Guest Speakers
« Antiques at the GardensAntiques at the Gardens is pleased to welcome these nationally and internationally acclaimed interior designers, floral designers, architects, landscape architects, and furniture designers to our annual show.
Martyn Lawrence Bullard
Red Diamond Lecture
Friday, October 2 | 11 a.m
Martyn Lawrence Bullard is a multi-award-winning Los Angeles-based interior designer and television personality renowned for his broad range of styles and eclectic, yet sophisticated and inviting interiors. A-list celebrity clients include RuPaul, Kylie Jenner, Cher, Kourtney Kardashian, Tommy Hilfiger, and Ellen Pompeo, to name a few. His third book, Star Style, showcases his globally-inspired properties and his rooms from an array of glitterati from the worlds of music, fashion, stage, and screen.
Martyn has been consistently named one of the world’s top 100 interior designers by Architectural Digest, featured permanently in ELLE Decor’s A-List, and named one of the top 25 designers by The Hollywood Reporter. Martyn’s current collaborations include brand partnerships with Ruggable, The Shade Store, Duchateau, La Cornue, Ann Sacks, Schumacher, The Rug Company, Corbett Lighting, Harbour, Cole & Sons, Christofle, and Perennials.
Ben Pentreath
Red Diamond Lecture
Friday, October 2 | 2 p.m.
Called one of the “best country house architects in Britain” and often described as the “go-to” designer to the British royal family, Ben Pentreath is an award-winning architectural designer and decorator whose work embodies the highest principles of traditional and classical architecture, as well as urbanism in contemporary society.
After working for five years in New York and then with the Prince’s Foundation, Ben started his own practice, Ben Pentreath Ltd, in 2004. Since then, the firm has grown to occupy two beautiful studios in Bloomsbury, London. Ben is also co-founder, with Bridie Hall, of Pentreath & Hall, one of London’s most distinctive interiors and decoration shops, located just around the corner from the Ben Pentreath Ltd studios. Ben is the author of English Decoration, English Houses, and An English Vision, newly out from Rizzoli. He is also a gifted writer, as a regular contributor to the Financial Times and running the Pentreath & Hall blog.
Rudy Saunders
Shop the show | Friday, October 3 | 9 a.m.
Stitch and breakfast | Saturday, October 4 | 9 a.m.
Rudy Saunders, Design Director of Dorothy Draper & Company, Inc., joined America’s oldest established and continually operating interior design firm in 2015 under the direction of his role model, Mr. Carleton Varney. Based in New York City, Rudy is involved with all aspects of the firm including designing colorful, bright, and fun residential interiors for discerning private clients across the U.S. and internationally. Additionally, he oversees the design direction of hospitality projects, including The Greenbrier in West Virginia and Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan.
Originally from Cincinnati, Rudy attended University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) where he received a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design. A prolific needle pointer, Rudy launched an exclusive needlepoint collection, R! by Rudy in 2020.
Thomas O’Brien
Saturday, October 4 | 11 a.m.| Followed by book signing.
Thomas O’Brien is an interior and home furnishings designer based in New York City. He is the founder and president of Aero Studios and the proprietor of home design stores Aero Ltd. and Copper Beech. His work spans from the design of private residences to distinguished product partnerships to the curated lifestyles of his stores. His mix of modern and traditional ideas extends to his Thomas O’Brien home furnishings, with furniture, lighting, tableware and giftware, carpets, and plumbing fittings made for both fine and daily living. He is regularly named to top lists such as the AD-100, and his work has been featured in various leading publications, including Architectural Digest, ELLE Decor, House Beautiful, The New York Times, Time, Town & Country, and VERANDA. He is the author of three design books: the best-selling American Modern, AERO: Beginning to Now, and Library House. He lives in Manhattan and Bellport, New York.
The panel is moderated by Dara Caponigro, chief creative officer of FS&CO, the 132-year-old American company that comprises Schumacher, Patterson Flynn, Backdrop; and Frederic Media, where she is editor in chief. She is also the creative director of Schumacher.
Katie Ridder
Saturday, October 4 |11 a.m.| Followed by book signing.
With clients from Switzerland to Kentucky, Katie Ridder, lead principal at Katie Ridder Inc., has been commissioned to design the interiors of spaces as varied as Japanese pavilions, Palm Beach estates, Park Avenue apartments, and downtown lofts. Her successful wallpaper and fabric lines are represented at Holland & Sherry showrooms throughout the country, as well as in Europe. Her work has been published in Architectural Digest, ELLE Decor, VERANDA, Town & Country, House & Garden, House Beautiful, The New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. Katie’s first book, Rooms, was published in 2011. A House in the Country, co-authored with her husband, architect Peter Pennoyer, features the couple’s house and garden in Millbrook, New York. Katie’s latest book, More Rooms, was published in September 2020.
