Marion Hall Best: a profile

Marion Hall Best: a profile originally published in Sydney Morning Herald’s Domain section May 2005

By Alex May

Marion Hall Best was an interior design legend in her own luridly coloured lifetime.
The modernist designer, entrepreneur and artists’ friend is now commemorated on the State Heritage Register, with the listing of Wollongong’s Regent Theatre which has a 1957 Hall Best-designed foyer.
The foyer has her signature deep pink, chartreuse and aquamarine glazed paintwork, works by artists like Dora Sweetapple, Douglas Annand and Gordon Andrews and back-lit rice paper pressed with real butterflies.
Murray Brown from the NSW Heritage Office says the listing is the first to commemorate the designer, who did very few commercial interiors.
“The Regent Theatre really was her major piece of work and this is the only such listing,” he says.
According to Friends of the Regent Theatre, who lobbied to have the theatre protected, the Regent Theatre is the only surviving commercial interior executed by Marion Hall Best.
Friends of the Regent Theatre member Margie Rahmann says the Art Deco building was an empty shell throughout the 1940s and 1950s until the theatre owners asked Marion Hall Best to make it “draw the crowd and be a financial success”.
The designer, who is fondly remembered for her wild Woollahra shop, proudly proclaimed she could not stand the colour beige and brought bold Marrimeko fabrics, colourful Kosta Boda glass and fine furnishings by Charles and Ray Eames to Australia.
She also fostered local design talents like Gordon Andrews – who designed Australia’s decimal currency - and Clement Meadmore, Douglas Annand and Grant Featherstone.
Her dazzlingly coloured designs were not popular with everyone, and her commercial interiors for the Elanora Country Club and Elizabeth Arden Salon were redone within 18 months of commission.
Marion Hall Best even wrote: “I used to cry at night about it … they said ‘Marion puts spinach in the paint’. I was desperately hurt, but I never doubted what I was doing”.
Hall Best created a business empire importing international design objects and designing residential interiors for Sydney’s wealth set.
According to author Michaela Richards’ book The Best Style, Marion Hall Best studied architecture and was one of the first professionals to call herself an interior designer rather than a decorator.
Bryan Fitzgerald, a mid-twentieth century design collector and part owner of Chee Soon Fitzgerald, says Marion Hall Best was the first truly international designer Australia had.
“Up until she came along, everyone wanted something English but she not only brought international design to this country, but also promoted Australian art and design,” he says.
“She was also very well connected in Sydney society, so people thought it was very special to have a Marion Hall Best interior.”
Her little shop in Sydney’s bohemian retail quarter of Rowe St – which was an adjunct to the large Woollahra store - was once a hive of artistic activity courtesy of the art students she employed to serve customers.
Artist Antonia Black, who now lives in London, worked in the Rowe St store in the early 1950s and says “ma’am created the most wonderful shoe box of a shop with red wallpaper and white Japanese calligraphy”.
The Rowe St shop, which was run with Marion’s sister Dora Sweetapple, was next door to the fashionable coffee shop Galleria “and we had an interconnecting door so we could get our iced coffees”.
“We had no idea that we were selling such wonderful things –we sold Italian glass, Aboriginal artefacts and painters that became very famous later on,” Black says.
“Mrs Sweetie (Dora Sweetapple) commissioned me to do a mosaic mural and I would work on it in the store and serve customers in between – it was all rather amusing.”
Fitzgerald is also the vice president of the Rowe St Society, which is trying to preserve memories and objects from Rowe St quarter of Sydney’s CBD which is where the MLC Centre now stands.
He says Marion Hall Best was a classic example of someone who could marry craft and design to art.
“Rather than it all just being something you sell, it makes it something more. The art is really important,” he says.
The Gateway City Church now owns the Regent Theatre, and although the church initially opposed the heritage listing, it is happy for design connoisseurs to pay a visit.
“We want to do the grand old lady justice and plenty of people are inundating us to come and have a look-see,” church spokesman Jonathan Jooste says.
He says there will be an opening ceremony later in the year – which the public can attend - but everyone is welcome to visit the regular Sunday church services at the Keira St building.


