How Jeffrey Alan Marks found the perfect mix of British formality and California beach vibes

0:03This is Business of Home. I'm your host, Dennis Scully. Every week I'll be speaking with leaders and innovators from all corners of the home industry. My guest this week is interior designer Jeffrey Allen Marks. A Californian native, Jeffrey studied extensively in England as a young designer and brought back a healthy dose of British style when he returned to Los Angeles to launch his career. He became a star as a cast member of Bravo's Million Dollar Decorators, but ever since has focused on the work, creating lines for Kravit, Palachek, and A. Rudin, and designing homes all over the world. I spoke with Jeffrey about finding a blend of English formality and L.A.

0:51beach culture, why his own homes always got more attention than big budget projects for clients, and why he doesn't like to jump headfirst into new projects too quickly.

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3:01You know, it's funny. We grew up together in La Jolla, and he was my first. He bought the most beautiful house I'd ever seen for someone that was probably mid-20s at the time in La Jolla and didn't know quite what to do with it. So we tackled it together. You know, he didn't hire me to do the whole thing, but it was fun to start a couple of rooms and really make them seem. It was really a fun project. Well, so it sounds like it was sort of a friend project then, yes? It was a friend's project. Well, it was my first, actually, I was charging him. It was like, oh, I didn't think that I was doing this wonderful career and I actually was making money from it.

3:48So yeah, it was my first computer. That's how many years ago it was. And I said to my mom who bought it for me, mom, are you sure I need this? So she would come in twice a week and help me bill. So that was the first bill that my mom generated to Michael Bruno. Well, thank goodness she was there to give you that guidance. Absolutely. Absolutely. My second job from there was, I remember it was a house in Rancho Santa Fe that she had me picked up at my office and brought me to this beautiful compound in Rancho Santa Fe. So I was very lucky with my first projects. They happened to own Toyota. So that tells you what kind of client they were.

4:37And she flew me off to Telluride. And she was doing this sort of beautiful 20 ,000 square foot hunting lodge as a surprise gift for her husband for his birthday. and imagine hiding that for, you know, the construction phase, which was at least four years. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, she was a fan of my work and I didn't know that anyone could be a fan of my work cause there was no work. How did you know your work? I don't know. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. So that was fun. So take me back. You went off to London for design school or something. I I mean, help me better understand. So I was in design school in Arizona and San Diego.

5:21I went to design schools, but I felt like instinctively I didn't, I wasn't quite getting the true knack of decoration. And back then it was a very different thing because it was very architecturally driven, which is what my education was in, but I didn't have that true art of decorating. So I decided to move myself off to England at the time and London in particular. And this is after almost six years of college. So my parents were like, no, we're good. We're done. We're out. We may buy you a computer when you start your business, but no. Okay. Well, so six years. So what had you been doing the six years in college?

6:08I was in architecture school at Arizona State. and then I went to a small design school, Design Institute of San Diego, which was a small interiors school. That's all they did. It was very small. So then I decided I was sitting there at a cafe in London, in Sloan Square, wondering how I was going to tackle this design school that was just around the corner and how I was going to basically live in London and afford to live in London at the time. And someone sat down next to me and said, hey, have you ever thought about modeling? And I'm like, well, wow, I was on a college calendar, you know, but that's it.

6:54And so he gave me a card and said, why don't you show up tomorrow at 10 o 'clock and we will take some pictures and we will introduce you to the crew that ran the agency. There were about four or five bookers that work there. So I showed up. And then the very next day, they said, oh, you're perfect. We don't have any pictures of you, but we have a job for you. And it's in Nottingham. And I'm like, where is Nottingham? In the forest from all we know, right? All new to London, let alone Nottingham. So somehow found my way to Nottingham the next day, showed up at 9 o 'clock. huge tent. It was very glamorous.

7:40There was a lot going on. And it was very new to fashion or anything else. So I didn't know what that meant. And then this guy started coming in and they put a suit on me and it was baggy and horrible. And he came in and he started tailoring it and pinning it. And I said, I'm sorry, who are you? I'm so sorry, I haven't met you. They haven't told me what I'm doing? He said, oh, I'm so sorry. I am Paul Smith. Wow. And you're doing my fall collection. And I'm so sorry you didn't know what you were doing or who I am. And I'm like, okay, Paul Smith, I've never heard of you. And did you know who that was?

