Who

The long-reigning Prince of Chintz, Buatta is infamous for bedecking the homes of the rich and famous in English floral patterns.

Backstory

Buatta grew up on Staten Island—approximately a planet away from the English countryside, the locale that would later inform his décor sense. He began his design career in the decorating department of B. Altman and Company, the famous New York department store, before taking positions at noted interior design firms Elizabeth Draper, Inc. and Keith Irvine, Inc. In 1963, Buatta hung out his own shingle and began to popularize the decorating scheme endemic to fancy homes in rural Britain—which meant drowning rooms in ruffles, bows, porcelain, pastels, and yes, chintz. He achieved major prominence in the '80s, landing a slew of commissions to decorate Park Avenue co-ops—the fruits of his labor often appearing in magazines like House and Garden—and licensing his name for linens, carpets, potpourri, china, teddy bears, and other domestic adornments.

Of note

While the young and the hip aren't exactly lining up to have him design their apartments, Buatta has worked for a long list of aging society clients over the years, including Si Newhouse, Nelson Doubleday, Malcolm Forbes, Charlotte Ford, Wilbur Ross, and Barbara Walters, whose Fifth Avenue apartment Rosie O'Donnell once likened to "being in a museum." Billy Joel once tapped Buatta to design a residence; and the decorator was also responsible for Mariah Carey's gaudy gold-and-pink Tribeca duplex. Other big projects have included redesigning the corporate offices of the Metropolitan Opera and redecorating the Blair House, the official White House Guest House in Washington.

On the side

Buatta is an investor in the Upper East Side restaurant/geriatric hangout Swifty's, where he's also a regular.

Habitat

Buatta lives in a chintz-saturated apartment on the Upper East Side, and has a weekend home in Thompson, Conn. He also owns a massive collection of dog portraits and dog-shaped objects, but despite his zeal for depictions of canines, he doesn't own a flesh-and-blood dog: "I don't feel that it's fair to have a dog in the city, and it's not fair to my furniture either," he once said.

No joke

Buatta often totes around a fake cockroach named Horace, which he tricks the uninitiated into thinking is real, often prompting a shriek or two.