.  I also hate the lack of color."

NO NO'S:
"I don't have any! Never say never! I like to break rules and I like to think I am open to almost anything. Duquette was well known for using odd bits to great effect. I admire that."