Mark Hampton

Mark Hampton was born in Indianapolis and raised in Plainfield, Indiana by his parents, Mark Hampton Sr. and Alice (née Burkert) Hampton.{{Cite book|title=Who's Who in America, 1999|publisher=Marquis Who's Who, Inc.|year=1999|isbn=9780837901992|location=New Providence, NJ|pages=[https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinamerica4500newp/page/1839 1839]|url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinamerica4500newp/page/1839}} As a child, he spent time with Paul Hadley, a former instructor at the Herron School of Art and Design, and the designer of the Indiana State Flag.{{Cite journal|last=Parks|first=Debbie|title=Indianapolis' Mark Hampton: New York Designer with a Hoosier Touch|journal=Indianapolis at Home|pages=50–5}} Hampton showed early inclinations toward an artistic life, and by the time he was twelve years old, considered himself to be a designer.{{Cite news|title=Hampton's Life a Chapter in History|last=Koncius|first=Jura|date=1 August 1998|work=The Indianapolis Star|page=F10}} He credited his success to making an early career choice. His early influences were interior designer [http://www.billybaldwinstudio.com Billy Baldwin], and architects Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Phillip Johnson.{{Cite book|title=The Decorator|last=de Dampierre|first=Florence|publisher=Rizzoli|year=1999|isbn=0847811182|pages=88–91}}

Hampton graduated from DePauw University (BA 1962), and while there, he studied at the London School of Economics as an exchange student for one semester. He studied law at the University of Michigan but left after one year to study at the University of Michigan's School of Fine Arts (BA 1964), He then moved to New York to attend the New York University Institute of Fine Arts (MFA 1967). After completing his studies at NYU, Hampton was awarded a Ford Foundation fellowship, funding travel abroad. In July 1964, he married Duane Flegel with whom he had two daughters, actress Kate Hampton and interior designer Alexa Hampton.

While in England in 1961, Hampton met interior designer David Hicks, who became a mentor and longtime friend.{{Cite news|title=From Indiana to Bushes' League: Honors Heaped on Modest Designer Mark Hampton|last=Falk|first=Sally|date=29 January 1989|work=The Indianapolis Star|page=H10}} Hampton worked part-time, while at NYU, for the interior designer Sister Parish, and then for several years managed Hicks's New York office. From 1969–75, he worked for the interior design firm McMillen, Inc., headed at the time by Eleanor McMillen Brown.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/garden/22duane.html|title=At Home with Duane Hampton|last=Green|first=Penelope|date=22 April 2010|work=The New York Times}} He opened his own firm, Mark Hampton LLC, in 1976, and during the course of his career, designed the interiors of numerous residences, offices, hotels, private clubs, railroad cars, airplanes, and boats.

Hampton did interior design work for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and designed the White House Christmas decorations in 1977 for President Jimmy Carter.{{Cite news|title=Plainfield Native Shares Expertise|last=Falk|first=Sally|date=5 July 1980|work=The Indianapolis Star|page=7}} He worked for President George H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush, providing interior design services at the White House (in the Oval Office and executive residence); at Camp David; at the family's vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine; at their retirement home in Houston, Texas; and at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Texas.{{Cite news|url=http://nyti.ms/2dG2tMN|title=Mark Hampton, Decorator And Style Expert, Dies at 58|last=Owens|first=Mitchell|date=24 July 1998|work=The New York Times|access-date=7 October 2016}} In 1988, Hampton and Mario Buatta (with Buatta assisted by Scott Salvator) redecorated Blair House, which serves as the president's guest house.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home_garden/blair-house-curtains-to-be-auctioned/2011/09/13/gIQAhCUHlK_story.html|title=Blair House Curtains to be Auctioned|last=Koncius|first=Jura|date=21 September 2011|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=8 October 2016}} In 1989, Hampton completed a renovation of the American Academy in Rome's historic Villa Aurelia, including the installation of "elaborate silk draperies"and the restoration of over 300 pieces of antique furniture.{{cite news |title=US School restores a palace |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/04/garden/currents-us-school-restores-a-palace.html |access-date=August 29, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=May 4, 1989}} In 1998, Hampton and Kaki Hockersmith renovated the State Dining Room at the White House for First Lady Hillary Clinton.{{Cite news|title=Dining in Style|last=Koncius|first=Jura|date=December 24, 1998|newspaper=The Washington Post|page=T5}}

In addition to interior design commissions, Hampton licensed his designs in fabrics, trimmings, and furniture. He produced fabric designs for Kravet and a line of fabric trimmings for Scalamandre. In 1988 Hampton began designing a line of furniture for the Hickory Chair company, which produced 250 reproduction furniture styles designed by Hampton at the time of his death.{{Cite news|title=Hampton Left Hickory Chair Many Ideas|last=Miller|first=Ellen|date=1 August 1998|work=The Indianapolis News|page=F10}} The brand continued its partnership with Mark Hampton, LLC until 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/hickory-chair-alexa-mark-hampton-end-partnership|title=Hickory Chair and Hampton Design Dynasty End Partnership|last=Kellery|first=Hadley|date=March 2, 2018|access-date=January 28, 2019}}

His monthly columns for House & Garden were later compiled in the book Mark Hampton on Decorating. He was a member and trustee of the American Academy in Rome. The Academy awards a prize in his honor every year. He was a member of the American Society of Interior Designers and a member of the Committee for the Preservation of the White House.

