The daughter of a naval officer and the youngest of five siblings, Marguerite V. Rodgers was born in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1953. Her family moved from home to home during Meg’s formative years until finally settling in Maine, where Meg was as influenced by her father’s ingenuity as by her mother’s appreciation for beautiful things.
Fascinated by composition and color, materials and craft, Meg arrived in Philadelphia as a college freshman in 1972 and soon began to explore media ranging from fibers to wood. By her sophomore year, Meg was designing and crafting commissioned furniture for clients. By the end of her junior year she had launched a long-term independent study program, using eighteenth century construction techniques and the help of friends to build a barn on her parents’ property in Maine.
Meg’s talent for design and her growing aptitude for construction led to a series of gallery, boutique, and residential commissions following her graduation from The University of the Arts. Frequently collaborating with other artists, Meg built the furnishings in her own woodworking shop while working toward a certificate in interior design.
In 1993, Meg took on the design of Striped Bass, a nationally recognized establishment about which Esquire magazine restaurant critic John Mariani would later say, “showed Philadelphia what was possible at the high end.” Striped Bass was designated Restaurant of the Year by Esquire, an honor that would, ten years later, be associated with Lacroix at The Rittenhouse, another Rodgers commission.
Meanwhile, Meg’s work for residential clients was winning accolades of its own. Designing the interiors of private homes, apartments, and condominiums in Boston, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Manhattan, and the Bahamas, Meg earned the respect and the loyalty of clients who appreciated the firm’s steadfast commitment to listening well, designing artfully, and seeing all stages of each installation through.
Today Meg Rodgers continues to work on projects that range from private residences and condominiums to hotels and restaurants. Her love of culture, landscape, and antiques takes her around the world. Her passion for movies and conversation inspires her work.
Professionally, Meg serves on the Design Advisory Board for Moore College of Art & Design and the Executive Cabinet of the Leaders of Design Council. She also is a member of the Barnes Foundation Morisot Passport to Paris Committee and Pennsylvania SPCA Bark & Whine Committee.
Philadelphia College of Art 1976
“Ever since her design firm, Marguerite Rodgers, created the interiors for the award-winning restaurant, its principal has been in the news — more specifically, in the New York Times, Esquire and Bon Appetit. Yet Rodgers’ image is far from that of severely stylish artiste, full of highfalutin design directives… She has the steely resolve and no-nonsense pragmatism common to those born and raised on the rough coast of Maine.”
— Hilary Jay
Philadelphia Magazine
“Meg knows how to listen, how to think about the food, the service, the space, the customer and the design from there. She has a great feeling for woodwork, and the guys love working with her because she can do the work herself. She’ll get down next to them and put nails in the floor.”
— Neil Stein
Philadelphia Magazine