Doug Hoerr
New England Farm - Portsmouth, RI
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? London
What are three words to describe your style?
1. Timeless
2. Layered
3. Horticulturally rich
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? It was the back bedroom on the second floor of an 1880s farmhouse in northern Indiana. It had no air conditioning, you could only hope to feel a breeze on a hot summer night and when winter came, three quilts were needed to stay warm.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? Richard Schultz 1966 collection outdoor furniture – it’s modern, classic & timeless – no cushions needed!
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? The eclectic nature of my Chicago home and Michigan farmhouse will always feel most my style, but I’d love to have Tadao Ando create the polar opposite - minimal and full of sunlight. I like the craft when it’s about light, form, and shape distilled down to be one with the landscape – it’s seamless.
No room is complete without really comfortable, quality furniture made for everyday living. Anything indoors should be able to be brought outdoor and vice versa.
People think of me as a hard ass, but I am really a softie at heart!
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement: Carnations!
An hors d’oeuvre platter: Cheese without personality
A bar cabinet: Sweet liqueur aka headache in a bottle
A song for:
Dinner at home: Classic jazz
Working at your desk: Anything by Steely Dan
Going for a run: I walk (2 hips replacements) - I don’t run. And I’ll take the sounds of nature over the city any day.
Biggest Vice? Bourbon
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? Hahahaha, It’s when I’m not on Ambien that I shop. When my ADHD isn’t medicated lord knows what’s going to show up at the front door.
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? Yes, I always dress in what’s practical and functional.
Who is your star crush? Today I’d say Eva Green, but lifelong star crush is Audrey Hepburn.
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it?
Pergolas, which are overused, that don’t provide any shade, but to each their own.
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be?
Green Tapestries by Beth Chatto & Thomas Church’s, Gardens Are For People - one under each arm.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? Honest, contextually sensitive, and enduring.
Woodland Edge Estate - Ladue, MO
Your Favorite:
Movie: North by Northwest
Book: The Nick Adams Stories by Hemingway, Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
Scent: Spearmint
The fabric you always come back to: Cotton
Dream project: The next one
Meal: Fresh harvested oysters & off-the-line seafood
Drink: Gin martini up, vermouth wash, freshly stuffed blue cheese olives AND it has to be served really cold.
Hotel: The Chelsea Hotel in NY (my son lives 3 blocks away)
Travel Destination: Alaska for salmon fishing
Artist: I’m married to her – my wife, Tracy Taylor.
A cause near and dear to me: Bissell Pet Foundation (until every pet has a home)
Thing to collect obsessively: Farm equipment, antique tractors, shotguns
Era in the history of design: Arts & Crafts
Museum: The Thyssen in Madrid
Paint Color that always looks great: Sage green
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: Melissa Biggs Bradley, founder of Indagare
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? Dogs!
