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A design by Janie Molster for the Flower magazine show house in Nashville, Tennessee (Photo courtesy Janie Molster)
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Photo courtesy Corey Damen Jenkins
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Photo courtesy Heather Chadduck Hillegas
What embodies quintessential American style? Is it the simplicity of a New England salt box, the elegant lines of a Shaker chair or the dramatic horizontality of a Frank Lloyd Wright house? Or is it something more distinctly American — a melting pot, so to speak — a layered synthesis of global influences that have been reshaped and reimagined through a creative lens?
Designers Corey Damen Jenkins, Heather Chadduck Hillegas and Janie Molster will make special appearances at “Fancy This! Celebrating 250 Years of American Style,” a new daylong symposium on May 7 at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, examining the ways design traditions have been decoded, refashioned and reimagined across the country throughout its history.
Corey Damen Jenkins, Heather Chadduck Hillegas and Janie Molster (Photos from left by Andrew Frasz and courtesy the designers)
Jenkins, the Detroit-based Architectural Digest AD100 designer, is admired for his vibrant color palettes and refined, classical approach to interiors. Birmingham, Alabama-based designer Heather Chadduck Hillegas, known for her classic Southern sensibility, wowed visitors to the Colonial capital as the Williamsburg Designer in Residence (2022-23). Janie Molster, the Richmond-based designer recognized for her bold use of color and pattern, blends styles across periods and traditions.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Williamsburg was a city of tastemakers — in both fashion and interior decor. Tom Savage, decorative arts expert at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, will present a look inside a Colonial period home with Chinese wallpaper guaranteed to inspire deGournay envy today.
Photo courtesy Tom Savage
Jenny Bohannon, tastemaker and creative force behind the Tallwood Country House brand, and Kimberly Power, creative director and interior stylist, join a panel discussion on the question of the day, “What is American style today, and where is it headed?”
Doors open at 10 a.m., followed by talks from Savage and Hillegas and a panel discussion before the lunch break, talks by Molster and Jenkins, and book signings by featured guests. And, as an extra bonus for guests who are professional members of the design community, Fancy That! Le Salon will present an exclusive presentation of exceptional design resources.
Find more information and tickets at maisonvie.style
