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118 I n the foreword for Veere Grenney: A Point of View (Rizzoli, $65), Vogue editor at large Hamish Bowles recalls a 1970s dinner party at the Villa Léon l'Africain in Morocco that changed Grenney's world forever. The host, a former director at Sotheby's, had retired to the villa with his collected treasures, creating a suave orbit "that was nothing short of revelatory." A medley of English and continental furniture and objects from different centuries and cultures, the villa was a backdrop for visitors the likes of Cecil Beaton who, after suffering a stroke, sketched its interiors with a quavering hand. "The memory of these rooms would inform the delightful interiors that Veere would assemble for himself and his lucky clients through decades to come," writes Bowles. Travels to Morocco, Nepal, Turkey, and elsewhere coalesced into Grenney's version of the classic English interior, for which the AD100 designer has become famous. An Anglophile even as a child, New Zealand- born Grenney finally settled in London, where he dealt antiques on Portobello Road. He later apprenticed under designer Mary Fox Linton and her partner, David Hicks, who became a lifelong friend and inspiration. Grenney ran Linton's Fulham Road showroom for years, nurturing contemporary furniture designers such as a young David Linley, then studying under John Makepeace. Grenney later joined the interior design arm of Colefax and Fowler, celebrated for its English country house look. During the 1950s, Colefax and AN ENGLISHMAN ABROAD Fowler co-owner Nancy Lancaster was acclaimed for drenching her drawing room in yellow. For better or worse, the cheerful color impacted Grenney's work for decades. "All we ever did up until 1993 were yellow drawing rooms," he writes. In 1997, Grenney launched his namesake fi rm in London with an auspicious start. He reworked the interiors for Hicks' summerhouse in Suffolk, a spectacular 18th-century folly dubbed The Temple, which Hicks rescued in the late 1950s. A miniature yet perfectly balanced Palladian villa, the estate is set along a tailored garden and tree-lined canal. Grenney bought The Temple in 1985 and lives there with partner David Oliver, design director of the Paint and Paper Library in London. The sumptuous pink wall color of its salon even made its way into Grenney's line of fabrics for Schumacher. The 200-year-old folly is included in his new book. Veere Grenney will sign copies of his book, Veere Grenney: A Point of View (Rizzoli, $65), Thursday, October 4, 5 - 7 pm, at Schumacher in the Dallas Design Center, 1025 N. Stemmons Freeway. By invitation; call or email for information, jcampbell@fsco.com, 214.748.3331. B Y R E B E C C A S H E R M A N QUINTESSENTIAL BRITISH DECORATOR VEERE GRENNEY BRINGS HIS POINT OF VIEW TO DALLAS. Plaster palm trees. Royal Worchester plates, circa 1815. John Fowler-inspired fi replace. English boot room, with brick fl oors and boarded walls. Veere Grenney