ANN PYNE

Located on Fifth Avenue and 70th Street, the Richard Morris Hunt Memorial by Daniel Chester French is a refined celebration of painting, sculpture and architecture. Seen on the cover, this setting is an apt embodiment of the recipient of FRIENDS’ 2017 Ambassador to the Upper East Side Award, Ann Pyne, whose love for art and beauty motivates her work.

Decorator of many Upper East Side homes, mentor to young, talented designers, and preservationist in heart, soul and action… This, in a nutshell, describes the recipient of FRIENDS’ 2017 Ambassador to the Upper East Side Award, Ann Pyne.  In fact, her photo on the cover, set on Fifth Avenue at the Richard Morris Hunt Memorial by Daniel Chester French, with its celebration of painting, sculpture and architecture, encapsulates Ann’s love of art and beauty.

Since 2002, Ann has been a Partner of McMillen Inc. Interior Design and Decoration, the oldest design firm in America, founded in 1924 by Eleanor McMillen Brown. Ann’s mother, the legendary designer Betty Sherrill, began at McMillen two weeks after Ann was born and worked there for 62 years. Ann has been the firm’s President since 2012. Under her leadership, McMillen continues to be celebrated internationally for combining old school decorating with modern relevance.

A dedicated preservationist, Ann is committed to the safeguarding of the architecture of the Upper East Side. She has also been spurred to activism in the Village of Southampton where her efforts have sought to protect the historic character of the community and curb the spread of overdevelopment.

Ann has a Masters degree in Decorative Arts from the Bard Graduate Center, as well as an MFA in Writing and an MA in English and American Literature, both from Columbia University. Prior to interior design, Ann taught literature at the Chapin School, authored a book of short stories published by Alfred Knopf, and has been a longtime collector of aesthetic-period furniture and ceramics.