Lee Ledbetter
photo by Pieter Estersohn
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? On Kauai near the Kilauea lighthouse.
What are three words to describe your style? Holistic, comfortable, and art-centric.
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? My mother hired a decorator to re-do my bedroom when my older brother left for college and the room became my own. I begged for a mod, pop-art room, all in black and white. The decorator obliged all except for the pool table felt which he had re-done in a brilliant Chanel red.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? I purchased a pair of Hiroshi Sugimoto seascapes shortly after the photographer had released the work, and they mesmerize me still.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? Michelangelo for architecture and Billy Baldwin for design.
No room is complete without good art.
People think of me as outgoing, but I am really a bit shy.
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement: the vase it arrives in.
An hors d’oeuvre platter: the tray it arrives on.
A bar cabinet: nothing.
A song for:
Dinner at home: “Wild is the Wind” by Nina Simone.
Working at your desk: “Nessun Dorma” sung by Franco Corelli.
Going for a run: “This Must be the Place” by David Byrne.
Biggest Vice? Sleeping late.
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? A Rolex “Paul Newman” Dayton panda wristwatch.
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? Yes, comfortable, a bit causal, and “clean”.
Who is your star crush? My husband, Douglas Meffert.
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it? Fiddle Leaf Fig Trees.
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? This is a bit of a cheat because it’s in two volumes, but “Small Houses of the Late Georgian Period 1750-1820” by Stanley C. Ramsey and J.D.M. Harvey.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? That the architecture and interiors were true to one another.
photo by Pieter Estersohn
A Few Favorites:
Movie: “North by Northwest” by Alfred Hitchcock.
Book: “Howard’s End” by E.M. Forster.
Scent: Magnolia Blossom; in cologne “Bel Ami” by Hermes.
The fabric you always come back to: Gretchen Bellinger “La Scala” mohair.
Dream project: Hawaii Vacation home for the Obamas.
Meal: Pommes Frites and sautéed spinach.
Drink: A very dry champagne.
Hotel: Sunset Tower in Los Angeles or the Carlyle in New York.
Travel Destination: Kauai.
Artist: Lucien Freud.
Thing to collect obsessively: Ceramics.
Era in the history of design: Italian Renaissance (architecture); French 30’s (design).
Museum: Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, TX.
Paint Color that always look great: Benjamin Moore 977, “Brandon Beige”.
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: @richard_haines
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? Cats, specifically, Ocicats.
