Tessa Kennedy

Kennedy is the daughter of Geoffrey Ferrar Kennedy and Daška Ivanović, a shipping magnate family. At age 19, Kennedy became a cause célèbre after she eloped with the painter Dominick Elwes.{{Cite book|title=Family Law in the Twentieth Century: A History|last=Cretney|first=Stephen|date=27 January 2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780198268994|location=London}} Kennedy met the 26-year-old Elwes and both desired marriage. Kennedy's parents, however, disapproved of the relationship and instituted wardship proceedings over their adult daughter.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhEcpnE-fyYC&pg=PA64 |title=Family law in the 20th century|isbn=978-0-19-826899-4|last1=Cretney|first1=Stephen Michael|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press }}

On 27 November 1957, Geoffrey Kennedy obtained a restraining order against Elwes. However, the High Court Tipstaff was not authorized to apprehend Elwes in any place outside England and Wales.{{Cite web|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/record?catid=4499014&catln=6|title=Mr. Dominic Elwes. Order by Roxburgh, J. for return to England from Scotland of Miss...|website=The National Archives|language=en-GB|access-date=15 July 2019}}After attempting to wed in Scotland, while being pursued by the press, the young couple eloped to Havana, Cuba.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=19571210&id=ZX8KAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VksDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6997,6330782 Gossip: a history of high society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502074708/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=19571210&id=ZX8KAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VksDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6997,6330782 |date=2 May 2020 }}, news.google.com; accessed 5 May 2014. Mobster Meyer Lansky provided accommodation for them at the Habana Riviera, and the couple were wed in a civil ceremony on 27 January 1958.

When Castro's revolution threatened the stability of the country, they were forced to flee aboard a ferry, the S.S. City of Havana which took them to Miami via Stock Island and Key West.{{Cite web|url=https://palmbeachpast.org/2011/06/how-about-a-drive-to-cuba-it-was-possible-in-the-1950s/|title=How about a drive to Cuba – It was possible in the 1950s|website=palmbeachpast.org}} From Miami the couple flew to New York, where they applied for a marriage license on 31 March. The following day, they were wed at the Manhattan Supreme Court. In early July, they returned to England aboard the {{SS|Liberté}}. On 16 July, as the ship docked at Southampton, Elwes handed himself over to the authorities while waiting for charges against him to be heard.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/painter-dominick-elwes-being-escorted-from-the-ss-liberte-news-photo/551445751|title=Painter Dominick Elwes being escorted from the 'SS Liberte' after...|website=Getty Images|date=27 April 2015 }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVAEC1E3LJ7EGEAT4461JTP7I6ZO-ENGLAND-TES-AND-DOM-ARE-HOME/query/Launch|title=England: Tes And Dom Are Home.|first=British|last=Pathé|website=www.britishpathe.com}} Elwes was eventually released from custody, but Kennedy was ordered to remain a ward of court.{{Cite web|url=https://lawexplores.com/eligibility/|title=Eligibility |}}

After studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Kennedy started her career in the 1960s at the London design firm of David Mlinaric, whose clients included Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton. In 1968, after spending three years working as partner with Mlinaric, she won a competition to design the Grosvenor House Hotel, launching her own company with Michael Sumner that same year. In 1986, she reformed as Tessa Kennedy Design, Ltd., a company which has won several design accolades. Her clients have included De Beers, Stanley Kubrick, George Harrison, King Hussein of Jordan and London hotels Claridge's, The Berkeley, and The Ritz{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oJgeD0QOvysC&q=Tessa+Kennedy&pg=PT3778 | title=Travel London: Illustrated City Guide and Maps| isbn=9781605010373| last1=Mobilereference| year=2007| publisher=MobileReference.com}} for which she was voted Designer of the Year.{{Cite web |title=dE-Zine MARCH 2006 ISSUE 1 |url=http://www.biid.org.uk/pdf/deZINE_spring2006.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505220751/http://www.biid.org.uk/pdf/deZINE_spring2006.pdf |archive-date=2014-05-05 |website=www.biid.org.uk}}{{cite web | url=http://www.theritzclub.com/index.php?lan=en&aid=100 | title=The Ritz Club London, Casino Hotel London, Poker Games London, Gaming Night London UK}} Kennedy also renovated rooms at director Michael Winner's Woodland House.{{Cite web|url=http://www.princessparkestates.co.uk/blog/item/53/britain-s-boldest-interior-designer-her-mantra-go-overthetop-/|title=Princess Park Estates | Britain's boldest interior designer - her mantra? 'Go over-the-top'|website=www.princessparkestates.co.uk}}

