Dorothy Draper

Dorothy Draper (November 22, 1889 – March 11, 1969) was an American interior decorator. Stylistically very anti-minimalist, she would use bright, exuberant colors and large prints that would encompass whole walls. She incorporated black and white tiles, rococo scrollwork, and baroque plasterwork, design elements now considered definitive of the Hollywood Regency style of interior decoration. Early life She was born into the upper-class Tuckerman family in Tuxedo Park, NY, one of the first gated communities in the United States. Her parents were Paul Tuckerman (1856–1940) and Susan (née Minturn) Tuckerman (1866–1956). In addition to the house in Tuxedo Park, the family had a Manhattan townhouse and a summer cottage in Newport, RI. Her brother Roger was the father of Nancy Tuckerman, the 12th White House Social Secretary who was appointed by Jackie Kennedy. Her maternal grandparents were John Wendell Minturn (son of Robert Bowne Minturn) and Louisa (née Aspinwall) Minturn (daughter of William Henry Aspinwall). Draper's great-grandfather, Oliver Wolcott, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Drapers's cousin, Sister Parish, would also become a major interior designer of the 20th century. Educated primarily at home by a governess and tutors, Draper spent two years at the Brearley School in New York City. The family took yearly trips to Europe, and she was a debutante in 1907.