"A magic place": Holley and Scott Ellis seek to fully restore Edgewood’s historic Pink House
To explore the grounds of the Pink House, the magnificent Italianate stucco home built in Edgewood in 1921 by artists Georges and Eleanor Bridges, is to venture into what seems like another world, another time.
The 1.4-acre property — it was built by the Bridges as an artist retreat — harbors beautifully gnarled trees, sculptures large and small, marble walkways, a greenhouse and the remains of the couple’s stables.
The gardens in the front yard are “a little magic place” and are “unlike anything in the rest of Alabama,” said Martha Jones of the Homewood Alabama Historical Preservation Society.
It’s easy to forget for a moment you’re in the 21st century.
The historic home at 214 Edgewood Blvd. is a great treasure for Homewood. Until recently, it was owned by a local developer with plans to tear down the house and replace it with five new homes.
But the enchanting Pink House will remain standing, thanks to Holley Ellis and her husband Scott. The couple purchased the home this summer and will occupy it with their two children while renovating the house and grounds.
They are suited for the task, according to Jones.
“Holley and Scott are so enthusiastic,” she said. “They love the house, the property and want to renovate it back to its 1921 splendor.”
Not only that, but Holley Ellis is powerfully drawn to the Bridges, prolific artists and unique personalities who were also active in the community.
“I fell in love with them,” she said.
In addition to renovating the home, Holley Ellis wants to help make the Bridges and their accomplishments better known in Birmingham.
And though the Pink House will be a private residence, the Ellises want to open up the house and grounds on special occasions to share it with the community.
A World War I veteran, Georges Bridges became a well-known sculptor. His works include statues of Thomas Jefferson in Linn Park and the Rev. James Alexander “Brother” Bryan in Five Points South.
A portrait painter, Eleanor Bridges was the daughter of Birmingham real estate magnate Richard W. Massey.
“Eleanor Bridges grew up with fine art hanging in her parents’ home, but she and Georges decided to make their house their art,” Jones said.
Among the famous visitors the Bridges entertained at the Pink House — according to various accounts — were Tallulah Bankhead, Jimmy Dorsey, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, with whom the couple spent time in 1920s Paris.
Georges Bridges died in 1976 and Eleanor Bridges in 1987, and Eric and Diana Hansen purchased the Edgewood home in 1988. Developer Patrick O’Sullivan bought it in 2004 and leased the property back to the Hansens for 14 years.
O’Sullivan went before the city in summer 2018 with plans to demolish the house and build five new single-family homes.
The Homewood Historical Preservation Society was hurriedly created to lead the charge to save the home from the wrecking ball.
Its initial goal was to raise $2.5 million to buy the Pink House and turn it into an artist retreat, event center, archive and museum.
However, the nonprofit did not reach its goal and shifted over to helping find someone to buy the house.
By June 2019, the Pink House was still intact, and O’Sullivan told The Homewood Star he expected to begin demolition within a few months.
He said he had gotten interest from people about buying the Pink House to renovate it as a single-family home but had received no purchase offers.
That changed in late July.
Holley and Scott Ellis have several businesses located across the United States and had been looking for several months for a “forever” home in Birmingham to serve as their Alabama base near family, Holley Ellis said.
“I couldn’t find a house my heart was attached to,” she said.
Then a friend told Holley Ellis about the Pink House. She checked out the HHPS website and called O’Sullivan about the house.
“We saw it within a few days and made an offer within 24 hours,” she said.
It seems appropriate that the couple bought a house in the Magic City.
“Scott’s whole family is from Birmingham, and I have a lot of family that lives here, too,” Holley Ellis said.
Her husband’s grandfather grew up in Homewood, and her brother also lives on Edgewood Boulevard.
Holley Ellis wants people in the area to know about the Bridges.
“They deserve more than they are getting,” she said. “They are just a force, and we are art lovers.
“Eleanor had endless energy to make an impact.”
Eleanor Bridges was a founder or board member of several local opera, symphony and ballet organizations, along with about 10 additional clubs and groups, and the couple also founded the Birmingham Theosophical Society, according to online sources.
As part of her research, Holley Ellis is making resumes for each of the Bridges.
“They did hundreds of things,” she said. “I started going through the newspaper articles for both of them to show, especially the younger generation, what they did for the community and what they did even nationally for the art world.”
Holley Ellis and her husband are having the house and grounds documented by a photographer, a landscape architect and a surveyor.
At press time, renovation was to begin soon. Priorities include adding a new roof, stabilizing a lot of the walls and restoring the stucco.
Holley Ellis said she will open the home to the public on We Love Homewood Day and on the house’s 100th birthday in 2021.And there will be other events, including an Art in the Garden event that took place Nov. 3.
The home has a Jefferson County historical plaque but also qualifies for the National Register of Historic Places, and an application for the register is underway, according to Holley Ellis.
She said she may create a small garden house on the property near Edgewood Boulevard that will sell flowers from the garden and works from artists inspired by the house and grounds.
And how does she feel about living in a place that belongs to the public as much as it does to her family?
“I love a project,” she said, laughing. “I love to be busy.”
To follow the restoration, go to Instagram @pinkhousehomewood.