This month’s issue of Flower magazine features the most beautiful and sentimental 1920s home located in Birmingham, Alabama. After a devastating fire from a lightening strike, homeowners Patty B. and Dave Driscoll decided to rebuild their home, preserving the architectural bones while updating spaces to make it a better version of itself.
The Driscolls met with architects Liz and John Carraway and planned to recreate the house using salvaged bricks. They also decided to tackle some renovations that had been on their wish list such as expanding the kitchen, creating a proper master bath, building an easier access to the front of the house, and reconstructing the pool. Designer Mary Evelyn McKee stepped in to help the couple sort what to keep and what was beyond repair. “After we went to their storage facility and saw how much they’d lost, I knew they needed to rebuild their lives with art and furniture that could mean as much to them as what they’d lost,” Mary Evelyn said to Flower magazine.
Treasures the family lost in the fire could not be replaced, but with Mary Evelyn’s help, they could create new memories. Patti B. devoted a year to restoring her home while visiting auction houses and design centers across the country and in England. As a result, their home is just as it was — yet better suited for a 21st-century family — where new memories interweave with “before the fire” recollections. Photography by Laurey W. Glenn.
The Driscolls like to make every occasion a memorable event, so the dining room took top priority. A custom Gracie wallpaper adds elegance and beauty to the room.
Patty B. found the mirror at an estate sale years ago. “All the gilding had worn off, so we had it redone. But then it was too shiny. Ironically, the smoke from the fire gave it the perfect patina,” said to Flower magazine. The silver tea service was Dave’s mother’s, a special gift his father sent after the fire.
The coffee table came from the auction of Bunny Mellon’s estate.
Patty B. Driscoll and boxer Cora
To read more of the Driscolls’ heartwarming story, please visit Flower magazine. I highly recommend a subscription to this beautiful publication, which you can obtain through their website or via Amazon.
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It’s so hard to come back from a fire. They must have really loved the place to have brought it back like that. Good for them.
That home was one of the most beautiful that I have ever seen! It just proves that if one can take time and have a designer’s help they might come up with a look that is absolutely as gorgeous as the one you have pictured here. Thank you.
It is terrific that the state of Alabama let’s them do this. In Louisiana, if you have a fire, you have to rebuild the place back exactly as it was and after that is certified, then if you want to remodel, update or modernize, you have to start from that point. I think it is crazy.
I particularly love that curved banquette in that bay window – actually looks comfortable! And the fabulous Gracie wallpaper in the DR. And, of course, those lovely cats… The dog’s nice, too.