8:23Did you know who Paul Smith was at the time? No, I had no clue. I mean, really, it's when Paul Smith was quite young. He wasn't Sir Paul Smith at this time. He was not Sir Paul Smith. And he had a little beautiful store in Covet Garden. And I think he just had one store at the time. So we did his fall collection. And it was quite fun. And from there, I did, you know, I did, at the time, there was this fashion brand in England called Next. And I modeled for them a bit. And I modeled for Marks and Spencer, which is a big department store there and started to generate money in just the amount of three weeks.

9:06I started doing all this and could absolutely afford my tuition, absolutely afford my rent. And my parents called. They said, well, do you need a one-way ticket home? And I'm like, you know what? I'm good. I'm good. Yeah, I found a whole new career. I'm living large in London. So that really helped me ground my eye on the world to know that there was more to life than American design. So suddenly you were becoming a man of the world. And do I remember that at some point you get connected with John Stephanides? You know, I worked, I was a stock boy at Colfax and Fowler and I put samples away. And I sort of learned and watched and loved their style at the time.

9:59And then I, you know, that's when all the little design stores were on the Fulham Road. And they were quite small, little just hole in the wall, you know, probably a thousand square feet at most. All these designs were. So Stefanitas was across the street. Again, worked for Stefanitas after Colfax. You know, then I worked for a designer who was called Christine Kennedy, who really, we worked more together. And that was after the fact. And, you know, did some apartments. We did an apartment in Paris, a couple of things in London, and also sort of moved that business. because after a while, I'm like, hey, wait a minute.

10:42It's drizzling all the time here. I'm called. About this weather. I loved, loved, loved living in London, but I needed to then after, and this is three, four years later, decide to move my way back to La Jolla, which felt safe and like I could manage a little design from there. So I moved my way back to La Jolla and that's when my mom bought me a computer. A couple of people who have worked with Stefanides in the past. In fact, some of the current members of Colfax, if I recall, spent some time working for Mr. Stefanides and described him as a little bit intimidating, but great. Huge, huge talent.

11:34Yeah. Yeah. And also, I think that's when I really learned about the mix because he, for some reason, whether it be a London flat or a country house, brings something into a house that's a little beachy, a little more casual, a little more just every day. And I think, you know, whether it be his beautiful, you know, orange trees, tangerine trees that are inside or whatever it might be, it changed the whole perspective of the room and the house in general. I think that's what I started to learn. And I think, you know, there's people back at home like Michael Taylor did that for California. um you know there's people that i really looked up to saladino being a big one that was sort of working so hard when i was starting out um you know i got to meet him and that was a special treat when i worked for an antiquarian i forgot about the get durenberger days but get durenberger was a famous antiquarian in California, specializing in English antiques, French antiques, a lot of just beautiful furniture that we don't really see around so much anymore because it's, you know, it's all gone for the most part.

12:58Hard to find. Yeah, yeah. Well, so as you say, you finally got tired of the rain and the chill in the air and made your way back to La Jolla. And tell me about the early days. A mom gets you the computer. You're doing some things for Michael Bruno and sounds like some other things quickly come along. The wife of the head of Toyota at the time. Those early years, I was sort of struggling. I thought, you know, it was at a very different time when you didn't necessarily bring things back to America. So America had their own vibe. And it confused me a little bit in the early years of like, okay, how do I take this beach life that I have and also my English training, which is more European and a little bit more formal and mix it together.

13:57So I think my early years of design, I was sort of fumbling a bit at who I was. And, you know, I think it takes a young designer some time to figure out who they actually are and who they stand for, and without just looking at what someone else is doing, you know, and taking that. And I think that's so important for a young designer today to figure out who they are. Well, I'm so glad you said that because I've spoken to several designers recently who worked for big name designers and were certainly heavily influenced by their work. And the challenge often is how do you go out on your own and find your own voice?

14:45And as you were just saying, coming to California after being drenched in the British design scene, it's hard to translate that whole look and feel. So it sounds like you really were finding your way. I was finding my ways. that I think some editors of magazines really helped because they saw things in me that I necessarily didn't see. And that was back in the day when we had some amazing interior design magazine editors that were helpful. I don't think they're so helpful today. But they were more present. They were out and about. And I think it was all about, at the time, doing favors. Yes, I'll do that showcase room.