The panel is moderated by Dara Caponigro, chief creative officer of FS&CO, the 132-year-old American company that comprises Schumacher, Patterson Flynn, Backdrop; and Frederic Media, where she is editor in chief. She is also the creative director of Schumacher.
Dara Caponigro
Saturday, October 4 | 11 a.m. | Followed by book signing.
Dara Caponigro is chief creative officer of FS&CO, the 132-year-old American company that comprises Schumacher, Patterson Flynn, Backdrop, and Frederic Media, where she is editor in chief. She is also the creative director of Schumacher. Caponigro is the author of several books: The Authentics; Domino, the Book of Decorating; S Is for Style: The Schumacher Book of Decoration; and her latest, Decorate Like a Decorator: All You Need to Know to Design like a Pro.
She is a longtime trailblazer in the magazine industry as the former Editor-in-Chief of VERANDA, a founding editor of Domino, and the decoration director of both ELLE Décor and House Beautiful. She lives in the Bronx with her husband, David Steinberger, and their two children, Sofia and Stefan. Their homes have been published in House Beautiful, ELLE Decor, VERANDA, Domino, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Frederic.
The panel is moderated by Dara Caponigro, chief creative officer of FS&CO, the 132-year-old American company that comprises Schumacher, Patterson Flynn, Backdrop; and Frederic Media, where she is editor in chief. She is also the creative director of Schumacher.
Jane Scott Hodges
Saturday, October 4 | 2 p.m. | Followed by book signing.
Jane Scott Hodges, founder and CEO of Leontine Linens, is an entrepreneur and lifestyle authority known for influencing couture linens for everyday use and establishing their relevance in contemporary life and entertaining. She also took the heritage-driven concept of the monogram and rejuvenated it with a modern sensibility, incorporating unique styles and unexpected color. She is the author of Linens: For Every Room & Occasion. Her linens have been featured in House Beautiful, ELLE Decor, Traditional Home, Frederic, FLOWER, and Town & Country. She and her husband Philip make their home in a restored Greek Revival in New Orleans’ Garden District.
The panel is moderated by Margot Shaw, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of FLOWER Magazine.
Elaine Griffin
Saturday, October 4 | 2 p.m. | Followed by book signing.
Interior designer and tastemaker Elaine Griffin is the former contributing editor, design, for Better Homes & Gardens; designed the Good Works Makeovers for Oprah’s O at Home; was a contributing/special projects editor at ELLE Decor; and is a contributing editor at FLOWER magazine. Her eponymous design firm, Elaine Griffin at Home, operates from the Golden Isles of Coastal Georgia—St. Simons Island, Sea Island, Jekyll Island and Brunswick—and New York City.
She began her design career in the office of architectural behemoth Peter Marino. She is the author of the best-selling how-to book, Design Rules: The Insider’s Guide to Becoming Your Own Decorator. A graduate of Yale University with an honorary Ph.D. from the New York School of Interior Design, Elaine divides her time between her native Coastal Georgia and New York City.
The panel is moderated by Margot Shaw, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of FLOWER Magazine.
Rebecca Gardner
Saturday, October 4 | 2 p.m.| Followed by book signing.
Rebecca Gardner is the founder and creative director of Houses & Parties, a full-service events, interior design, and retail collective based in Savannah, Georgia and New York City. She has been named a top event designer by Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Her design work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest, T Magazine, ELLE Decor, Town & Country, and The Financial Times. Her online shop, Houses & Parties, offers unnecessaries for devotees of the elegant and unusual in shoppable collections that feature the same style, wit, and treasure that defines her client work. Rebecca’s first book A Screaming Blast will be published in September 2025 by Rizzoli.
The panel is moderated by Margot Shaw, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of FLOWER Magazine.
Jimmie Henslee
Saturday, October 5 | 3:30 p.m.
Dallas-based interior stylist, floral designer, artist, and illustrator Jimmie Henslee is much sought-after in the design and publishing worlds. His creations have appeared in countless publications, including Frederic, Vogue, FLOWER, Architectural Digest, Southern Living, VERANDA, and catalogs by retailers such as Kravet, Neiman Marcus, Horchow, and Wisteria. His illustrations are featured in P. Gayle Tapp’s book, How They Decorated: Inspiration from Great Women of the Twentieth Century. He has also collaborated on rooms for several Kips Bay Show Houses.
