Interview: Interior Designer William Hodgins

Stacy Kunstel, Homes Editor: When did you know that interior design was what you wanted to do with your life?
William Hodgins: I wanted to do it in high school and college, but didn't think it was possible. I grew up in Canada, and going away to college wasn't possible. But then I came to the conclusion that you spend half of your conscious life at work so you better like it.

SK: You worked for one of the most famous interior design firms in the country at one time. What was it like to be under the tutelage of Sister Parish and Albert Hadley?
WH: It was pretty scary at first. I wasn't very sure of myself and was suddenly in this environment of very fine residential work. Both Mrs. Parish and Albert were very caring about their clients. In my five years there, I learned great respect for clients' opinions. It also gave me an assurance I didn't have before. Mrs. Parish and I had a very close relationship. We could laugh and have lunch and carry on. I always called her Mrs. Parish. Sometimes I called her “Madam.” She liked that. She had a wonderful sense of humor, a killing sense of humor.

SK: What was the impetus behind your move from New York to Boston?
WH: After five years at Parish-Hadley I didn't think my work would have much of a place in Canada, where I'd grown up. I'd visited Boston often with friends and liked it. I thought all of Boston looked like Beacon Hill, so it was sort of a shock to me. I worked out of my apartment at 191 Comm. Ave. It was very nice and had a nice hall. I set my secretary in the hall. At the end of the day we would put her typewriter under the desk. It was great fun working there.

SK: What was your first big break?
WH: We did a home in Newport. I sent the photographs of it to a friend and Paige Rense ended up seeing it and put it on the cover of Architectural Digest. Getting published certainly bolsters your reputation, and people are more likely to consider you for a job.

SK: Is there a signature William Hodgins look?
WH: No, there isn't. The most signature thing about it you can say is that it's a clean and slightly simple traditional work. We pay attention to lighting in a room and the lights placed in them. I do work in that tradition of chintz and Georgian and French and English eighteenth- and nineteenth-century furniture, but always skimmed down, with a contemporary look and feel to the space.

SK: IF there's no signature look, why do clients choose you?
WH: I think they see our homes and apartments and like that they are attractive and comfortable and appropriate. We use very comfortable furniture, which is sort of the base of the living rooms and libraries that we do. The character comes from things around the upholstered pieces, whether it be an empire chair or a Louis XVI card table.

SK: What kind of changes have you seen in the interior design business during your career?
WH: I find clients more open to change; they have more opinions about things. They're more aware of different aspects of how their homes can look. There's more of an inclination to make things comfortable and convenient. I remember when what it looked like was more important. That's really changed in the last ten years. I like it.

SK: What are a room's most important elements?
WH: A sense of clarity and openness and comfortable places to go to. It can't be cluttered. Clutter is the most uncomfortable aspect of a room.

SK: What do you think about all of the new high-rises and this new modern aesthetic in old Beantown?
WH: I just hope it doesn't get to be like Miami.