Bunny Williams

She grew up on Virginia amid American Colonial houses and fine horses, but by age 16, Bunny (for Bruce) Williams had outgrown her fondness for steeds and, instead, intensified her interest in architecture. To formalize the knowledge she has absorbed on home grounds, she studied interior design at a now defunct collect in Boston. Next she headed for New York. There her first job, with English antiques dealer Stair & Company, taught her all and more she need ever know about quality furniture. The next step took her to the top, providing, as it did, the seminal means for launching her life-time career. For at Parish-Hadley Associates, living was learning. She started as shopper and assistant, advancing, to right-hand aide working directly with Sister Parish and Albert Hadley. The first ten of her 22 years' stay were particularly productive in providing a nonpareil education. More far-reaching and realistic than anything taught in schools, her apprenticeship encompassed all the minutiae that go into the making of a room: the measuring, cutting and hanging of draperies; the construction of sofas and chairs; the special effects achieved by mixing and applying paints; and more. An eye for design, she says is not enough; you must know what can and cannot be done, and how it all goes together. In 1988 she opened her design firm, supplemented three years later with Treillage, a garden shop (in a converted smithy on East 75th Street) operated jointly with her longtime friend John Rosselli. After interior design, Ms. Williams explains, "my second love is gardens." Her coda: "A room should grown on you and become more interesting (the longer you) live in it."

Ms. Williams enjoys being active in organizations that are important to her. She is on the Board of Directors with The Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, The Garden Conservancy, and The Institute for Classical Architecture. Ms. Williams' involvement with another board, The Humane Society of New York, is especially close to her heart, as she has a tremendous love for animals. This love prompted Ms. Williams to co-found a non-profit organizations called Tails In Need, Inc., with fellow interior designer and dear friend, Kitty Hawks. The mission of TINY is to promote the value of adopting mixed breed, unwanted and abandoned animals, and TIN supports existing animal welfare and advocacy groups nationwide. In April of 2001, Ms. Williams had the exciting challenge of co-organizing the first annual "Great American Mutt Show", which was held in New York City. Proceeds from the show went to the Humane Society of New York and to Tails in Need.