Marshall Watson
Floral Workshop
Saturday, October 4 | 3:30 p.m.
A subtle blend of transatlantic and American design philosophies suffuses New York-based designer Marshall Watson’s work. Classic elegance is his hallmark. A native of Kansas City, Marshall Watson received his bachelor of arts from Stanford University and founded his design firm, Marshall Watson Interiors, in 1986. His designs have appeared on the covers of Architectural Digest, VERANDA, Traditional Home, Ocean Home, and Hamptons Cottages and Gardens, and his interiors have also been richly explored in publications including House Beautiful, LUXE Interiors + Design, The New York Times, Interior Design, and many others. He also received Traditional Home’s “Designer of the Year” award. Marshall is the author of The Art of Elegance and the recently released Defining Elegance.
Richard Keith Langham
Alabama born and Manhattan based, Keith has been a force in the decorating world for more than 30 years. After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and studying at the Study Center for the History of Fine and Decorative Arts in London, he then apprenticed with design legend Mark Hampton.
Keith spent 10 years with Irvine & Fleming before founding his own firm in 1990. His keen eye and ebullient talent serve well in assembling his signature rooms—those that speak to the past in a fresh way and are brimming with luscious color, pattern, and couture detailing. Perhaps no one summed up his aesthetics more than Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who once proclaimed him to have “a sorcerer’s eye.”
Jon Carloftis
Sunday, October 4 | 2 p.m.
Nationally renowned garden designer Jon Carloftis prides himself on his Kentucky roots and sincerely believes that the Bluegrass state is home to some of the world’s most enchanting and inspired gardens. He returned to Kentucky after creating rooftop gardens in New York City for over two decades.
His work has been featured in many publications including Garden & Gun, Southern Living, Country Gardens, Country Home, Garden Design, House Beautiful, Martha Stewart Living, and Metropolitan Home. He received a landscape design award from the City of New York and is the author of First a Garden, Beyond the Windowsill, Beautiful Gardens of Kentucky, and Jon Carloftis Fine Gardens. He lives with his beloved yellow Labrador retrievers in a restored circa 1851 home in downtown Lexington, surrounded by an acre of gardens.
The panel is moderated by Hadley is a longtime design writer and editor currently serving as director of editorial and community engagement at the Design Leadership Network.
Steve and Brooke Giannetti
Sunday, October 4 | 2 p.m.
Steve Giannetti, a renowned architect, and Brooke, an interior designer, are known for their love of patina to create a sense of history and authenticity. Brooke’s popular design blog, Velvet & Linen, showcased the beauty of Steve’s drawings and the architecture and interiors of homes they designed, including their own Patina Farm in California. After designing a client’s property in Nashville, Brooke and Steve fell in love with the area, acquiring and relocating to a 100-acre property, Patina Meadow.
Today, the property consists of the main residence, a renovated 1850s log cabin; a newly built apartment for family and guests; pastures and woodlands; a cutting garden, greenhouses; and a shed for educational and community events. They also opened a shop, Patina Home and Garden, in Leipers Fork. The Giannettis have authored several books: Patina Style, Patina Farm, Patina Living, Patina Homes, and recently, Patina Homes & Gardens.
The panel is moderated by Hadley is a longtime design writer and editor currently serving as director of editorial and community engagement at the Design Leadership Network.
Ray Booth
Sunday, October 4 | 2 p.m.
Ray Booth is a principal partner at the esteemed firm McAlpine. Based out of offices in Nashville and New York City, his innovative approach to design infuses spaces with a keen sense of place and tranquility and layered and bold details.
As an Alabama native and alumnus of Auburn University’s School of Architecture, Ray’s love of house and home was nurtured in the American South. Ray has an acclaimed furniture collection for Hickory Chair and a decorative lighting collection with Visual Comfort & Co. As an AD 100 Designer, his work has graced the covers and pages of Architectural Digest, VERANDA, House Beautiful, Hamptons Cottage & Gardens, and many others. He is the author of the best-selling book Evocative Interiors and most recently, The Expressive Home. Ray shares his life and homes in New York and Nashville with his husband John Shea.
The panel is moderated by Hadley is a longtime design writer and editor currently serving as director of editorial and community engagement at the Design Leadership Network.