Celebrating one of America’s first woman interior and textile designers, Candace Wheeler.

March 24 and March 27, 1827, are both cited as Candace Wheeler’s birthday, so we get to celebrate twice! She grew up on a farm in Delhi, New York with her seven siblings. Wheeler’s life went through dramatic transformation: her early years were “a hundred years behind the time” in a strict Presbyterian household, but her latter years were spent in jazz-age New York City after decades of being “working woman”, paving the way for women in design.

The product of Civil War and financial uncertainty, Wheeler viewed economic power as women’s most immediate need, becoming an early feminist leader. Her success as a leader drew strength from her friendships with well-known painters and designers, a supportive husband, well-to-do brothers, and her drive. She created a substantial career for herself as a designer of textiles and interiors and as a teacher, lecturer, and author.

Wheeler had a distinctly American style of pattern design, with colors and motifs modeled on American flowers and responding to the qualities of American light. She believed in creating beautiful things, but also that they had to be affordable and practical for the middle class.

Between 1877 and 1893, from Wheeler’s first important public venture (the founding of the Society of Decorative Art) to her last major commission (the interior design of the Woman’s Building at the World’s Columbian Exposition), she was the acknowledged national expert on all things decorative textiles and interiors. In an era that did not always appreciate strong women, Wheeler ambitiously promoted art and design as paying careers for women, rather than hobbies.

Wheeler built an unconventional life as a successful working woman in a time when women could not even vote. She was one of the first American women to produce designs for American manufacturers and paved the way for thousands of female designers who followed—some of whom she trained in her woman-run firm, Associated Artists. She was also one of the first women to be well known as an interior decorator, a profession she helped to create.

Wheeler’s Wallpaper in the Mark Twain House dining room

Her prolific career included co-founding the interior design firm Tiffany & Wheeler (Also called Louis Comfort Tiffany and Associated Artists or just Associated Artists, which included Tiffany, Wheeler and Stanford White) with Tiffany & Co heir Louis C. Tiffany in 1879, the same year that Tiffany purchased the famed yellow “Tiffany Diamond”. The firm designed interiors, wallpaper, furniture, and textiles. One of the firm’s most illustrious projects was to give the White House a fresh look after the assassination of President James Garfield. Chester Arthur refused to move into the White House until it had been redecorated, so in 1882 the firm was hired to work on the East Room, Blue Room, Red Room, State Dining Room, and the Entrance Hall. They refurnished, repainted in decorative patterns and changed to wallpaper with dense patterns, including one of Wheeler’s award-winning prints “Honeybee”.

The firm designed some of the most significant and beautiful interiors of the American Aesthetic Movement, including the Park Avenue Armory’s Veteran’s Room. A two-year project, when the Veterans Room opened in 1881,The New York Times called it “unique in its appointments and decorations and undoubtedly the most magnificent apartment of the kind in this country.” Over time, its reputation has not lessened; The room was designated as an interior landmark by the New York City Landmarks Commission in 1992. The Landmarks Report outlined that the Veterans Room and the smaller Library were “widely considered to be among the most significant and beautiful interiors of the American Aesthetic Movement.” These rooms have recently been restored and were re-opened to the public in 2016.

Tiffany and Wheeler also designed the interiors of the Mark Twain house, where a number of Wheeler’s wallpaper designs can still be seen- “Honeybee” and its frieze adorns the master bedroom dubbed “The Mahogany Room”, and one of her floral designs adorns the dining room (seen above).

Park Avenue Armory's Landmarked Veteran's Room. Louis Comfort Tiffany and Associated Artists

Wheeler’s relationship deserves a bit of attention, too. As a teenager, Wheeler became friends with the young minister’s wife, Mary Speeses at her Presbyterian church, and later accompanied the couple on a visit to New York City. There she was introduced to Mary’s brother Thomas Mason Wheeler. They quickly fell in love and were married within a year, when Wheeler was seventeen.

A long and happy marriage ensued. Tom was supportive of his wife’s activities and seemed to instill in her a sense of confidence about her ability to succeed in her various enterprises. In her biography, Wheeler describes Tom as “a clever, progressive man” who approved of her being a working woman. They had four children.

Over the course of her long life, she produced many beautiful objects and promoted a uniquely American style of textile and wallpaper design, with colors and patterns modeled on American flowers and responding to the qualities of American light. Stylistically, Wheeler was associated with the Colonial Revival Aesthetic Movement and the Arts and Crafts Movement. Wheeler paved the way for me and many of my followers’ careers. Happy birthday to this design pioneer!

Further reading: I was so inspired reading “Candace Wheeler: The Art and Enterprise of American Design, 1875-1900” by Amelia Peck and Carol Irish. Though I wish the images were larger and more plentiful, the story is great and I would recommend it to all who loved this post. The book is a catalog of a 2002 Met exhibition that I wish I could have seen. Much of my research came from this book and The Met’s archive on Wheeler, and this Washington Post article from 2001 goes into even more detail about her life.

Happy Birthday to Candace Wheeler, the “Mother” of Interior Design!

Celebrating one of America’s first woman interior and textile designers, Candace Wheeler.

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