Oscar de la Renta - In Remembrance - interiors and decor magazine

Oscar de la Renta, the worldly gentleman designer who shaped the wardrobe of socialites, first ladies and Hollywood stars for more than four decades, has died. He was 82.

De la Renta died at home [from complications of cancer] Monday evening in Connecticut surrounded by family, friends and "more than a few dogs," according to a handwritten statement signed by his stepdaughter Eliza Reed Bolen and her husband, Alex Bolen.

Gardening and dancing were among his favorite diversions from work. "I'm a very restless person. I'm always doing something. The creative process never stops," he said.
"Fashion designer Oscar de la Renta dies at 82," Wall Street Journal (October 20, 2014)

Here are some photos of Oscar de la Renta, his homes and his gardens . . .

"Purple petrea in bloom on a stone wall shades De la Renta and two of his dogs."

Oscar de la Renta at his home in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, the designer's home country.

Photography by William Waldron.

Text by Sarah Medford.

"Paradise Found" produced by Carlos Mota.

Architectural Digest (2012).

"A grove of coconut palms forms a dense canopy near the water’s edge, with sea grape in the background."

Oscar de la Renta's home in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

Photography by William Waldron.

Text by Sarah Medford.

"Paradise Found" produced by Carlos Mota.

Architectural Digest (2012).

"From their property in Punta Cana, on the Dominican Republic’s east coast, fashion designer Oscar de la Renta and his wife, Annette, can take in views of beach, breakwater, and the sparkling Caribbean."

Oscar de la Renta's home in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

Photography by William Waldron.

Text by Sarah Medford.

"Paradise Found" produced by Carlos Mota.

Architectural Digest (2012).

"A gate framed by a sago palm and blossoming plumbago leads to a courtyard."

Oscar de la Renta's home in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

Photography by William Waldron.

Text by Sarah Medford.

"Paradise Found" produced by Carlos Mota.

Architectural Digest (2012).

"One of De la Renta’s handymen built this limestone fountain, tucked amid fan palms and other vegetation; the tree in the foreground is a calabash."

Oscar de la Renta's home in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

Photography by William Waldron.

Text by Sarah Medford.

"Paradise Found" produced by Carlos Mota.

Architectural Digest (2012).

"An artfully composed garden room features the bristling century plant and variegated agave, both at left; lanky consolea and candelabra euphorbia, at center; and diminutive golden-barrel cactus, throughout."

Oscar de la Renta's home in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

Photography by William Waldron.

Text by Sarah Medford.

"Paradise Found" produced by Carlos Mota.

Architectural Digest (2012).

"Architect Ernesto Buch designed the De la Rentas’ chapel, which is shrouded in flowering white petrea and flanked by potted syzygium and sago palms."

Oscar de la Renta's home in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

Photography by William Waldron.

Text by Sarah Medford.

"Paradise Found" produced by Carlos Mota.

Architectural Digest (2012).

"A century plant, surrounded by sword ferns and palms."

Oscar de la Renta's home in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

Photography by William Waldron.

Text by Sarah Medford.

"Paradise Found" produced by Carlos Mota.

Architectural Digest (2012).

"Mounded shrubs line a garden path."

Oscar de la Renta's home in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

Photography by William Waldron.

Text by Sarah Medford.

"Paradise Found" produced by Carlos Mota.

Architectural Digest (2012).

"Painted benches share a gravel courtyard."

Oscar de la Renta's home in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

Photography by William Waldron.

Text by Sarah Medford.

"Paradise Found" produced by Carlos Mota.

Architectural Digest (2012).

"The fashion world has its fair share of gardeners: Pierre Balmain was known to peddle his garden’s harvest at the local green market; Dries Van Noten tends 60-acres outside of Antwerp. Stateside, Oscar de la Renta and his wife Annette, marry European tradition with American ingenuity at home in Kent, Connecticut, as well as in their own 'Versailles' at Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, where they are pictured."
Photographed by François Halard, Vogue, September 2004.
"From the Archives: Gardeners in Vogue" by Laird Borrelli-Persson.
Vogue (June 7, 2013).

"The Cuban architect Ernesto Buch designed the de la Rentas' elegant coral-stone house to evoke the early-16th-century Spanish colonial style."
"Oscar and Annette de la Renta - Punta Cana, 1998"
Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People - Hamish Bowles (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007).

"de la Renta found the Spanish mother-of-pearl-inlaid secretary at Rose Cumming's shop in the sixties."
"Oscar and Annette de la Renta - Punta Cana, 1998"
Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People - Hamish Bowles (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007).

"The coral stone in the chapel (as elsewhere) was supplied by Miguel Pena."
"Oscar and Annette de la Renta - Punta Cana, 1998"
Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People - Hamish Bowles (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007).

"The house shortly before weathering Hurricane Georges."
"Oscar and Annette de la Renta - Punta Cana, 1998"
Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People - Hamish Bowles (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007).

"Oscar and Annette de la Renta - Punta Cana, 1998"
Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People - Hamish Bowles (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007).

"You can see the ocean through a courtyard archway."
"Oscar and Annette de la Renta - Punta Cana, 1998"
Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People - Hamish Bowles (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007).

"The mahogany table in the center of the drawing room at Punta Cana was made by Salvador Gonzalez. The Indian dhurrie was first used 30 years ago by Annette in another house."
"Oscar and Annette de la Renta - Punta Cana, 1998"
Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People - Hamish Bowles (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007).

"Relaxing in the living room of his Casa de Campo home for a 1988 House and Garden story."
"Oscar de la Renta's Next Big Act" by Julia Reed.
Wall Street Journal (February 23, 2012).

"De la Renta (center) with Giovanni Agnelli, Pier Agnelli and his future wife, Annette, in 1989."
"Oscar de la Renta's Next Big Act" by Julia Reed.
Wall Street Journal (February 23, 2012).

Oscar and Annette de la Renta at home in Connecticut.
Photographed by François Halard, Vogue, December 2008.
"Anna Wintour Remembers Oscar de la Renta" by Anna Wintour.
Vogue (October 21, 2014).

Kent, Connecticut, garden of Oscar and Annette de la Renta.
Photo courtesy of Assouline/Oscar de la Renta archives.
"How To Garden Like Oscar de la Renta" by Sarah Bray.
House Beautiful.

Oscar de la Renta in his apartment on Park Avenue.
Portrait by Christopher Sturman.
"Oscar de la Renta's Next Big Act" by Julia Reed.
Wall Street Journal (February 23, 2012).

"The 17th-century mirror is encrusted with rock-crystal fleurons."
"Oscar and Annette de la Renta - New York City, 1992"
Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People - Hamish Bowles (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007).

Image via Facebook page of Oscar de la Renta.

Oscar de la Renta and Karl Lagerfeld, dancing. Paris, 2002.
Photo copyright: Donald McPherson.
Image via Facebook page for Oscar de la Renta.

Vintage Oscar.
Image via Facebook page for Oscar de la Renta.

Marc Bohan, Philippe Guibourge, Oscar de la Renta, Roy Halston, Joe Eula and Bill Blass, 1973.
Photo by Reginald Gray.
"Oscar de la Renta Dies" by Arthur Friedman with contributions from Bridget Foley.
Women's Wear Daily (October 20, 2014).