Los Angeles decorator, jeweler, and author, Hutton Wilkinson will present an illustrated lecture on his friend, mentor and business partner, American design icon, Tony Duquette.  Wilkinson will enthrall us with tales of Duquette's auspicious but precarious beginnings, his discovery and recognition by the “first lady of American design,” Elsie de Wolfe. His skyrocketing career included creating jewels for the Duchess of Windsor, American houses and European castles for Doris Duke, J.Paul Getty, Norton Simon, Elizabeth Arden, and Dodie Rosekrans as well as his own extraordinary residences in California. Wilkinson will give us front row seats to the splendid opera, ballet and Broadway productions which Duquette created for the theater.  He will also take us behind the silver screen to the epic world of MGM where Duquette created costumes and sets for Vincente Minnelli and Arthur Freed during Hollywood's Golden Age.  As Wilkinson's "plus one," you'll be taken to parties where Mary Pickford, Marion Davies, Loretta Young, Rosalind Russel, Liza Minnelli and Sharon Stone danced with men in white tie and tails.  Come along and join the party...and enter Tony Duquette's world which Hutton Wilkinson still keeps turning.

Event Timeline

5:30-6:30 p.m.: Mansion open for self-guided touring

6:30-7:30 p.m.: Lecture and simulcast viewing

7:30 p.m.: Book Signing. More is More: Tony Duquette is available in the Museum Shop

About the Series

Escape the cold Washington winter and immerse yourself in the stories of luscious garden estates.

Tuesday, February 7: Tony Duquette: Wild Child of Hollywood Design, with Hutton Wilkinson

Thursday, February 16: Kykuit: The Rockefeller Estate, with Cynthia Altman

Thursday, February 23: Gardens of Secret Delights: French Gardens Before and After Hausmann’s Paris, with Zahid Sardar

Tuesday, February 28: Sunnylands: America's Midcentury Masterpiece, with Janice Lyle