Made With Love: A Design For More Than Just A Client

The multigenerational aspect of Palm Beach is represented in the design of this room, as well as in the story behind it.

Interior designer Caroline Rafferty shares the story behind a room whose owner was very close to her heart.

A room can be just a room, a common place for sleeping, eating, dressing, escaping or inviting—It can also be so much more than a room. For Caroline Rafferty and her late grandmother Marjorie S. Fisher, one particular bedroom is a testament to the latter. The elegant Palm Beach quarters, once home to Fisher, now holds a very special memory of times well spent for Rafferty, co-owner of The Grand Tour and local interior designer, who was asked to decorate the space by her beloved grandmother. “Designing this custom bedroom for my grandmother was a true labor of love,” says Rafferty. “Dearie” as her grandmother was warmly referred to, was married to Max Fisher, an oil and real estate tycoon, and left behind an iconic legacy in Palm Beach, pouring her time into numerous charities and organizations, and championing for Jewish causes all over the world. Says Rafferty: “We were always so close, and she was so spunky.

When she started slowing down, I wanted to create a bedroom for her that she could feel comfortable in.” Complete with a ladylike sofa, a storied cocktail table and a feminine color palette of pinks and reds (inspired by Dearie’s iconic lipstick), the bedroom grew into so much more for Dearie, serving as a salon where guests could visit and grandchildren could swipe candies from the well-stocked Lucite jars. A television, built to rise up from the bed, featured ruched detailing, harmonizing with the rest of the room’s old-school touches. The two worked together, picking pink linen by Clarence House Textiles to highlight the walls, adding a custom silk rug from Studio Four and hanging vintage Italian sconces, which now have a new purpose in Rafferty’s parents’ dining room—a lovely testament to Dearie. This Palm Beach Regency home’s design is a tribute to the client—a client that means so much to so many, but, most importantly, to the designer herself.