2008 Preview Party
On Wednesday, February 13 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., the Preview Party will offer guests an opportunity to view and shop at the Show before it opens to the public on
Thursday, February 8.

2008 Young Collectors Party
On Friday, February 15 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Young Collectors will have a unique opportunity to tour the show floor with designer and Honorary Chairman Alexa Hampton, followed by a cocktail reception.

Alexa Hampton
Mark Hampton, Inc.

Alexa Hampton is president and featured designer of Mark Hampton LLC, the world famous design firm founded in 1976 by her late father. Her work is classic, traditional and eclectic, and it has earned her a leading position in the design industry.

Hampton has been named as one of Architectural Digest's "Top 100 Architects/Designers in the World" for the past five years and one of House Beautiful's "100 Best American Designers" since 1999. Her work is regularly seen in Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Elle Decor and House & Garden. She has been profiled in numerous newspapers including The New York Times, The New York Daily News, The Washington Post and The Chicago Herald Tribune, to name a few, and has appeared in many print magazines such as Art & Antiques, Domino, Interiors, Ladies Home Journal, Town & Country, W, Quest and Vogue. On television, Hampton decorated a dressing room for Barbara Walters on ABC's "The View" and she has appeared on the Style Network. In 2004 she became a series regular on the PBS show "Find!" and the first ever female regular on PBS's "This Old House."

She was selected by the Trowbridge House Foundation to be the interior designer for Trowbridge House, the new official guest residence for former Presidents of the United States in Washington, DC.

Hampton has designed two eponymous lines of fabric for Kravet Fabrics, as well as a line of trimmings. In 2005, the Hickory Chair Co. launched "The Alexa Hampton Collection" of furniture. Her second line of furniture launches this spring. 2007 will also see the launch of her extensive carpet collection for Stark Carpet and The Alexa Hampton bedding line.

Frances Mayes
Author, Under the Tuscan Sun and Bringing Tuscany Home
Italian Lifestyle, History, Home Design
Thursday, February 14, 2008
10:30 a.m.
Booksigning to follow lecture

Frances Mayes has always adored houses, and when she saw Bramasole, a neglected, 200-year old Tuscan farmhouse nestled in five overgrown acres, it was love at first sight. Out of that instant infatuation has come four marvelous, and hugely popular, books: the bestsellers Under the Tuscan Sun; Bella Tuscany; In Tuscany, a collaborative photo-textbook with her husband, the poet Edward Mayes and photographer Bob Krist; and, most recently, Bringing Tuscany Home: Sensuous Style from the Heart of Italy, another collaborative book with Edward Mayes and photographer Steven Rothfeld. All four highly personal books are about taking chances, living in Italy, loving and renovating an old Italian villa, the pleasures of food, wine, gardens, and the "voluptuousness of Italian life."

Formerly a professor of creative writing at San Francisco State University, where she directed The Poetry Center and chaired the Department of Creative Writing, Mayes now devotes herself full time to writing and to her "At Home in Tuscany" furniture and accessory lines. She and her husband divide their time between North Carolina and Cortona, Italy.

David Kleinberg
David Kleinberg Design Associates
Thursday, February 14, 2008
1:30 p.m.

Redefining a modern, understated sensibility is interior designer David Kleinberg's trademark. With a sophisticated clientele that holds Kleinberg to his own exacting standards for calm, tranquil living paces the designer responds in project after project with, as he says, "people-ready rooms." Starting from a carefully sculpted architectural shell, Kleinberg goes on to design spaces with an edited selection of furniture, art and accessories that reflect his clients' personalities. Kleinberg approaches each project with a curator-like eye. "I don't like a lot of clutter, and oftentimes find that a singular object speaks volumes and makes the room a success."

After graduating from Trinity College, Kleinberg began his design career at Denning & Fourcade and then at Mara Palmer. His talents were further honed during his sixteen-year tenure at the famed Parish-Hadley Associates, beginning in 1981. While at Parish-Hadley, Kleinberg worked on many prestigious projects. Whether it was an 847-acre Kentucky horse farm, a classic New York apartment or a family home, Kleinberg created environments that reflected the Parish-Hadley style while developing his signature modernist aesthetic. In 1997 Kleinberg founded his own firm, David Kleinberg Design Associates.

Renny Reynolds and Jack Staub
Owners and operators of Hortulus Farm Nursery and Gardens,
Wrightstown, PA
Friday, February 15, 2008
10:30 a.m.

Hortulus Farm Gardens is a hundred acre, 18th century farmstead and nursery operation, situated amidst the beautiful, rolling hills of historic Bucks County, PA. Created and owned by world-famous garden and event designer Renny Reynolds and noted garden writer and author Jack Staub, Hortulus Farm Gardens has been called both "a garden of world-class charm" and "one of Pennsylvania's hidden treasures". Hortulus Farm Nursery, the affiliated wholesale/retail nursery operation, offers the avid horticulturist over 1,000 varieties of unusual field perennials, 60,000 sq ft of greenhouse space housing container plants, rare standards, topiaries, annuals, and tropicals, plus an outstanding selection of uncommon specialty shrubs and trees.

Additionally, RENNY at Hortulus Farm Nursery is the Philadelphia adjunct of Manhattan's famous Renny & Reed event design business and has designed significant events around the country. Hortulus welcomes visitors for tours from May through October. Visit their website at www.hortulusfarm.com.

Book signing to follow lecture