Albert Hadley in Naples, Florida

A collage by the great, late
interior designer Albert Hadley,
in his Naples, Florida, home.
Photo by Fernando Benoechea
for House & Garden magazine.

In the 1990s, the late Albert Hadley was along with a house-hunting friend in Naples, Florida, when he noticed the 1929 postmistress's cottage almost completely concealed behind a ficus hedge on 11th Avenue South.  According to an article by Carol Prisant in the June, 2000, issue of House Beautiful magazine, he said, "I'll take it," and he did.


Albert Hadley standing in the opening
of the hedge infront of his home in Naples, Florida.
Photo by Fernando Benoecha
 for House Beautiful.

The former front porch was enclosed with windows to become an entrance Garden Sitting Room with light gray painted wood floors white walls & trim continuing throughout.  A wool hooked rug "zebra skin," one of the designer's favorite furnishings that has travelled to a number of residences, welcomed the visitor near the door with mirrored panels.


The front porch was enclosed to
become a Garden Room.
Photo by Fernando Benoechea
for House Beautiful.

One end of the room holds a sitting area with a rattan sofa, a linen slipcovered slipper chair and a pair of saddle seat stools with hand-printed fabric by D.D. Tillett.


A rattan sofa in the Garden Room.
Photo by Fernando Benoechea
for House Beautiful.

The other end of the room exhibits simple but interesting objects in a very Albert Hadley manner, giving a hint of what is to follow.



Another view of the Garden Room.
Photo by Fernando Benoechea
for House Beautiful.

The designated Dining Room held a folding table, a small, tufted sofa, and a pair of "loop" sidechairs.  (Sometimes associated with the interior designer sister of architect David Adler, Frances Elkins, the design is now known to pre-date her use in the 1930s.  See articles in The Magazine Antiques here and here.)

The Dining Room.
Photo by Fernando Benoechea
for House Beautiful.

The Living Room, too small for a sofa, contained assorted upholstered chairs instead.  A 1950s-60s gilt metal low table displays a cherished gilt-ceramic gourd container, another object that had travelled to various residences.  A gray marble Louis XV style chimneypiece was painted white and topped by a mirror in a stepped frame of Mr. Hadley's design.


The Living Room.
Photo by Fernando Benoechea
for House Beautiful.

The Master Bedroom is shown with a pair of black Regency chairs that once belonged to his business partner Sister Parish and the hooked rug again.


The Master Bedroom.
Photo by Fernando Benoechea
for House Beautiful.

The Master Bedroom.
Photos by Fernando Benoechea
for House Beautiful.

In the Master Bedroom, an oddly-placed air-conditioning vent is given a frame.  The neo-classical style chest of drawers was stripped.  The abstract painting over the headboard is by Zang Wei, an artist Mr. Hadley discovered selling his work on the sidewalk in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.


A Guest Bedroom.
Photo by Fernando Benoechea
for House Beautiful.



A Guest Bedroom.
Photo by Fernando Benoechea
for House Beautiful.

A Guest Bedroom contains a chair, a chest, a mirror, and a spartan four poster bed.

A second Guest Bedroom.
Photo by Fernando Benoechea
for House Beautiful.

Color in a second Guest Bedroom is supplied by a cobalt blue covered glass jar.  The antique spool bed is painted the same light gray as the floor.


The garden.
Photo by Fernando Benoechea
for House Beautiful.

A boardwalk in the garden replaced a cement walk to heighten the tropical experience.  Albert Hadley died in March of this year and some of his belonging were sold in auctions and an on-line sale featured in an earlier post of The Devoted Classicist.  A low Parson's table from the house was given to Devoted Reader Dean Farris;  read about it with a search on his blog Dean Farris Style.


Albert Hadley in the late 1990s.
Photo by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
for House Beautiful.