Interior decorator, author and publisher Carleton Varney died July 14 at a rehabilitation facility in West Palm Beach, Florida.
True to his nickname “Mr. Color,” Varney adhered to Draper’s design ethos, which called for bold shades, comfort and practicality. With an innate eye for color and scale, his decorating was similar to his personality — grand, vibrant, bold and memorable. His 60-plus-year career involved decorating and designing a myriad of abodes for the affluent, hotels, cruise ships, events and commercial properties, including such singular locales as The Greenbrier in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia.
Donald Albrecht, who met Varney through a Draper exhibition that he curated for the Museum of the City of New York recalled Tuesday how after using historical photos of The Greenbrier, her most famous project, and then visiting the resort was struck by how Varney was able to make it suitable for contemporary tastes and yet retain the aesthetic DNA Draper had created in the 1940s. “Although it was different, it retained her sensibility and style.
Varney built a namesake textile business Carleton V Ltd. with his wife Suzanne. Founded in 1973, the company established offices in some of the leading cities where its clients lived — New York, Palm Beach and London. There also was an outpost at The Greenbrier. A direct descendant of Miles Standish through his paternal grandmother, Varney’s mother was born of Lithuanian immigrants and his Massachusetts-bred father ran a sporting goods store. The family later moved to the nearby coastal town of Nahant where Varney took to acrobatic tap lessons, basketball, ballroom dancing lessons and floral arrangement contests.
The Greenbrier’s interior design project manager Merriweather Franklin described Varney Tuesday as “a true treasure,” who served as the hotel’s decorator for 60 years. “‘Mr. Color’ could often be seen greeting each employee and guest, as if he had known them for years,” she said.Varney wrote 37 books on decorating, two novels and the official biography of Draper, which was updated in a deluxe edition and recently released.
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