The Style Standard: CW Stockwell Martinique

CW Stockwell Martinique

Clifton W. Stockwell founded his namesake company in 1905, after relocating to Los Angeles from Armstrong, Ohio, where he worked as a pharmacist. Inspired by his regular trips abroad, Stockwell initially manufactured reproductions of European patterns, particularly those from France. The company grew quickly, and by the early 1930s, Stockwell was producing its patterns. In 1935, his daughter Lucile Chatain, after studying interior design and architecture at Parsons in New York, as well as art in Europe, joined the business as president. Soon after, her husband, Remy Louis Chatain Sr., came on board, and in 1942 Lucile and Remy had the idea for a large-scale tropical pattern after a visit to the Bahamas. They enlisted their friend and neighbor, the botanical illustrator Albert Stockdale, to bring their vision to life. The result, Martinique, created of the rich, graphic tropicalia that would become one of the world’s most famous wallpapers was introduced in CW Stockwell’s 1942 collection. Later on Remy and Lucile passed the company down to their son Remy Chatain Jr., whom also attended Parsons School of Design, he kept the iconic status over many decades, until his passing in 2013. With the help of a family friend Kate Polsby was granted the company, however her mother took over for 5 years because Polsby was reluctant at first because she felt there was such a legacy to take over until she saw the company’s archives which let her to realization, she needed to bring these ideas into light. Since then she continue to treasure the brand's longstanding values of quality and craft; the spirit of relaxed, not-so-serious design, and the emphasis long-placed on innovation and is still proudly printed by hand in Los Angeles, California.

Lucile Chatain with her husband Remy Chatain, Sr., 1947

Danielle Rollins' using Martinique fabric (Navy) in her formal Palm Beach Condo
Photographed by Carmel Brantley

In 1949 Don Loper was put on to help design the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel where he flooded the walls with the remarkable Martinique wallpaper. Since then the wallpaper has become a key image in Hollywood thanks to celebrities and socialites who are being photographed in front of it daily. If it’s good enough to charm the walls of the Beverly Hills Hotel for the past 79 years, you should unquestionably furnish your home with Martinique.

Top:The iconic Fountain Coffee Room at the Beverly Hills Hotel is covered in the stunning Martinique Wallpaper (Green)
Bottom: The 11 cabanas at the Beverly Hills Hotel redesigned by New York-based interior design firm Champalimaud Designs using Martinique (Pink)

In the show Golden Girls, Blanche's fantastically maximalist apartment is with CW Stockwells Martinique wallpaper (Green)

In the relaunch of the spring 2019 collection, CW Stockwell includes three new colors for Martinique in both wallpaper and Belgian linen—sand, navy, and platinum. Also, several other patterns are interpretations of historic graphic and floral motifs, each with multiple variations in color and scale. “There’s so much in the company’s past that’s helpful and inspiring, but I have to shake things up,” says Polsby. “It’s clear to me that’s what Remy and his mother always thought about, too. That’s what kept clients coming back.” Danielle is one of such repeat clients and she a CW Stockwell fabric or wallpaper in almost every project she’s done! She used the Martinique fabrics in her former Palm Beach condominium in blue, in a clients kitchen in green, and even had a custom color way done for her laundry room in her current home! “It has an old-school feel that I love.” We not only adore the fresh and modern take on this timeless classic, we have them in our store, ready to be shipped to you.

Danielle Rollins designed tropical oasis kitchen featuring Martinique Wallpaper (Green)
Photographed by Carmel Brantley

Danielle Rollins' laundry room at her current Palm Beach home featuring Martinique wallpaper (Sand)

Top: Catherine M. Austin using Martinique Celebration Henri wallpaper for her "Jewel of the Jungle” Guest House Kips Bay, 2022
Bottom: Alison Pickart used Martinique Wallpaper (Seadrift) in a Hillside home in an idyllic Marin County, California town. Inspired by the ORIGINAL Girls' trip: The Golden Girls