James Robert Hartley, who died in Denver on May 16 at age 74, became a leading interior designer in well-heeled Rocky Mountain social circles, and took special pride in the work he did for Pope John Paul II during the pope’s 1993 visit to Colorado for World Youth Day.
Hartley, who also did the interior design of the papal suite within the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception’s rectory, took a dim view of the throne-like chairs typically provided to the pontiff. He found them visually and functionally disagreeable.
Instead, he found a Louis XIII armchair, and upholstered it in an opulent gold-and-silver Fortuny fabric. Hartley cherished, and often repeated, the pope’s comment that the chair was among the most comfortable he’d ever used.
Designing the papal suite, down to the papal bath mat in the papal bathtub, and the special linens on the papal bed, was among the most harrowing and rewarding tasks in his long career as an interior decorator, Hartley told friends and relatives. He kept the papal Louis XIII chair all his life.
Hartley’s career began in 1958, following his graduation from the University of Denver’s school of design.
He worked in the interior design department of the new May D&F shop in downtown Denver, where he received an education in deportment as well as design.
Noticing Hartley’s thinly-veiled rancor at seeing the best jobs go to the more experienced designers, one of the senior designers gently advised him that courtesy mattered as much as talent. He never forgot her words.
Hartley went on to work at a Cherry Creek design company, and then established his own firm, Hartley House, in 1965.
Hartley quickly became among the top interior designers of choice among socialites and philanthropists from Central City to Saratoga, Wyo. His work appeared in House Beautiful, Better Homes and Gardens, Town and Country, Women’s World Weekly and other upscale shelter magazines.
His attention to detail and devotion to maintaining a house or building’s architectural integrity, together with his interest in theater and performing arts, made him the interior designer of choice for the venerable Central City Opera House Association. Hartley designed the opera house’s foyer and theater area, and supervised the interior design for nearly all of the Central City Victorian-era properties that the opera association owns.
His interest in opera remained strong. He designed the post-concert receptions for Luciano Pavarotti’s appearances here in the 1970s.
In 1981, a year after longtime bachelor Hartley married philanthropist Barbara Johnson, the couple chose the same Paris hotel suite where American soprano Jessye Norman stayed during her visits.
Survivors include his wife, Barbara Johnson Hartley of Denver; sister Louise H. Trimble of Temperance, Mich.; and brothers Dorman Hartley of Denver and Melvin C. Hartley II of Indianapolis.
Staff writer Claire Martin can be reached at 303-820-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com.
