Life's Rich Tapestry
Elle Decor US|April 2023
On the eve of a new book of her mother’s latest work, Kate Rheinstein Brodsky reflects on being raised by legendary designer Suzanne Rheinstein.
Kate Rheinstein Brodsky
Life's Rich Tapestry

MINE WAS NOT THE TYPICAL 1980S CHILDHOOD. BEING THE daughter of Suzanne Rheinstein, is it any wonder? While other children played in soccer leagues on weekends, I was taken to San Juan Capistrano, California, to see antiquarian Gep Durenberger and the Decorative Arts Study Center. I had been to cocktails at Dawnridge, Tony Duquette's house, by the time I was 10. I carpeted my dollhouse (a Georgian townhouse, naturally) in fabric samples pilfered from my mother's desk. My childhood bedroom was pale pink and sage, with cream quatrefoil-painted floors and glazed-chintz balloon shades a glorious Colefax and Fowler fever dream. Self-expression was encouraged, but posters and collages could be hung only on the inside of the closet door. I was an only child of older parents and, luckily, I was perfectly content to be an anomaly.

We did "Interesting Things" on trips. School breaks were spent touring important gardens, house museums, and antiques stores. I knew to ask politely which chair was OK to sit in, and from the time I learned to read, I carried a book with me wherever I went. My mother consistently worked hard to engage me wherever we traveled. I remember a trip when I was about 12 to Paris, where my mother found someone to give us a walking architectural tour of ancien régime Paris. She prefaced this by handing me an abridged volume of the letters of Madame de Sévigné and telling me I needed to read it as preparation.

This story is from the April 2023 edition of Elle Decor US.

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This story is from the April 2023 edition of Elle Decor US.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

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