AL: What books have most impacted you?
DW: As a kid it was the classics.
The Secret Garden planted the seed, so to speak, for my love of gardens. My connection to nature stems from this even now, while I don’t have a garden space. I even love the film adaptation! I love seeing things brought to life. It fits my visual side.
Design-book wise, I love the old decorators, and their books are in their voices, which is so appealing. I turn to Billy Baldwin, Mark Hampton, David Hicks…They’re so instructive do this, don’t do that” and still resonate today. Colefax and Fowler’s
Reid Rolls One must only buy what one likes, and it will find its place. Antiques dealer John Rosselli s words are an anthem for collectors young and old, not to mention designers who champion a truly personal aesthetic. His antiques shop, John Rosselli Antiques, in Manhattan s Upper East Side has been beloved by generations of designers and collectors for 65 years, not only as a true shopping destination but also a place to cultivate taste and train one s eye.
For all those in the collecting and design communities who mourned the shuttering of the shop last fall (and its subsequent transition to an online platform geared towards the design trade), we re ecstatic to share with you some happy news: a selection of Rosselli s collection is coming to market via a Stair Galleries online auction January 27. (A gallery preview will be held January 18-26.)