15:30I think I did a showcase room in La Jolla, which really set me off. And I borrowed furniture from everybody. And it was a lot of work. A showcase house is so much work. And I had done the reception room. And it was quite a big deal for me because that was the first time that a paying client wasn't standing there watching me sort of giving their two cents. because don't forget I was 30 at the time. Right. And it was a very formal room. It was very English. And it got some, you know, I think people were surprised that this sort of surfer boy came up with this room and, you know, this beautiful Georgian showcase house.

16:16But I do think doing favors like that early on is so important in a designer's career because people always remember it. And they remember the showcase I did the following year and the following year. And, but magazine editors played a big part in that. Who were some of the magazine editors that were helpful to you in the early days? Do you remember? You know, Phyllis Van Doren, who ran San Diego Home and Garden. Margaret Russell was a big inspiration for me at El Decor. You know, A.D. Paige Rintz was still there. And it was, she was very, very nice woman. And it was sort of before the land of publicists.

16:57I just sort of organically kept in contact with them. So they would call me when something came up and it could be very small. Hey, can I have a quote about paint? What paint are you using in La Jolla with the light there? And, you know, so it was just a very nice little community back then. Yeah, no, no, no. It certainly sounds as if it was. And I think California is often thought of as having such a nice design community. People seem like they all have known each other for years. You know, a lot of the folks that I know now, I started out with, you know, we were all starting our little design firms together.

17:35And what's fun about California style in particular is everyone is so original and different. It is interesting living now, the time that I've lived in Connecticut, it's a very, it could be a different country. It's very, they have their own individual style that I appreciate. It's fun to see.

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19:06You've been living in Greenwich, if I recall, for a while, right? And packing up and leaving town shortly. But tell me about that whole... I'm packing up right as we speak. I'm packing up, believe me. Exactly. Exactly. The place is being packed as we speak. I know. But, oh, and are you a little sad about it? I don't know. I'm not sure. It is a very, it is just a very different world that I loved that I know it now. I know Connecticut. I know how it works. It's only been a year and a half that I've been in Connecticut. And yes, I am so glad to be back to California. But you know what's gorgeous is, you know, we bought the most gorgeous Georgian house, and I had so much fun decorating it.

19:52And it was fun to get that vibe, and I never would have had that opportunity in California. And that's the cover of my book. So, of course, I love it. I love my time here. But I will say because I have a daughter that's starting kindergarten next year, we were sort of in a rush because we wanted her to go back to the original school, which we always planned on her going. Well, and so interesting that you mentioned, so the image is the cover of your book. Yes. And the house that you bought somewhat dictated the style that you would decorate the space in. Yes? Absolutely. And I think people that know me come in and I bought a lot of new furniture and there's a lot of new colors.

20:39And the people that know my style came into the house and they said, you know, I feel like I'm in California, which was the biggest compliment because I think people ask me all around the world, how do I get that vibe that you have? I think people consider it beachy, which yes, my lights and scene products are, but my own style is not so much that. Do you feel that way? Do you feel that your style is not beachy or you feel it's not California? Well, I don't consider it. I think that I bring to the table a more casual vibe of quality, but yet this very laid back. And I think that's to just do with my personality.

21:29And how do I mix this English style with a very layered, casual beach house that feels like I could move it anywhere in the world. But it definitely doesn't feel blue and white beach house by any, it doesn't feel gimmicky or anything about it. It just feels relaxed, which I think is important. And you're not hot glue gunning shells to mirrors and things. No, no, I'm not. I'm not. But I think, I think in doing my licensed products, you know, like for instance, Palachek and my five collections now at Cravit, they've given me the opportunity. I try and mix everything of all my products together like it was going to be in one house.

22:21And I think my new collection with the rug company does that so well in that it works with the things that I've already designed. And I want to talk about that more because I'm curious to hear how you think about it. But let's get back to the timeline because I'm so interested in hearing you talk about finding your way, both stylistically, it sounds like, and also figuring out how to have a design firm, which, I mean, you tell me if all of your education that you had referenced earlier set you up to really be running a design firm. Oh my God, not at all. Not at all. Not at all. Okay. Well, I didn't think so.

23:02So tell me how you did go about figuring that part out. You know, I think I found out very early on that I wanted to work for myself and make that mark in the world. And I think I learned early on from the people that I had worked with just in internships. when I saw designers who had their name all across, you know, on the door and very established, amazing firms, when I saw them getting in early before their employees and sweeping the pathway to the front door, cleaning the windows, I learned early on that you have to do everything. You can't just be the head of this firm. You have to wash your windows.

