Ruby Ross Wood
Encyclopedia
Ruby Ross Pope Goodnow Wood (26 October 1881 – 18 February 1950) was a prominent New York interior decorator and the owner of Ruby Ross Wood, Inc., a decorating company launched in the 1920s.
Her first husband was Wallace Field Goodnow, an engineer from a well-known Cape Cod
, Massachusetts
family; by him, she had one son, Philip, who died as an infant. Her second husband was Chalmers Wood, a socially well-connected stockbroker and fox hunter. They lived at Little Ipswich, an estate in Syosset, New York, which had been designed for them by the architect William Adams Delano
. The house and outbuildings of the 29 acres (117,358.9 m²) property were leveled in the early 1990s and replaced by a 21-home housing development now known as Pironi Estates.
, a popular women's magazine, where her editor was Theodore Dreiser
. She also wrote a well-regarded series of articles about architecture that became the basis of an equally popular book, The Honest House. Her Delineator articles under the byline of the interior decorator Elsie de Wolfe
formed the basis of de Wolfe's decorating manual The House in Good Taste, for which Goodnow also was the ghostwriter. She also ghostwrote de Wolfe's Ladies Home Journal articles, which later were adapted for The House in Good Taste and continued to contribute articles to leading shelter publications until her death.
Around 1914, Goodnow founded a design company called the Modernist Studios. Unfortunately, the undertaking failed due to New York City homeowners not being enamored of interiors inspired by the cutting-edge Wiener Werkstätte. However, she had found her calling. She soon joined the decorating staff of the John Wanamaker
store in New York City
, where she ran Belmaison, a decorating division within the company, and worked with Nancy McClelland, who ran the Au Quatrième antiques department of the store. She established her own decorating firm in the 1920s. Among her clients were Alfred Vanderbilt, Rodman Wanamaker
, and Brooke Astor
. Her best-known employee was Billy Baldwin (interior designer), whom she hired in the 1930s and who eventually became known as "the dean of American decorating". According to Baldwin, Wood's professional credo was: "The final judgement in decorating is not the logic of the mind, but the logic of the eye."
Ruby Ross Wood was seen as somewhat a new breed of female designer. She was not a wealthy socialite like Dorothy Draper or as glamorous as Rose Cumming. She was often said to be a chain-smoker, sharp tongued, impatient, and a "working" girl. Although she spent much of her life writing articles for design magazines, she was just as much of a designer then any of the others she is compared to.
In her own work Ruby Ross Wood ranged widely in terms of period, espousing 18th-century French furniture, Italian Directoire, English Regency, and English Georgian, as well the work of Jean-Michel Frank
and other modern designers, though sparingly. "She was a designer that chose the comforts of the past rather than the relative austerity of modernism." (Interior Design and Decoration, 5th ed. by Sherrill Whiton and Stanley Abercrombie; Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Education, Inc.: 2002. p. 575).
Ruby Ross Wood was also one of the first designers to use the Etruscan style furniture that was designed by a seldom heard, french designer Marc du Nicolas du Plantier. She also loved brown and white geometric Moroccan rugs, and one of, if not the first to import cotton print designs by Paule Marrot. Although her popularity in the design world seems small, she has had quite an impact in the New York City design scene.
Ruby Ross Wood died of lung cancer.
Background
She was born Ruby Ross Pope in Monticello, Georgia, the eldest daughter of a cotton broker and a descendant of several families prominent in America since Colonial times, including the Washingtons of Virginia and the Carrolls of Maryland.Her first husband was Wallace Field Goodnow, an engineer from a well-known Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
family; by him, she had one son, Philip, who died as an infant. Her second husband was Chalmers Wood, a socially well-connected stockbroker and fox hunter. They lived at Little Ipswich, an estate in Syosset, New York, which had been designed for them by the architect William Adams Delano
William Adams Delano
William Adams Delano , an American architect, was a partner with Chester Holmes Aldrich in the firm of Delano & Aldrich. The firm worked in the Beaux-Arts tradition for elite clients in New York City, Long Island and elsewhere, building townhouses, country houses, clubs, banks and buildings for...
. The house and outbuildings of the 29 acres (117,358.9 m²) property were leveled in the early 1990s and replaced by a 21-home housing development now known as Pironi Estates.
