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Variations to a Theme
Overview
The exhibition, Variations to a Theme: William Haines at Sunnylands, spotlights the custom-made furniture and interior décor that the legendary designer William Haines created for the extraordinary home that Walter and Leonore Annenberg constructed in the Southern California desert between 1963 and 1966.
Along with the Annenbergs, a dream team of Haines, his design partner Ted Graber, architect A. Quincy Jones, and a variety of renowned landscape architects fashioned 200 acres of raw desert scrub into an iconic midcentury modern estate that, to this day, houses the largest extant collection of William Haines furnishings in the world. In his signature Hollywood Regency style, Haines designed and installed more than 450 pieces—cabinets, tables, consoles, chairs, lamps, etc.—for the 25,000-square-foot home.
The exhibition will be on view at Sunnylands Center for the 2024–2025 season.
A wide-angle view of the living room illustrates its mirrored suites of furniture, which echo mirrored architectural elements.
A view of the Room of Memories featuring paneled walls, a skylight, dropped ceilings, and abundant integrated storage.
Detail of a backgammon table with open legs and a secret drawer to stow away game pieces, and a conference chair in turquoise leather and walnut.
A set dining table with turned legs and gold tooling embellishments on brown tortoiseshell-pattern leather chairs. Round dining tables were preferred to avoid hierarchical, “head-of-table” seating.
A breakfast table with arrow-shaped legs and a marble top with Regency-style garden armchairs on mosaic tile “rug.”
Who is to say what is good taste what is bad? I don’t know what taste is. It’s like a fog … you can see it and feel it, but you can never touch it.
William Haines
Sandie Newton, host of Desert Chat, tours the William Haines exhibition with Anne Rowe, Sunnylands director of heritage.
Leonore Annenberg, William Haines, Ted Graber, A. Quincy Jones, among others, circa 1963.
The Pink Room features a glazed writing table with canted corners on tapered legs.
Sofa and ledge-back “Seniah” (“Haines” backward) chair with hand-printed sunflower fabric.
Variations to a Theme
The exhibition catalog, Variations to a Theme: William Haines at Sunnylands, was written by Frank Lopez, Sunnylands archivist and librarian, and Anne Rowe, Sunnylands director of heritage. The catalog also contains an informational Q&A with designer Patrick Dragonette, a well-known authority on Haines, who contributed his insights and furnished historical context to the Haines story at Sunnylands. The celebrated photographer David Loftus created
insightful photographs for this catalog, highlighting Haines’ extraordinary designs.
The catalog is available for purchase at the Sunnylands gift shop in store.
Photos from 'Variations to a Theme'
A variety of photographs from the catalog, “Variations to a Theme: William Haines at Sunnylands.” Please click on each image to view an enlarged version.