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Marion Hall Best: a profile originally published in Sydney Morning Herald’s Domain section May 2005 By Alex May Marion Hall Best was an interior design legend in her own luridly coloured lifetime. The modernist designer, entrepreneur and artists’ friend is now commemorated on the State Heritage Register, with the listing of Wollongong’s Regent Theatre which has a 1957 Hall Best-designed foyer. The foyer has her signature deep pink, chartreuse and aquamarine glazed paintwork, works by artists like Dora Sweetapple, Douglas Annand and Gordon Andrews and back-lit rice paper pressed with real butterflies. Murray Brown from the NSW Heritage Office says the listing is the first to commemorate the designer, who did very few commercial interiors. “The Regent Theatre really was her major piece of work and this is the only such listing,” he says. According to Friends of the Regent Theatre, who lobbied to have the theatre protected, the Regent Theatre is the only surviving commercial interior executed by Marion Hall Best. Friends of the Regent Theatre member Margie Rahmann says the Art Deco building was an empty shell throughout the 1940s and 1950s until the theatre owners asked Marion Hall Best to make it “draw the crowd and be a financial success”. The designer, who is fondly remembered for her wild Woollahra shop, proudly proclaimed she could not stand the colour beige and brought bold Marrimeko fabrics, colourful Kosta Boda glass and fine furnishings by Charles and Ray Eames to Australia. She also fostered local design talents like Gordon Andrews – who designed Australia’s decimal currency - and Clement Meadmore, Douglas Annand and Grant Featherstone. Her dazzlingly coloured designs were not popular with everyone, and her commercial interiors for the Elanora Country Club and Elizabeth Arden Salon were redone within 18 months of commission. Marion Hall Best even wrote: “I used to cry at night about it … they said ‘Marion puts spinach in the paint’. I was desperately hurt, but I never doubted what I was doing”. Hall Best created a business empire importing international design objects and designing residential interiors for Sydney’s wealth set. According to author Michaela Richards’ book The Best Style, Marion Hall Best studied architecture and was one of the first professionals to call herself an interior designer rather than a decorator. Bryan Fitzgerald, a mid-twentieth century design collector and part owner of Chee Soon Fitzgerald, says Marion Hall Best was the first truly international designer Australia had. “Up until she came along, everyone wanted something English but she not only brought international design to this country, but also promoted Australian art and design,” he says. “She was also very well connected in Sydney society, so people thought it was very special to have a Marion Hall Best interior.” Her little shop in Sydney’s bohemian retail quarter of Rowe St – which was an adjunct to the large Woollahra store - was once a hive of artistic activity courtesy of the art students she employed to serve customers. Artist Antonia Black, who now lives in London, worked in the Rowe St store in the early 1950s and says “ma’am created the most wonderful shoe box of a shop with red wallpaper and white Japanese calligraphy”. The Rowe St shop, which was run with Marion’s sister Dora Sweetapple, was next door to the fashionable coffee shop Galleria “and we had an interconnecting door so we could get our iced coffees”. “We had no idea that we were selling such wonderful things –we sold Italian glass, Aboriginal artefacts and painters that became very famous later on,” Black says. “Mrs Sweetie (Dora Sweetapple) commissioned me to do a mosaic mural and I would work on it in the store and serve customers in between – it was all rather amusing.” Fitzgerald is also the vice president of the Rowe St Society, which is trying to preserve memories and objects from Rowe St quarter of Sydney’s CBD which is where the MLC Centre now stands. He says Marion Hall Best was a classic example of someone who could marry craft and design to art. “Rather than it all just being something you sell, it makes it something more. The art is really important,” he says. The Gateway City Church now owns the Regent Theatre, and although the church initially opposed the heritage listing, it is happy for design connoisseurs to pay a visit. “We want to do the grand old lady justice and plenty of people are inundating us to come and have a look-see,” church spokesman Jonathan Jooste says. He says there will be an opening ceremony later in the year – which the public can attend - but everyone is welcome to visit the regular Sunday church services at the Keira St building.