Alumna Betty Barbatsuly '65 featured in Architectural Digest

When deciding where to attend college, interior designer Betty Barbatsuly ’65 felt a small co-ed school would be her best fit. Enter Roanoke College. 

Roanoke is where she met her late husband, Mark Barbatsuly ’64, and where she developed lifelong friendships that still exist today. 

At Roanoke, Barbatsuly studied psychology and economics. A few years after graduating, she went to design school, and her interior design career evolved over time.

Barbatsuly’s professional projects have included designing interiors for clubs and apartment buildings, along with decorating her friend and actress Susan Lucci Huber’s home on multiple occasions. While she doesn’t have a favorite project, her latest interior design for Susan Lucci was featured in Architectural Digest in October 2025. She completed the project alongside her daughter, a fellow interior designer, Lisa Richardson. 

Barbatsuly, who originally hails from the Shenandoah Valley, said her career  has taken her places both domestically and abroad. She and her daughter, Lisa Richardson, are currently working on a project in Palm Beach, and their work sometimes takes them to the Hamptons in New York. 

Barbatsuly looks back on her time in Salem with fondness. She said, “To me it was the best four years of a lifetime, and hopefully everybody feels that way.” 

Barbatsuly has been a loyal donor to Roanoke College and is a member of the Society of 1842.