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Living Rooms for Joan Crawford, Los Angeles, CA

Artist/Designer: William (Billy) Haines

Project Location: California, United States

Figure 1: Joan Crawford was one of William (Billy) Haines's best friends. Known as "Cranberry" to Haines, Crawford was one of his earliest clients and was always a champion of Billy. Haines decorated the interiors of Crawford's Brentwood home several times over a many year period. In an early iteration seen here, "the all-fringe settee is an example of Haines' theatrical, imaginative, and fanciful mind and his intuitive understanding of 1930s Hollywood glamour."--from page 59, Class Act: William Haines, Legendary Hollywood Decorator. ( Photographer: Class Act: William Haines, Legendary Hollywood Decorator, page 59 )
Figure 2: Joan Crawford and her dachshunds in one of the iterations of her living room by William (Billy) Haines. ( Photographer: from Architectural Digest, April 1990 )
Figure 3: "In 1949, Crawford showed off her redecorated and much more modern living room which featured a biscuit tufted free-form ottoman in front of the fireplace. A Haines living room always had a lot of occasional seating so that everyone could find a place to perch at parties"--from Class Act: William Haines, Legendary Hollywood Decorator, page 59. ( Photographer: Class Act: William Haines, Legendary Hollywood Decorator, page 58 )
Figure 4: A scene from "Feud" in Joan Crawford's living room. All of the furniture is Billy Haines designed. ( Source | Accessed : November 14, 2017 )
Figure 5: An exterior shot of the house in Brentwood that Joan Crawford lived in for three decades. ( Photographer: from Architectural Digest, April 1990 )
Figure 6: The cover of Class Act: William Haines, Legendary Hollywood Decorator features a photograph of Billy Haines and "Cranberry" (Joan Crawford) on the back patio of the first house that Haines decorated for Crawford. ( Source | Accessed : November 14, 2017 )

Style/Period(s):
Revival Styles

Primary Material(s):
Fabric, Wood, Paint

Function(s):
Residential Structure

Related Website(s):

Significant Date(s):
20th Century, 1930-1939, 1940-1949

Additional Information:
Edwards, Anne. "Joan Crawford: The Best Actress for Mildred Pierce in Her Polished Brentwood Residence." Architectural Digest Magazine, April 1990 issue.

Schifando, Peter and Jean H. Mathison. Class Act: William Haines, Legendary Hollywood Decorator (New York: Pointed Leaf Press, 2005).

Mann, William J. Wisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines, Hollywood's First Openly Gay Star (Penguin Books, 1998).

Mann, William J. "William Haines: Creator of a Smart New Look for the Hollywood Scene", Architectural Digest, January 2000.

http://www.williamhaines.com

House address: 426 North Bristol Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles

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