46 DIGS.NET
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3.22.2019
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P R O F I L E | F A R R O W & B A L L
The COLOR of LIFE
Farrow & Ball's rich paints and
wallpaper—and more recently rugs—
bring Brit-born chic to casual and
quintessential spaces alike
W R I T T E N B Y J E N N T H O R N T O N
T
he history of Farrow & Ball is as colorful as its vibrant palette of paints—and
storefront on La Cienega. John Farrow was a trained chemist who spent the
Second World War working for Agnew Paints in Ireland; Richard Ball, an
engineer captured in France and held as a prisoner of war. At the end of the conflict,
each man returned to Dorset, and met, without ceremony, at a local clay pit.
Discovering a shared passion for quality ingredients and traditional methods, the
men founded Farrow & Ball in 1946—a passion "we still uphold today" and " in the
very same place where the Farrow & Ball story started," explains Charlotte Cosby,
the company's head of creative. e austerity that impacted Britain in the years
following the war also impacted Farrow & Ball, but by the early 1950s, the company
was supplying paint to the Admiralty, Raleigh bikes, and the motor industry. Years
passed largely without incident, until a fire destroyed the company's original Verwood
factory in the 1960s, prompting the operation to move to a site in Wimborne, where
its paints and wallpaper are still produced.
