Sister Parish

Sister Parish was an American interior decorator and socialite. She was the first interior designer brought in to decorate the Kennedy White House, a position soon usurped by French interior designer Stéphane Boudin.

Parish met Jacqueline Kennedy socially in the late 1950's and helped her decorate the Georgetown house the family lived in while John F. Kennedy was a Senator.[1] After Kennedy was elected President in 1960, Jackie hired Parish to help with the redecorating of the White House.

In a letter to Sister Parish, Jackie Kennedy explained her plans for the White House, ""I want our private quarters to be heaven for us naturally--but use as much of (the Eisenhowers') stuff as possible & buy as little new--as I want to spend lots of my budget below in the public rooms--which people see & will do you & I proud!" Parish used the Georgetown living room she had previously designed as a blueprint for the West Sitting Hall, painting everything off-white.

Winterthur Museum Director Charles Montgomery suggested the formation of a committee to acquire antique furnishings for the White House. The goal was to help furnish the White House with authentic pieces from a century and a half earlier. Noted collector Henry du Pont was made chair of the committee and Sister Parish was among the committee members. Parish and DuPont concentrated on including American Federal furniture in the Sheraton and Hepplewhite styles. Although Parish initially decorated the family's private quarters, Stephane Boudin of Paris was hired to decorate the State Rooms.

In 1962, a young designer named Albert Hadley introduced himself to Parish. His first assignment with Parish was the breakfast room of the Kennedy White House. Hadley became a full partner two years later. The firm Parish-Hadley was a training ground for dozens of designers now acclaimed in their own right.

Parish-Hadley influenced a whole generation of decorators and many of the top New York decorators went through the firm at some point in their careers.