Elle Decor: Jackie Kennedy

ELLE DECOR

NOVEMBER 2024

HOW JACKIE KENNEDY GAVE THE WHITE HOUSE—AND AMERICA—ITS HISTORY BACK

by DAVID NASH
Photography: CBS Photo Archive // Getty Images

Thank you @elledecor and @davidbryannash for including my thoughts about Jackie Kennedy’s incredible project of restoring the White House and making it into the people’s museum!

“Everything in the White House must have a reason for being there.” As election day approaches, Jackie Kennedy’s words from 1961 feel particularly poignant. Her vision transformed the White House from just a presidential residence into America’s most important living museum, setting a standard for preservation that still resonates today.

At just 31, she orchestrated what designer Glenn Gissler calls “a herculean task,” bringing history back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Jackie’s mission wasn’t about redecorating – a word she equated with “sacrilege” — but about resurrection.

“Well, I really don’t have one, because I think this house will always grow and should,” she replied. “It just seemed to me such a shame when we came here to find hardly anything of the past in the house—hardly anything before 1902. I know when we went to Colombia, the Presidential Palace there has all the history of their country in it…every piece of furniture in it has some link with the past, [and] I thought the White House should be like that.”

And that’s something New York-based designer Glenn Gissler (whose own interest in historic preservation spans decades) can agree with. “She didn’t use [the restoration] as an opportunity to express herself, but rather to express the history of America,” he shares. “She was a very well educated and well-traveled person, and she found purpose [in this project]. Jackie used her connections and moxie to make things happen—and she was only 31 years old!”

“It isn’t just the president’s house, Jackie made it a museum owned by the people,” adds Gissler. “There’s a sense of altruism around what she did, and a collective responsibility to our history and the future. Her legacy is a benchmark in preservation for America.”

 

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Glenn Gissler Design - Elle Decor: How Jackie Kennedy Gave the White House And America Its History Back

1stDibs – 41 Impeccable New England Homes

1stDibs

41 Impeccable New England Homes

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Martha’s Vineyard Home

by TRENT MORSE, JESS CHERNER AND DICKSON WONG
Photography by Gross & Daley

This airy Martha’s Vineyard home, decorated by Glenn Gissler, includes a Poul Henningsen Artichoke lamp from Lost City Arts, a pair of T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings armchairs and a custom daybed by Gissler.

A bluestone-paved hallway leads to a collection of antique Italian oil jars.

 

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Gissler reached out to several New York dealers — all of whom are on 1stDibs — to furnish the space. In keeping with the wallpaper’s French origins, he included a circa 1960 Jules Leleu desk and a pair of circa 1950 Jacques Adnet armchairs, all from Maison Gerard. The desk is adorned by a modernist lamp from Karl Kemp Antiques. A 19th-century Khorassan carpet from Nazmiyal fills the space while allowing the original Greek-key floor inlay to be seen around its edges. The English Arts and Crafts armoire is from Newel.

1stDibs – Heads Up!

1stDIBS MAGAZINE

HEADS UP!

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Heads Up! Wallpapered and Painted Ceilings are Trending, As These 14 Rooms Dramatically Reveal

by Laura Hine
Photography by Gross & Daley

Glenn Gissler has called Brooklyn Heights home for more than 12 years, so when he was chosen to decorate the living room of the first Brooklyn Heights Designer Showhouse, he was thrilled. “It’s a grand 19th-century townhouse,” he says. “We decided to honor the architectural history while making it a relevant room for 21st-century living.”

The shimmer of gold on the ceiling comes from Farrow & Ball’s Bumble Bee wallpaper. Its design was inspired by the pattern adorning silks in the bedroom of Joséphine Bonaparte, the first wife of Napoleon I.

Gissler reached out to several New York dealers — all of whom are on 1stDibs — to furnish the space. In keeping with the wallpaper’s French origins, he included a circa 1960 Jules Leleu desk and a pair of circa 1950 Jacques Adnet armchairs, all from Maison Gerard. The desk is adorned by a modernist lamp from Karl Kemp Antiques. A 19th-century Khorassan carpet from Nazmiyal fills the space while allowing the original Greek-key floor inlay to be seen around its edges. The English Arts and Crafts armoire is from Newel.

Read the full Article on 1stdibs.com

 

Glenn Gissler has called Brooklyn Heights home for more than 12 years, so when he was chosen to decorate the living room of the first Brooklyn Heights Designer Showhouse, he was thrilled. “It’s a grand 19th-century townhouse,” he says. “We decided to honor the architectural history while making it a relevant room for 21st-century living.”
Gissler reached out to several New York dealers — all of whom are on 1stDibs — to furnish the space. In keeping with the wallpaper’s French origins, he included a circa 1960 Jules Leleu desk and a pair of circa 1950 Jacques Adnet armchairs, all from Maison Gerard. The desk is adorned by a modernist lamp from Karl Kemp Antiques. A 19th-century Khorassan carpet from Nazmiyal fills the space while allowing the original Greek-key floor inlay to be seen around its edges. The English Arts and Crafts armoire is from Newel.

Design Leadership Network

Design Leadership Network

FALL 2023

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At Water’s Edge: Glenn Gissler Turns a Steep Bank Into a Backyard Escape

by Glenn Gissler

This was a newly built Colonial Revival with almost no landscaping on a three-quarter acre property on the Hudson River. At the back of the house was a very steep, sloping yard to the river and a rickety narrow metal stairway leading to the dock. Our clients were looking to build a sizable pool and cabana, set into the steep slope going down to the river, with stairs to the river’s edge and the dock, and a level yard near the house.

Our biggest challenge was incorporating the engineering and structural aspects of the retaining walls needed to support the pool and house on a steep, sloping yard while maintaining a graceful appearance. This undertaking required a team including a landscape designer, engineer, the pool company, and architects.

The entire process took about a year: We broke ground in the late fall after a few months waiting for permits, had to take a long pause during the harshest days of winter, and started right back in the early spring. The pool and landscape were finished just in time for an early August swim.

Now, the pool area has become somewhat of a private resort; it’s the focus of almost all summer activities. All told, the yard now includes a pool cabana, an infinity edge pool, a variety of covered and open porches and patios, a barbecue area, flower garden, water’s edge walk, a big dock into the river, and a swing all overlooking a spectacular view of the Hudson.

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Hyland

HYLAND

2011

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Let There Be Light

by Lisa Zeiger