ELSIE de WOLFE

also known as Lady Mendl,

was an American actress, interior decorator and

the author of the influential 1913 book

The House in Good Taste.

According to The New Yorker,

"Interior design as a profession was invented

by Elsie de Wolfe,"

although the praise is not strictly true.

De Wolfe was certainly the most famous

name in the field until the 1930s

but the profession of interior decorator/designer was recognized as a promising one as early as 1900. 

In 1905 she received her first official commission,

The Colony Club in New York.

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