A member of the British Interior Design Association (BIDA), Kennedy was the first woman to work in Saudi Arabia with her own company.{{cite web |url=http://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/common/editor/upfiles/23/freepages/100%20designers2009.pdf |title=Profile |access-date=18 August 2013 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100401032735/http://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/common/editor/upfiles/23/freepages/100%20designers2009.pdf |archive-date=1 April 2010 }}, houseandgarden.co.uk; accessed 5 May 2014. Following two years as President of the International Society of Interior Designers in Britain{{Cite web |date= |title=College of Fellows - IIDA |url=http://www.iida.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=124 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090314231952/http://www.iida.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=124 |archive-date=2009-03-14 |access-date= |website=www.iida.org}} and three years on the International Board, she made a Fellow of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA).

With Elwes, Kennedy had three sons: film producer Cassian Elwes, artist Damian Elwes and actor Cary Elwes. Kennedy and Elwes divorced in 1969. By her second husband, the Hollywood film producer Elliott Kastner (7 January 1930 – 30 June 2010), she has a son and a daughter, Dillon and Milica (d. 2021).{{Cite web|url=https://female.readsector.com/2021/01/04/joan-collins-producer-goddaughter-reveals-shes-fighting-cancer/|title=Joan Collins' producer goddaughter reveals she's fighting cancer|date=4 January 2021}}

{{lacking ISBN|section|date=March 2014}}

• {{cite book|last1=Hicks|first1=David|last2=Jenkins|first2=Nicholas|title=Living with Design|date=1979|publisher=Morrow|pages=287|location=New York|isbn=978-0688035013}}
• {{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Erica|title=Interior Views: Design At Its Best|date=1980|publisher=Viking Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0670399789}}
• {{cite book|last1=Attallah|first1=Naim|title=Women|date=1987|publisher=Quartet Books|location=London|isbn=978-0704326255}}
• {{cite book|last1=Jacobson|first1=Stuart E.|last2=Lovi|first2=Steve|title=The Art of Giving|date=1987|publisher=Harry N Abrams Inc.|pages=216|location=New York|isbn=978-0810918580}}
• Spiegel: The Man Behind the Pictures by Andrew Sinclair. Weidenfeld and Nicolson (1987)
• Who's Who in Interior Design by Barons Who's Who (1988)
• The Decorator by Florence de Dampierre. Rizzoli (1989)
• ABC: The First Name in Entertainment by Allen Eyles. Burgess Hill Cinema Theatre Assoc. [U.A.] (1993)
• Empowered Spaces: Architects & Designers at Home and at Work by Carol Soucek King. Rizzoli (1993)
• The Bedroom by Diane Berger (photography by Fritz von der Schulenburg). Abbeyville Press (1995)
• Designing with Tile, Stone & Brick: The Creative Touch by Carol Soucek King. PBC International (1995)
• Classic Meets Contemporary by Fleur Rossdale & Henrietta Spencer-Churchill. Rizzoli (1998)
• Influential Interiors by Suzanne Trocmé. Clarkson Potter (1999)
• Domestic Bliss: Simple Ways to Add Style to Your Life by Rita Konig. Fireside (2003)
• Sam Spiegel by Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni. Simon and Schuster (2003)
• The New Curtain Book: Master-Classes with Today's Top Designers by Stephanie Hoppen & Fritz Von der Schulenburg. Allen & Unwin (2003)
• Almanac of Architecture & Design by James P Cramer & Jennifer Evans Yankopolus. Greenway Group, (2005)
• 100 Hotels & Resorts: Destinations that Lift the Spirit by Howard J. Wolff, Allison Wimberly, Tong & Goo. Images Pub. (2008)

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/restaurants/3293405/Vintage-bar-rallies.html The Telegraph]
• [http://www.fivestaralliance.com/luxury-hotels/london/the-berkeley The Berkeley]
• [http://www.andrewmartin.co.uk/interiordesignawards/directoryofdesigners.php?pid=&continent_id=1 Andrew Martin official website]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080821125552/http://www.dwconline.com/DWC/2005/feb/readlist.html Draperies & Window Coverings]
• [https://houseandgarden.co.uk/ Homes & Garden] s; accessed 5 May 2014
• [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1320&dat=19810719&id=irQRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2ekDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4313,3440317 The Gainesville Sun], 19 July 1981
• [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/10/arts/antiques-decorators-find-treasure-in-their-bins.html The New York Times], 10 May 2002; accessed 5 May 2014.

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Category:1938 births

Category:British alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts

Category:English interior designers

Category:English people of Scottish descent

Category:People of Anglo-Irish descent

Category:Living people