Frances Adler Elkins
- Category : 1887-births
- Type : MGP
- Profile : 2/4 - Hermit / Opportunist
- Definition : Single
- Incarnation Cross : RAX The Sphinx 4
Biography
American interior and furniture designer, noted as one of the twentieth century's most prominent female designers. Elkins has been called "the first great California decorator". According to The New York Times Elkins "pioneered vibrant interiors, in which solid historical references met effervescent modernist fantasy."
In 1917, Elkins married wealthy polo player, Felton Broomall Elkins. The couple had three children together. They moved to Monterey, California in 1918 and soon divorced.
Elkins collaborated with her brother, the renowned architect David Adler, on about 15 houses in California, Illinois, and elsewhere. Elkins combined traditional and contemporary styles. She was one of the first decorators to use all mirrored walls in bathrooms.
Inspired by 18th-century chairs once owned by the founder of the English magazine Country Life, Elkins designed what is today known as the Loop Chair. She also designed the Spider chair, which combined Queen Anne-style legs with a Spanish-style shield back.
Elkins died at age 65 in San Francisco on 26 August 1953.