Hampton was uninterested in being known for a personal style,{{Cite journal|title=Mark Hampton: An erudite purveyor of traditional themes updated for American living|url=http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/hampton-article-012000|journal=Architectural Digest|date=31 December 1999|publication-date=31 December 1999}}{{Cite news|url=http://observer.com/1998/08/remembering-mark-hampton/|title=Remembering Mark Hampton|last=Norwich|first=William|date=8 October 1998|work=New York Observer|access-date=8 October 2016}} however his style has been described as "tailored and classical."{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/16/magazine/inspirations-stately-style-mark-hampton-mario-buatta.html|title=Inspirations: Stately Style: Mark Hampton and Mario Buatta|last=Vogel|first=Carol|date=16 October 1988|work=The New York Times|access-date=8 October 2016}} As his career progressed, his style evolved from modern and minimalist to a more traditional aesthetic.{{Cite journal|last=Simpson|first=Jeffery|title=AD at the Smithsonian|journal=Architectural Digest|volume=52|issue=8|page=42}} Hampton considered himself an Anglophile,{{Cite news|title=Popular Interior Designer Doesn't Take Risks|last=Markoutsas|first=Elaine|date=18 March 1985|work=The Indianapolis Star|page=9H}} and was best known for British decor at the height of his career, with an affinity for "English country house colors, Oriental rugs, floral chintzes, eighteenth- and nineteenth-century antiques, both English and American, and botanical and architectural prints."

Hampton has been called "the Cary Grant of design...an urbane and articulate man, and impeccably dressed."{{Cite news|title=Hoosiers Keep Alive Memories of Hampton|last=Miller|first=Ellen|date=1 August 1998|work=Indianapolis News|page=F10}} In 1991 he was listed on the International Best Dressed List. Hampton was socially gifted and a thoughtful friend who created watercolor sketches for those he cared about.{{Cite journal|last=Hampton|first=Duane|year=2002|title=From Mark, With Love|journal=Victoria|volume=26-7|issue=1}} His watercolor of the White House Green Room was featured on President Reagan's and the First Lady's holiday greeting card in 1983.{{Cite news|title=Hampton 'Slides' into Benefit for Methodist|last=Harris|first=Betsy|date=11 March 1991|work=The Indianapolis Star|page=B1}}

Hampton believed that "interior decoration is not just about buying things, but helping people with how to use things of beauty." He preferred to work with clients who had their own collections and personal tastes, bringing them into the design, rather than imposing his specific designs on a space. Hampton said that "a room should look great and reflect the owner at the same time. An ideal room walks off with the people."{{Cite news|title=New York Designer Returns to Indiana to Decorate His Mother's Condominium|last=Frank|first=Sally|date=12 September 1976|work=The Indianapolis Star|pages=1, 4}}

Mark Hampton. Mark Hampton on decorating (New York: Random House, 1989).{{Cite book|title=Mark Hampton on Decorating|last=Hampton|first=Mark|publisher=Random House|year=1989|isbn=9780553459173|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780394579870}}

Mark Hampton. Legendary decorators of the twentieth century (New York: Doubleday, 1992).{{Cite book|title=Legendary Decorators of the Twentieth Century|last=Hampton|first=Mark|publisher=Doubleday|year=1992|isbn=9780385263610|location=New York}}

Albert Hadley, Mark Hampton (contributor). Albert Hadley: drawings and the drawing process (New York: New York School of Interior Design, 2004).{{Cite book|title=Albert Hadley: Drawings and the Design Process|last1=Hadley|first1=Albert|publisher=New York School of Interior Design: Elements of Living|year=2004|isbn=9780976157809|location=New York|last2=Hampton|first2=Mark|last3=Buatta|first3=Mario}}

Duane Hampton. Mark Hampton: the art of friendship (New York: Cliff Street Books, 2001).{{cite book |last1=Hampton |first1=Duane |title=Mark Hampton: the art of friendship |date=2001 |publisher=Cliff Street Books |location=New York |oclc=46703478 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46703478 |access-date=22 August 2022}}{{Cite book|title=Mark Hampton: The Art of Friendship|last=Hampton|first=Duane|publisher=Cliff Street Books|year=2001|isbn=9780060185121|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/markhamptonartof00hamp}}

Duane Hampton. Mark Hampton: an American decorator (New York: Rizzoli, 2010).{{cite book |last1=Hampton |first1=Duane |title=Mark Hampton: an American decorator |date=2010 |publisher=Rizzoli |location=New York |oclc=662327268 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/662327268 |access-date=22 August 2022}}{{Cite book|title=Mark Hampton: An American Decorator|last=Hampton|first=Duane|publisher=Rizzoli|year=2010|isbn=9780847832880|location=New York}}

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• {{URL|1=https://www.sheffieldfurniture.com/hickory%20chair%20traditional/hickorychairmarkhampton.html|2=The Mark Hampton Collection at sheffieldfurniture.com}}

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Category:American interior designers

Category:People from Hendricks County, Indiana

Category:DePauw University alumni

Category:New York University Institute of Fine Arts alumni

Category:1940 births

Category:1998 deaths

Category:People from Plainfield, Indiana