Alexa Hampton

Alexa Hampton is president and featured designer of Mark Hampton, LLC., the world-famous design firm founded in 1976 by her late father, Mark Hampton.

Alexa Hampton’s work is classic, traditional, and eclectic. Under her direction, the firm has completed a wide range of designs for domestic and international projects, including apartments and large residences, private airplanes, and yachts. Her own New York City apartment was featured on the cover of the June 2002 issue of House Beautiful and multiple projects have been on cover of Architectural Digest, in addition to frequent features in the magazine.

She was selected by the Trowbridge House Foundation to be the interior designer for Trowbridge House, the new official Guest House for Former Presidents of the United States in Washington, D.C. Trowbridge House, now undergoing extensive renovation and restoration, is a part of the historic Blair House complex on Jackson Place overlooking Lafayette Park, and will serve as a home and an office for Former Presidents when they conduct business in Washington. In January 2005, in recognition of her selection to design the interiors of Trowbridge House, Alexa was given the American Antiques Show "American Spirit Award," at an event hosted by the American Folk Art Museum at the Time Warner Center in New York. In June 2009, Hampton received an honorary Ph.D. from Moore College of Art and Design and delivered the commencement address to that year’s graduates, for the school’s 160th anniversary graduation ceremony. In the fall of 2010, she was elected to the design board of mydeco.com, where she serves as a consultant and judge for various design competitions.

Alexa Hampton was chosen by Architectural Digest as one of the "AD 100," the magazine’s directory of the world’s one hundred best interior designers and architects, every year since 2002. House Beautiful has included her in its annual "America’s Best 100 Designers" list every year since 1999, saying: “Alexa Hampton’s aesthetic is both classic and timeless.” New York magazine named her one of New York’s “100 Best Architects and Decorators” in 2002, citing her as being known for “interiors with a classic European flavor…for high profile clients,” and her “great attention to detail and…eye for color.” In its Fall 2000 issue of the Home Design section, the New York Times hailed her, along with five others in various design-related professions, as one of the members of a “New Guard,” and one of the “bright lights” of her generation. In 1999, she was named one of the eight “Female Leads” in the design industry by Interiors magazine and was named one of the twelve “Fun, Fearless Females” by Cosmopolitan magazine.

Hampton became the sixth regular and only ever female cast member of "This Old House,” for the venerable PBS show’s 25th anniversary season, and also joined the team that year as senior design consultant. She shed light on basic principles and practices in the world of interior design while exploring the creative process itself. In the Spring of 2004, Alexa Hampton was named senior design consultant for Find Ventures, Inc. The Fall season of the television series “Find!,” which premiered in October 2004 on PBS, featured co-host Alexa leading viewers through private homes designed by some of the world’s most respected decorators and exploring the latest industry trends shown in designer show houses. Alexa also contributed to a special magazine edition of "Find!," released in September 2004. More recently, Alexa Hampton has been a guest on Martha Stewart TV as well as a segment host on Martha Stewart Radio. She was also a design judge for an episode of HGTV’s "Bang for Your Buck."

Alexa Hampton has been profiled in a number of newspapers, including the New York Times, the New York Daily News, the Washington Post, and the Chicago Herald Tribune, as well as in magazines such as Architectural Digest, Art & Antiques, Elle Décor, House & Garden, House Beautiful, Interiors, Ladies’ Home Journal, W, Quest, and Vogue. Prior to her participation in both “This Old House,” and “Find!,” she appeared on ABC’s “The View,” in 2001 having decorated a dressing room for Barbara Walters while on assignment for House & Garden magazine. She had also appeared discussing her work and touring her apartment for the Style Network and has been interviewed by Judy Licht for “Metro Buzz.”

Alexa Hampton participated in the 1999 Kips Bay Designer Showhouse in New York, and her contribution, “The Landing Salon,” was chosen by Architectural Digest to represent the historic Manhattan townhouse in which the show was held in a segment entitled “Extraordinary Properties.” She also participated in the 2003 edition of The Hampton Designer Showhouse presented by House & Garden magazine. Her contribution, the Living Room, was featured in the October 2003 issue of House & Garden. More recently, Hampton participated in Architectural Digest’s “Rooms With A View Of Central Park” set in the new Time Warner Center; her contribution, the Gentleman’s Dressing Room and Bath, was featured in both the February 2004 issue of Architectural Digest and on ABC’s "Good Morning America."  During fall 2004, she participated in the 2004 House Beautiful Makeover Showhouse in Glencoe, Illinois, to benefit the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago. Her design for the showhouse, the Master Bedroom and Sitting Room, was featured in the October 2004 issue of House Beautiful.

Alexa Hampton has designed a line of woven fabrics for Kravet Fabrics, under the label “Alexa Hampton for the Mark Hampton Signature Collection.” A more comprehensive line of fabrics, “Alexa Hampton Designs,” was launched in summer 2004, with new introductions in 2006 and 2010. Her collection of trims for Kravet Fabrics was launched in the fall of 2005. Her own furniture line “The Alexa Hampton Collection” was launched by Hickory Chair Co. in spring 2005. New additions were added in the spring of 2007 and fall 2009. The year 2007 saw the introduction of the Alexa Hampton Carpet Collection for Stark Carpet and the Alexa Hampton Lighting Collection for Visual Comfort & Co. These collections continue to grow annually. In 2011, Alexa will debut three new collections: Fireplaces for Chesney’s, new fabrics in the summer, Soicher Marin artwork in the fall. Additions to the Alexa Hampton Collection for Hickory Chair’s centennial are also being introduced in the fall of 2011.

Alexa Hampton is also now a published author. Her book, Alexa Hampton: The Language of Interior Design, was published by Random House in October 2010. The book, a design biography and guide to her signature style, has received much praise, including an in-depth Q & A in the currents section of the New York Times and has been included in numerous lists of best design books.

Hampton is a graduate of Brown University. She has done graduate work at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts, both in Florence, Italy, and New York. She currently lectures about design around the country.

“Alexa Hampton is a modern spirit with a soft spot for old-fashioned good taste”
—House Beautiful, June 2002