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Designing Duo

Cape Cod Home  /  Winter 2019 / ,

Writer: Allyson Plessner / Photographer: Alexis Marie 

Designing Duo

130

Cape Cod Home  /  Winter 2019 / ,

Writer: Allyson Plessner / Photographer: Alexis Marie 

“It has often been said that the New World is deficient in the elements of poetry and romance; that its bards must of necessity linger over the classic ruins of other lands; and draw their sketches of character from foreign sources, and paint Nature under the soft beauty of an Eastern sky. On the contrary, New England is full of Romance…we have mountains pillaring a sky as blue as that which bends over classic Olympus; streams as bright and beautiful as those of Greece and Italy, and forests richer and nobler than those which of old were haunted by Sylph and Dryad.”
 -John Greenleaf Whittier

English natives Dickie and Gillian Dillon have made a home in New England and are helping others to do the same with their interior design business,
Dillon & Company

The beauty of which John Greenleaf Whittier speaks is one that Dickie (former Wimbledon tennis star) and Gillian Dillon, owners of Plymouth’s one-of-a-kind interior design shop Dillon & Company, know intimately, having uprooted from their beloved homeland of England to settle in the waterside town of Duxbury, Massachusetts. “I just fell in love with New England,” explains Gill about venturing across the pond. “It actually reminds me a lot of home.”

Dickie and Gill’s venture into interior design began 35 years ago, born from a passion for exquisite furniture and perhaps a tinge of homesickness. “I couldn’t find anything in America that spoke to me,” explains Gill about furnishing her home—one with sprawling views of Duxbury Bay and ample lawn space for grandchildren to test who can roll down the hill faster.

“I started importing containers from England of antique English pine furniture which was very on-trend at the time,” she continues. And the rest belongs to history, so to speak. From that moment, Gill realized a vast love for interior design, and even more importantly, a keen eye for clean lines and long-lasting trends. Today, the couples interior design store is stocked with handpicked items imported from all over the world—trips that Gill and Dickie make a point of traveling themselves—and everything is sold right off the floor, meaning that customers can expect rare and unique pieces.

Allyson Plessner

Allyson Plessner is a former editorial intern for Cape Cod Life and now works for the publication as a staff writer and digital media coordinator. Born in Florida, Allyson has been a lifelong summer resident of the Cape. She is a recent alumna of the College of Charleston, located in Charleston, South Carolina, where she completed bachelor’s degrees in both English and Spanish. In her free time, Allyson is an avid sailor, beach-goer, and—like her fellow Cape Cod Life colleagues—a dog-lover.