Brooke Marshall apartment, New York City, 1932-35

Artist/Designer: Ruby Ross Wood

Project Location: New York, United States

Figure 1: "When Brooke Astor was Mrs. Charles H. Marshall, her Gracie Square drawing room was blue and white and French in an uncluttered way typical of Ruby."--from page 28 of Mark Hampton's 1992 book Legendary Decorators of the Twentieth Century ( Photographer: painted by Mark Hampton for Legendary Decorators of the Twentieth Century (1992( )

Figure 2: "In the living room...the cool old white walls are enlivened by an old Savonnerie rug in white, beige, green, blue and pink. These colors are picked up in accessories-beige lamp bases and teen-blue chair coverings. Ruby Ross Wood, decorator."--from page 239 of House & Garden's Complete Guide to Interior Decoration ( Photographer: painted by David Payne for House & Garden's Complete Guide to Interior Decoration, 1947 )

Figure 3: "The vogue for white rooms still appeals, but success depends on what you use with the white...In two rooms of the New York apartment of Mrs. Charles H. Marshall, to white walls and glittering mirrored mantel, the Directoire furniture and brown rug offer contrasts."--from page 239 of House & Garden's Complete Guide to Decoration (1947) ( Photographer: painted by David Payne for House & Garden's Complete Guide to Interior Decoration, 1947 )

Style/Period(s):
Revival Styles

Primary Material(s):
Fabric, Wood, Paint

Function(s):
Residential Structure

Related Website(s):

Essay on Ruby Ross Wood for Architectural Digest, January 2000 | Accessed : October 31, 2017

"Ruby, It's You" by Christopher Petkanas for T Magazine, The New York Times | Accessed : October 31, 2017

Essay on Ruby Ross Wood by John Tackett of The Devoted Classicist Blog | Accessed : October 31, 2017

Significant Date(s):
1930-1939, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 20th Century

Additional Information:
Hampton, Mark. Legendary Decorators of the Twentieth Century (New York: Doubleday, 1992).

Lewis, Adam. "Ruby Ross Wood." In The Great Lady Decorators: The Women Who Defined Interior Design, 1870-1955, 52-69. New York: Rizzoli, 2009.

Owens, Mitchell. "Ruby Ross Wood: An Idiosyncratic Eye That Brought New Verve to American Interiors." Architectural Digest 57, no. 1 (January 2000): 232-37.

Wright, Richardson, ed. House & Garden's Complete Guide to Interior Decoration (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1947).

Before she was Mrs. Vincent Astor, Brooke Astor was Brooke Marshall and in New York she lived in an East End Avenue/Gracie Square apartment that was decorated by Ruby Ross Wood during the years of 1932-35.

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