An interior designer and restorer of classic homes in Provincetown and Truro, Vernon Lee Brown III died on April 17, 2024 after several long illnesses. The cause of death, confirmed by his son, Andrew Brown, was cardiac arrest. He was 73.

The son of the late Vernon L. Brown Jr. and Violette Brown, Vernon was born on May 10, 1950 in Glenview, Ill., where he spent his early boyhood. When he was a teenager, the family moved to Ridgewood, N.J.

He graduating from Ridgewood High School in 1968, and went on to Colby College in Maine, where he met Amy Sosland. The couple married in 1971, and their son, Andrew, was born in 1972, the same year Vernon graduated from Colby with a B.A. in commercial art.

Vernon had a long career as an interior designer, which over the years developed into house redesign and restoration, fusing his interests in design and architecture. He worked in a series of small companies with partners but mostly independently.

Before relocating to the Cape in the 1990s, Vernon lived and worked in various Boston neighborhoods. During those years, he vacationed in Provincetown and Truro and fell in love with Outer Cape life; he loved boating, driving his Scout on the dunes, fishing, walking on the beach, and catching his own lobster.

Cruising on Route 6 and the back roads in his Porsche was also a pleasure for him, and he loved cooking and going to concerts.

Once established in Provincetown, Vernon redesigned and restored houses large and small, some old, some grand, some merely functional. He redesigned a row of workers’ cabins, for example, turning them into summer cottages with loft bedrooms.

He also extended his reach into real estate, buying houses, restoring them, and reselling them. Eventually he worked for Thomas D. Brown Real Estate in Truro.

Vernon made friends wherever he traveled and kept up with them through the years. He loved the arts and collecting objects of beauty, and he traveled to Paris annually with friends to explore the city’s flea markets, looking for treasures that he would bring back to augment his home. He was also a regular at the antique markets in Brimfield.

His travels also took him to St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Later in life, Vernon developed a special friendship with his dog, Boo, a boxer. They were great companions, going everywhere together.

Vernon is survived by his son, Andrew Brown, and wife Kate Miller Brown of Philadelphia and two granddaughters, Julia and Charlotte Brown; by his two sisters, Wendy Brown and husband Walter and Sharon Brown of Pennsylvania; and by his dog, Boo.

For online condolences, visit nickersonfunerals.com. Funeral arrangements were private.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Vernon’s honor can be made to the Animal Rescue League of Boston, 3981 Main St., Brewster 02631 or arlboston.org.