From the 1940s to the 1980s, some of the best residences in Northern California were decorated by a coterie of designers whose names were once recognised only by the cognoscenti of interior design. From Frances Elkins and Tony Hail, with their aristocratic aesthetics, to Michael Taylor and John Dickinson, with their bold fantasies, these designers created revolutionary settings that were idiomatic of their time and place - fresh, luxurious spaces...