23:55You have to make sure the front door is clean. You have to make sure that, you know, the people that are working for you are happy. And I think there's just so much that goes into it that you really, it has to be a hands-on job. You know, you just don't show up. I find it very disrespectful to the design firms that the head designer shows up at, you know, 1030 and, you know, expect someone else to hang their coat. You know, I'm literally, you know, if it's nine o 'clock, I'm getting my still to this day, my people that work for me coffee and at four o 'clock I'm pouring them wine. Nice. Okay. I like that.

24:43I like, I like the services that you provide. and it's going to make a lot of people who are listening apply for a job. So you'll be inundated with that soon. Well, I need someone to Montecito now that I'm going back. Okay. Okay. So there is an opening and there's early morning coffee and afternoon wine. So definitely get your resumes in. Can you think of earlier you were talking about doing some showcase houses and people discovering your work that way? I'm curious when you think back on what now you recognize as major turning points in your career. Was there a particular project that really caught a lot of people's attention?

25:27And I'm wondering when you really felt like people were recognizing your work. And eventually we're going to talk about how the good people from Bravo get you on their radar as well. Well, I think it's when I was very lucky, as I said, to do big projects. And I was working constantly. And I probably had five or six from the ground up houses going on at once. And I think that really set me off. But I will say it was never until I did my own small, whether it be a little cottage in Rancho Santa Fe or my little place in Santa Monica that I lived, people wanted to see my own house. And they loved seeing how I did it on a budget, but also, you know, mix the high low and, you know, you're definitely more creative.

26:32And that's what people really gravitated towards early years of my own work. More than the 12 ,000 square foot beach house on the cliff of Laguna. Yeah. so that was an interesting thing for me to learn because i'm like well why aren't you why aren't you wanting to put this in architectural digest or l decor why are you why are you wanting to put my little beach house in so your little beach house somehow read as more creative or well it was more original it was more layered it was it definitely said more about me me as a designer and less about trying to make money because I never ever went into this trying to make money.

27:20I mean, I could have gone back to modeling and made money. Well, and why didn't you? I mean, did you think about that? Oh, I did. I mean, it's funny when I started my first office, which was, and I opened my office before I had clients. So I still was modeling for sure. until I had to call my agent one day in Los Angeles and say, you know, I'm so sorry. I'm just so busy. I can't do that job. I can't make it up to a cast. I can't fly to, you know, the Canary Islands for a week and a half because I actually have this business to run now. So sorry. And I think it was then and there that I discovered, oh, wow, I'm a real designer now.

28:06I can do this on my own and make a living at it. And it's really what I want to do. It's why I want to wake up in the morning. To that point, because you started hiring people and bringing people on. And I don't know how big your firm was in the beginning. But I'm assuming that you looked for people who had other skill sets beyond your own. Oh, of course. Of course I did. Well, that's easy to find.

28:37I think, you know, really, I've never had an office more than five people. You know, it's always been from three to five people. And it's just always been that. I think that it's gotten bigger at one point, and it didn't work, and it's gotten smaller at one point. And I think it's just a happy medium always in a small boutique design firm. If you want more of a larger, you know, I always walk into, for instance, my friend Stephen Gamble's office in New York. And I'm like, Stephen, what do these people do? What do all these people do? I have no idea. So, I mean. Yes. Yes. And he loves that. And a lot of people that started off before and after me have these very large firms, but it would never work for me.

29:36Well, it's interesting to hear you say that. A recent guest, David Phoenix, had said that Billy Baldwin, the great decorator, had said a design firm should never be more than five people. In fact, five people is the ideal number. I didn't know that. Yes. So that is the sweet spot, it turns out. So you're in excellent company there. That's a pretty good company. One of my favorites. Well, I mean, and understandably so. Speaking of which, speaking of the great Billy Baldwin, he called himself a decorator. And there's this back and forth often today about, am I an interior designer? Am I a decorator?

30:16Where do I fall in all of that? How do you think of yourself? You know what's so funny is if I'm doing the architecture on a house, I call myself a designer. If I'm doing and I don't want to do the architecture on the house and my clients are like, well, what about the door heights? And I'm like, oh, I'm just a decorator. I don't know. I see. So there's ways to use it to your benefit. I really consider myself the older I get and the more I only do jobs what I want to do is I'm a decorator I really want to decorate I don't want to do architecture I don't care about the panels in a room I really I do think architects are better at that and that's what they should really do having said that I don't sometimes have that opportunity if someone's building a house sometimes the the architect goes missing for a couple of months, three months, four months.