Josie Roberts McCarthy

Josie Fern Roberts McCarthy, the renowned Dallas interior designer whose timeless interiors shaped homes across America for more than forty years, passed away peacefully on November 28, 2025. She was held by her daughter, Juliana, after a courageous battle with cancer. In the days leading up to her departure, she was surrounded and supported by dear, generous friends.

Born and raised in Dallas, Josie attended The Hockaday School, Principia High School, and Highland Park High School before graduating from Principia College. After college, she moved to Washington, D.C., to work at the National Gallery of Art, an experience that deepened her lifelong passion for art.

Later, she began her interior design career, learning from Marguerite Green in Dallas and Albert Hadley of the celebrated firm Parish-Hadley in New York. She worked with Hadley on the interiors of her own Hal Thomson-designed home in Dallas, a defining project that shaped her future style and aesthetic philosophy.

In 1980, she founded Josie McCarthy Associates, becoming known as one of Dallas’s leading interior designers. Her mastery of proportion and scale, her brilliant use of color, and her ability to create rooms that were both elegant and comfortable earned her lasting respect in the field. Her work, which moved fluidly between Modernism and Classicism, earned her a place on D Magazine’s Best Designers list for more than a decade. Her portfolio included residences from California to New York, Florida to Montana, as well as offices and country clubs. Notable projects included the restoration of a home designed by O’Neil Ford, luxury residences at Museum Tower in the Dallas Arts District, and collaborations with architect John Tackett that were featured in Southern Accents.

“The basis of any great room is that it wears well over time,” she often said. And, “If you buy the best, you only cry once.”

Josie accomplished all of this while coming of age in a time and place that encouraged women to be quiet, domestic, and dependent. She defied those expectations with grit and elegance. Her work ethic, independence, and uncompromising eye made her a force in the design world and a role model for younger generations of women.

Beyond her design practice, Josie was a committed patron of the arts and a member of the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She was also a member of the Colony Club in New York and the Dallas Women’s Club.

Those who knew Josie remember a woman who was chic, stoic, savvy, and inspirationally intimidating. Beneath her polished exterior lived a funny, wild, and tender spirit. She brought the same discernment and care to motherhood that she brought to her interior design.

Josie is survived by her two daughters, Juliana and Eugenie McCarthy, who were profoundly blessed to have her as their protective and deeply loving mother.

A memorial service will be held in a private residence that she designed. Those who would like to attend may write Juliana at [email protected].

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Texas Campaign for the Environment (texasenvironment.org).