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Peek Inside the Home of Irreverent Interior Designer John Phifer Marrs

Irreverent interior designer John Phifer Marrs has a Saturday Night Live sense of humor and a ranch house full of fine antiques. And it works.
By D Magazine |

Should you ever spot an open seat next to John Phifer Marrs at a party, do yourself a favor: Take it. Sure, the noted interior designer could regale you with tales about his prominent clients—he was responsible for Harlan Crow’s library transformation. Chances are, he won’t say a word about it —I had to drag it out of him. Like many in his business, he’s knowledgeable on matters of taste, design, antiques, and art. But Marrs imparts information with a wink, taking nothing too seriously and keeping everything fun. It’s unlikely that he will ever be confused with Martha Stewart. On the topic of entertaining: “I think if the food is good, and you have pretty things to put it on, then that’s fine. Enough booze and everything looks good. Even the people.”

ABOVE LEFT: Interior designer John Phifer Marrs enjoys entertaining in his sitting room. Marrs has been a piano student for years, so when it was time to buy, he chose this Chickering piano.  Behind him, a coromandel screen and a 1950s sunburst mirror lend inspiration. His antique French Charles X mahongany center table with marble top gets a touch of whimsey thanks to the Dresden porcelain monkey. ABOVE RIGHT: Marrs reads the paper on his chaise in the study every morning, bathed in eastern light. He inherited the Asian hand-painted silk battle scene from a friend. It hangs over a French-style black lacquer and red leather-topped desk.

Marrs’ irreverence is evident throughout his rambling Royal Lane residence—it’s not mid-century
modern,” he states matter-of-factly. “It’s 1950s ranch.” He found the 2,600-square-foot, three bedroom, two-and-a-half bath house nine years ago, and he knew almost immediately that it was a fit. “It’s what I call a ‘friendly house’—it had a good feeling. It just needed tweaking,” he says. He set about removing the carpet, redoing the hardwoods. Some of the things he initially hated about the house grew on him in time. The glassed-in patio, for example. “It was just really bad,” he laughs. “But I hate bugs, and I hate to be hot.” So he kept it, added some selections from his stash of hooked rugs, and christened it his “Sister Parish” room. Whether he’s reading the paper or hosting a dinner party, “It’s become everyone’s favorite room.”

Marrs’ numerous collections pop up in unexpected places throughout the house. His collection of modern art mixes nicely with antique chests and myriad crystal decanters. Then there’s his collection of white ceramic industrial glove molds, which when gathered on a windowsill or tabletop, look surreal and sculptural rather than kooky. “I love art work, and I’m not limited to any particular style, period, or time. Some of it’s whimsical, and some of it’s more serious,” he says. “I was so busy putting together furniture (when he was first starting out as a decorator) thinking you had to have a sofa, chairs, and tables, and all that stuff. But if I had to do it all over again, I’d sit on a futon, and put all of my money in art.”

ABOVE LEFT: Along with his Parian ware busts, John Marrs has a vast collection of ironstone china in the English Etruscan Vases pattern by Gildea & Walker, dating back to the 1881—he’s been collecting it for more than 10 years. His dining room table has three leaves, but he says, “In this room, I limit dinner parties to six people.” ABOVE RIGHT: A sitting area in John Marrs’ bedroom offers a peaceful refuge. “The art that I really enjoy looking at, and the things that I really like, I put in my bedroom,” he says. “My little mud men are there on the secretary. I can see them—and their little bald heads—in the morning.” Landscapes—both old and new—adorn the walls. “I’ve just gotten into these wonderful little watercolors by artists that no one has ever heard of,” he says.

He’s got more antique china in the cupboards and hanging on the walls than most people’s grandmothers own in a lifetime, but there’s nothing Old Lady about the way Marrs displays it. Mixed with his dramatically simple, chalk-white Parian ware and set against an unexpected, cantaloupe-colored background, the dining room looks fresh and fun, not stuffy. Marrs’ favorite everyday plates are antique Blue Italian transfer ware from Spode. “Why not have pretty things to put a sandwich from Eatzi’s on and enjoy?” he asks, rhetorically.

True, Marrs loves the good life. He may have several authentic Mirós hanging in his living room, but he also has a collection of mud men in his bedroom. Essentially a tourist item from China, these little fat men made out of, well, mud, come in number of bright colors—though the hands and faces remain unglazed. “You’ve seen them,” Marrs says, “And you think, ‘Why would he want that?’ But they’re all different. They have great faces with great expressions. I like bald heads, too. If it has a bald head and a great expression, I’m all over it,” he winks.

ABOVE LEFT: Olga, a 14-year-old dachshund, is the lady of the house. She pays homage to a secretary that was once his grandmother’s. It has become one of Marrs’ most prized possessions. “I met this wonderful faux finish artist, and I told her—take it—see what you can do. About a year later, she brought it back, and it was just magnificent.” It looks like yellow bird’s eye, but it is not. It houses some antique children books that Marrs has collected through the years. ABOVE RIGHT: John Marrs advises clients who can only afford to do one room to choose the master bedroom. Why? “It’s the first thing you see in the morning, and the last thing you see at night,” he says. Marrs heeds his own advice. His bed is a simple pine reproduction, “a masculine four-poster bed.” Some of the decorating books he has amassed throughout the years sit at the foot of the bed, and a 19th century oil landscape hangs by the window.

“The art that I really enjoy, the mud men, the things that I really like, I put in my bedroom.” He further advises, “I tell a lot of clients if you’re starting off and you can only do one room, I suggest the master bedroom. Everyone wants to do the living room so they can show off. But your house should have a sense of harmony. The bedroom is the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing you see at night. So if you can, why not wake up in a beautiful space?”

John Marrs peruses the newspaper in his kitchen surrounded by more transfer ware from the 1880s. The brick cook top was originally an indoor barbecue of sorts from the 1950s. He had it converted to gas and added an antique iron fire back.

The Arkansas native comes by his penchant for collection honestly. Says Marrs: “I grew up in a family that kept everything, and so there were always things around that had been owned by someone I liked or admired or loved.” But when pressed, he admits, “I think a good collector needs to learn how to edit, and I haven’t learned that lesson yet. I’m trying to learn that instead of ten things, edit it down to three of the finest. Sell the rest, and upgrade.”

It would be a shame if Marrs edited himself too much. He has a rare gift, evident in his collections, designs, and dinner parties: He enhances his exceptional taste with a great sense of humor. “Nobody has costume parties anymore,” he laments when the subject of Halloween comes up. “Why don’t we do one in October? We can do it at the house. It’ll be fun.” When I mentioned my planned costume, he complains, “You’re not supposed to tell me. I was supposed to guess. I was going to be Wonder Woman, too.”

Keep your eyes open for that empty seat. It’ll be well worth it.

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