The Chillman Suite, which includes a foyer and parlor, is named in honor of interior decorator Dorothy Dawes Chillman—wife of James H. Chillman, Jr., the first director of the Museum—who helped Ima Hogg develop Bayou Bend’s period rooms during the 1950s and 1960s.

With vibrant greens and golds, the Chillman Suite brings to life the classical taste so popular in the United States in the first half of the 19th century. The wall-to-wall carpeting was reproduced from a period example. Details of the objects on view evoke classical forms.