John Demsey Opens Up in ‘Behind the Blue Door’

Entrepreneur John Demsey opened the doors to his Manhattan townhouse with Alina Cho and Douglas Friedman to celebrate the publication of their new book, BEHIND THE BLUE DOOR: A Maximalist Mantra (Vendome, 2023). Friends included Palm Beach’s Cornelia Guest, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Gene Pressman, Jaime Tisch, Celerie Kemble, Darcy Miller, Eric Viner, and Sue Jin Seth.  Demsey’s daughter  Marie-Helene, a Wellington equestrian attended, as well as the home’s designer Bibi Monnahan and art consultant Heather McKenna-Pardo.

The book, photographed by Friedman, chronicles Demsey’s journey as he curated the 6-story townhouse, which is an explosion of color, pattern and art. Included are works from Hugh Findletar – recently featured on the front page of The New York Times Style Section for reimagining the faces of  Naomi Campbell and Anne Hathaway as glass vases; whimsical ceramicist Ruan Hoffmann; and a controversial photograph by Bejing’s Ren Hang which was recently banned in China.