White flowers and the secret garden
Nestled in the heart of Homewood is a pink stucco mansion surrounded by stately mature holly and cedar trees. A peek through the lush trees beckons one to enter this secret garden to discover its secrets.
Artists Mary Eleanor, known as Eleanor, and Georges Bridges built the home with an eclectic mix of Spanish and Greek architecture in 1921.
Eleanor, nicknamed “London” Bridges, was a painter and designed the gardens. Georges, a sculptor who created the Brother Bryan and Jefferson statues for the City of Birmingham, worked the gardens. The Bridges traveled to Europe during the summer and lived and gardened in the home during the other months for 69 years together.
They hosted lavish social occasions in their home for artists such as Ella and Scott Fitzgerald and Earnest Hemingway. The holly and cedar trees they planted created a semi-private sanctuary for the garden grounds. However, they knew neighbors could peek through the vines and trees and see partygoers and limousines entering the grounds, going inside and leaving along the dirt roads.
The interior of the home is as special as the exterior home and garden designs. A balcony overlooks the 28-foot high ceiling in the living room. At age 80, Eleanor stood on scaffolding to paint a life-size horse on a huge canvas hanging from the balcony. She was still gardening until she moved to assisted living in 1980.
After Eleanor’s death in the early 1980s, Diana and Eric Hansen, friends of the Bridges, bought the “Bridges Studio” home.
The Hansens consider themselves caretakers of this artistic haven, a sanctuary of wonder and amazement. They delight in the fact that neighbors are still peeking through these same vines and trees today, although the garden landscaping has changed through the years.
They purchased the home complete with all its furnishings and contents, to
avoid a public sale of the property, and eventually discovered a few hatboxes that Eleanor had labeled “white flowers.” Coincidentally, Diana had opened a store by the same name now located at the corner of 18th Street and Central Avenue in downtown Homewood.
Diana draws inspiration for her business from her love for her home and gardens. The peaceful atmosphere in her shop reflects the creative and loving presence she feels around her home. The emotional connection between the shop and her home begins with her garden flowers and is highlighted by her favorite color, white.
For Diana, the color white represents God’s hand, light, angels, calmness and everything good and beautiful. The clean, crisp, ethereal pureness is also a perfect backdrop for displays of art. Eric, a commercial photographer, takes
photographs of her garden flowers in black and white, which are displayed throughout the all-white walls of her home.
Likewise, her entire shop is white, inside and out. The store also sells soft white T-shirts for adults and children with simple flowers or sweet phrases in contrasting black or gray writing or design. Fanciful white or off-white cotton antique lace skirts and blouses of various designs and lengths are among the many gift items in the store.
Shoppers say that Diana’s shop is a wonderful retreat, a relaxing and special experience. The business has grown through the years from four designs at the Atlanta gift market, to a kiosk at Brookwood Mall, to a leased shop in Mountain Brook, to her new permanent location.
Still, her vision and love for her home and garden inspire her business and imbue her with calm and happiness.