Former Lynner to design area for Tinseltown’s biggest night

LYNN – Anyone who remembers the Paramount Theater might feel a wave of nostalgia when viewing a Carlton Varney design, which millions of viewers will do when they tune into the 80th Annual Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 24.Now an icon of interior design, this once-upon-a-time local boy has been chosen to decorate the Green Room for that Hollywood icon, Oscar.Varney, speaking from his New York office, said it’s the first time a designer from the East Coast has been chosen and is thrilled he was tapped for the job.”It’s always been done by Christopher and Dorothy Roy, but they didn’t want to do it this year,” he said. “They said, ‘Get Carlton to do it.’ “Varney said there is always a lot of buzz surrounding the Oscars and this year more focus will be on the green room, the area where performers or speakers wait when not required on stage, because television personality Regis Philbin will do a segment from the room.When asked where his design for the room was headed, Varney said, “High glamour.”Varney said he wanted to bring back the glamour of the 1940s and 50s because he feels that today’s world, in many ways, is lacking any glamour at all.”I’m bringing back a touch of what I found in the Paramount Theatre,” he said. “It was wonderful.Varney’s voice takes on an evocative whisper when he reminisces on taking part in weekly talent shows put on by WLYN at the Paramount, elocution lessons and working in a men’s shop on Union Street.”When I grew up they had May Day celebrations on the beach,” he said with a laugh. “Can you imagine a Maypole on Lynn Beach today?”How did a little boy from Howard Street grow up to become one of America’s best-known designers?”I’m a great believer in destiny,” Varney said, “so I can never tell why these things happen or how. The just call on me.”Varney said one day he was sitting on a plane next to a rugby player and the next week he received a call from the man offering him a design job in Nigeria.”You never know who you’re sitting next to,” he said.Growing up in Lynn and Nahant, Varney attended the Harrington School and Nahant’s Valley Road School. He graduated from Lynn English but said, even then, he didn’t know he’d be a designer.”I thought I’d grow up to be Henry Cabot Lodge,” he said referring to his family’s one-time neighbor.Instead Varney headed off to Overton College, New York University, Charleston University and finally Madrid. He then went to work for the woman that would be his mentor, Dorothy Draper.Today Varney owns Dorothy Draper & Company Inc. and his empire designs everything from furniture, upholstery and drapery fabrics to ties, scarves and carpets. There are even lines of coffee, cocoa and eyewear that bear his name and a plethora of design books. Known for his use of bold color, his work is regularly featured in architectural digest and includes decorating everything from hotels to private homes.He said his first big exposure likely came from a luncheon he designed for then first lady Rosalyn Carter, whom he’s worked with enough over the years to consider a good friend.His latest job included decorating a palace for the royal family of Lithuania and getting a show of his work off the ground in Fort Lauderdale. After the Oscars, he’ll head to Jamaica where he’s working on a new line of furniture.He has not however forgotten his roots. Despite a second enterprise in London, a home in Ireland and another in St. Croix, Varney said he still comes home whenever he can.”I still have some cousins and friends there,” he said, “and my parents are buried in Nahant.”And he said, he never forgets where his inspiration was born.”I believe I got my inspiration for everything I’ve done in my life from the walk I used to take,” he said, “From 11 Howard St. to Union Street and the Paramount Theater.”