Career as journalist and interior decorator
Wood began her professional life as a journalist. After moving to New York City and later Boston in the early 1900s and using the byline Ruby Ross Goodnow (her first married name), she wrote fiction, poetry, and articles about interior design for The DelineatorThe Delineator
The Delineator was an American women's magazine of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founded by the Butterick Publishing Company in 1869 under the name The Metropolitan Monthly. Its name was changed in 1875. In November 1926, under the editorship of Mrs...
, a popular women's magazine, where her editor was Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of...
. She also wrote a well-regarded series of articles about architecture that became the basis of an equally popular book, The Honest House. Her Delineator articles under the byline of the interior decorator Elsie de Wolfe
Elsie de Wolfe
]Elsie de Wolfe was an American actress, interior decorator, nominal author of the influential 1913 book The House in Good Taste, and a prominent figure in New York, Paris, and London society...
formed the basis of de Wolfe's decorating manual The House in Good Taste, for which Goodnow also was the ghostwriter. She also ghostwrote de Wolfe's Ladies Home Journal articles, which later were adapted for The House in Good Taste and continued to contribute articles to leading shelter publications until her death.
Around 1914, Goodnow founded a design company called the Modernist Studios. Unfortunately, the undertaking failed due to New York City homeowners not being enamored of interiors inspired by the cutting-edge Wiener Werkstätte. However, she had found her calling. She soon joined the decorating staff of the John Wanamaker
John Wanamaker
John Wanamaker was a United States merchant, religious leader, civic and political figure, considered by some to be the father of modern advertising and a "pioneer in marketing." Wanamaker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Biography:He was born on July 11, 1838.He opened his first store in...
store in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where she ran Belmaison, a decorating division within the company, and worked with Nancy McClelland, who ran the Au Quatrième antiques department of the store. She established her own decorating firm in the 1920s. Among her clients were Alfred Vanderbilt, Rodman Wanamaker
Rodman Wanamaker
Lewis Rodman Wanamaker was a Republican and was a Presidential Elector for Pennsylvania in 1916. Wanamaker created aviation history by financing a two plane experimental seaplane class in response to a prize contest announcement by London's The Daily Mail newspaper in 1913 – the flying boat...
, and Brooke Astor
Brooke Astor
Roberta Brooke Astor was an American philanthropist and socialite who was the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, which had been established by her third husband, Vincent Astor, son of John Jacob Astor IV and great-great grandson of America's first multi-millionaire, John Jacob...
. Her best-known employee was Billy Baldwin (interior designer), whom she hired in the 1930s and who eventually became known as "the dean of American decorating". According to Baldwin, Wood's professional credo was: "The final judgement in decorating is not the logic of the mind, but the logic of the eye."
Ruby Ross Wood was seen as somewhat a new breed of female designer. She was not a wealthy socialite like Dorothy Draper or as glamorous as Rose Cumming. She was often said to be a chain-smoker, sharp tongued, impatient, and a "working" girl. Although she spent much of her life writing articles for design magazines, she was just as much of a designer then any of the others she is compared to.
In her own work Ruby Ross Wood ranged widely in terms of period, espousing 18th-century French furniture, Italian Directoire, English Regency, and English Georgian, as well the work of Jean-Michel Frank
Jean-Michel Frank
Jean-Michel Frank was a French interior designer known for minimalist interiors decorated with plain-lined but sumptuous furniture made of luxury materials, such as shagreen, mica, and intricate straw marquetry.-Life and career:...
and other modern designers, though sparingly. "She was a designer that chose the comforts of the past rather than the relative austerity of modernism." (Interior Design and Decoration, 5th ed. by Sherrill Whiton and Stanley Abercrombie; Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Education, Inc.: 2002. p. 575).
Ruby Ross Wood was also one of the first designers to use the Etruscan style furniture that was designed by a seldom heard, french designer Marc du Nicolas du Plantier. She also loved brown and white geometric Moroccan rugs, and one of, if not the first to import cotton print designs by Paule Marrot. Although her popularity in the design world seems small, she has had quite an impact in the New York City design scene.
Ruby Ross Wood died of lung cancer.