How did Leslie come to be involved with interior design?

Leslie Curtis grew up in and around Boston. She studied at the Museum School of Fine Arts and Boston University. She lived and worked in NYC and Europe, finally establishing residences in Los Angeles, London and Italy. She traveled extensively passing extended periods of time in Japan, Turkey, Iran, France and the Fiji Islands.

Her first design work was in London on a Georgian townhouse in Chester Square which served as home base for ten years. It was decorated in a comfortable American style, mixing old world England with avant-garde London design and New England comfort.

She also lived and studied in Rome. She had the fortunate opportunity to be invited to live at the Villa Medici with the great artist Balthus and his extraordinary wife Setsuko. This particular experience gave her an even deeper admiration and appreciation for the beauty of design history and the value of simplicity. The beauty of the Villa Medici and the surrounding gardens had not been compromised by the clutter of modern living and the historical decor was respected by the inhabitants. This was another great lesson in the concept of design and respect for art and history. Returning to the U.S., she worked on restoring and decorating a Mediterranean style villa which had been built in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles in the early 1920's.

Points of Interest:

Respected designers and architects such as Marjorie Shushan, Craig Wright, Lane-McCook, Frank Penino, Robert A. M. Stern, Kerry Joyce & Thomas Beeton have used LCD's resources for some of their noted clients.

LCD provides antique accessories, reproductions, and custom woven furniture for the entertainment industry, such as Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator", Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland", and the film "Something's Gotta Give". LCD also produced a number of personal pieces for George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch. 

LCD has been featured in “Architectural Digest”, “House & Garden”, "Vogue Living" and “The New York Times”.

Leslie has co-hosted a design series with Bob Villa. She also appeared on Rachel Ashwell's "Shabby Chic" series.