Elsie de Wolfe
American actress who invented the profession of interior design.
Elsie de Wolfe, later known as Lady Mendl, was born Ella Anderson de Wolfe around December 20, 1859, in New York City, and died July 12, 1950. She started her career as an actress before becoming a pioneering interior designer and author. Often credited by *The New Yorker* with inventing the profession of interior design, she was the field’s most celebrated figure until the 1930s. De Wolfe rejected the dark, heavy Victorian style of her childhood, opting instead for lighter, simpler rooms with fresh colors and uncluttered layouts.
In 1926, she married English diplomat Sir Charles Mendl in what was widely considered a marriage of convenience, though she proudly used the title Lady Mendl. Since 1892, she had lived openly in a lesbian relationship with Elisabeth Marbury, sharing homes in New York and Paris. A prominent socialite, de Wolfe entertained in elite circles.
Her design career began after she left the theater in 1903, sparked by her work staging plays. Her first major commission came in 1905 for the Colony Club in New York, a women’s social club designed by architect Stanford White. There, she replaced masculine, ornate interiors with light fabrics, pale painted walls, tiled floors, and wicker furniture, creating the feel of an outdoor garden. The club’s success made her a sought-after decorator. Over the next six years, she worked on prestigious homes, clubs, and businesses across the U.S. By 1913, her studio occupied an entire floor on Fifth Avenue, and she published the influential book *The House in Good Taste*. Her clients included Anne Harriman Vanderbilt, Anne Morgan, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and Henry Clay and Adelaide Frick.
De Wolfe favored 18th-century French furniture, mirrors to brighten and expand spaces, painted white or pale furniture, chinoiserie, chintz, green-and-white stripes, wicker, trompe-l’oeil wallpaper, and trellis motifs. She famously said, “I opened the doors and windows of America, and let the air and sunshine in.” Her inspiration came from French and English art, literature, theater, and fashion.
Before design, she acted with the Amateur Comedy Club in New York, making her professional debut in 1891 in Sardou’s *Thermidor*. She joined the Empire Stock Company in 1894 and later produced *The Way of the World* in 1901. One critic called her “the leading exponent of the peculiar art of wearing good clothes well.”
- born
- December 20, c. 1859, New York City
- died
- July 12, 1950
- field
- Interior design, acting, authorship
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Pioneering interior design as a profession; transforming Victorian interiors with light colors, mirrors, and 18th-century French furniture
Lore & Background
De Wolfe was born Ella Anderson de Wolfe, the only daughter of a Canadian-born doctor. From childhood she was acutely sensitive to her surroundings; upon finding her parents had redecorated the drawing room in a William Morris design, she threw herself on the floor, crying, 'It's so ugly! It's so ugly.' She first pursued acting, making her professional debut in Sardou's Thermidor in 1891 and later joining the Empire Stock Company. One critic called her 'the leading exponent of the peculiar art of wearing good clothes well.' She became interested in interior decorating through staging plays and left the theater in 1903 to launch a decorating career.
Her first major commission came in 1905, when architect Stanford White helped her secure the interior design of the Colony Club in New York. She used light fabrics, pale wall colors, tiled floors, and wicker furniture, creating the illusion of an outdoor garden pavilion. The club's success launched her fame. Among her distinguished clients were Anne Harriman Vanderbilt, Anne Morgan, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and Henry Clay and Adelaide Frick. She was nominal author of the influential 1913 book The House in Good Taste.
Since 1892, de Wolfe had lived openly in a lesbian relationship with Elisabeth Marbury, a pioneering theater agent and producer. In 1926 she married English diplomat Sir Charles Mendl in what was widely seen as a marriage of convenience; the pair kept separate residences, and de Wolfe remained Marbury's lover until Marbury's death in 1933. De Wolfe was proud to be called Lady Mendl and was a prominent social figure in New York and Paris.
Reader's Guide
Elsie de Wolfe's significance lies in her role as the first widely recognized interior decorator, effectively inventing the profession. She rejected the dark, heavy Victorian aesthetic in favor of light, airy spaces featuring pale colors, mirrors, chintz, wicker, and 18th-century French furniture. Her work at the Colony Club set a new standard for feminine, garden-inspired interiors. She also promoted a semi-vegetarian diet and started a fad for blue hair in 1924. Her legacy endures through her book The House in Good Taste and her influence on subsequent generations of designers. The Elsie de Wolfe Foundation continues to preserve her memory, though some of the Victorian styles she hated are now prized by museums.
Did You Know?
- De Wolfe dyed her hair blue in 1924, starting a high society fad.
- In 1935, Paris experts named her the best-dressed woman in the world, though she disagreed and named Daisy Fellowes instead.
- She had embroidered taffeta pillows bearing the motto 'Never complain, never explain.'
- On first seeing the Parthenon, she exclaimed 'It's beige — my color!'
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