FLOWER MAY•JUNE 2024
HOUSE l GARDEN l LIFESTYLE
Lighting | Furniture | Accessories | Residential | Contract
PHOTO BY MARY CRAVEN DAWKINS
curreyandcompany.com
MAY• JUNE 2024
Contents FEATURES
44
Home on the Ranch
With the purchase of the Texas farmland she shares with her husband, designer Denise McGaha returns to her roots and finds the inspiration for her newest collection.
52
Ornamental Beauty
More than 30 years ago, Barbara Israel purchased a collection of estate statuary that changed her personal and professional life in a most artistic way.
58
Past Meets Present
Designer Lauren Robbins shakes up a historic home in Augusta, Georgia, with an engaging palette, contemporary art, and a charismatic blend of old and new.
66
Game Changers
Nashville natives and renowned hostesses Mary Hollis Huddleston and Katie Jacobs put their expertise to work as they plan an afternoon gathering centered around a popular pastime.
PHOTO BY MARY CRAVEN DAWKINS
ON THE COVER:
Everything’s coming up roses, and we’re serving loads of floral inspiration in this issue. David Austin roses from Grace Rose Farm; platter by Anna Weatherley. Photographed by David Hillegas
“Just living isn’t enough,” said the butterfly. “One must also have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” –HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN f l o w e r m a g .c o m
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McKinnon and Harris Sofa in Brynn. Pillows in Iggy, Turtle Bay, Kalea Stripe, Panama Matelassé, Harper, and Brynn with Easton Fringe.
Contents DEPARTMENTS
15
Scene
Fresh-from-the-farm roses, floral-inspired jewelry, and the newest garden reads
25
Bohemian Soul
In an excerpt from their new book, writer Valorie Hart and photographer Sara Essex Bradley draw back the curtains to celebrate the houses and owners who embody the essence of New Orleans’ style and free-spirited character—at times refined, often quirky, and always intensely personal.
25 32
A Place of Hope and Healing
ABOVE: As seen in
Bohemian Soul, a hand-painted Greek key border in Jessica Harris’s house amplifies the high ceiling and walls intentionally left imperfect.
38
In Full Fleur
Artist, legendary editor, and society figure Fleur Cowles was as cheeky and iconoclastic in the way she used flowers as she was in every other aspect of her life.
32 | 8 | FLOWER
May•June 2024
IN E V ERY ISSU E
Floral designer Holly Heider Chapple
Watering Can What’s Online? Sources Floral Moment
10 42 78 80
PHOTOS (TOP TO BOTTOM) BY SARA ESSEX BRADLEY; BY BETH SELIGA
On her Virginia farm, floral designer Holly Heider Chapple draws from her own life experiences to share the restorative power of blooms.
PHOTOS (TOP TO BOTTOM) BY SARA ESSEX BRADLEY; BY BETH SELIGA
Sophisticated wallcovering, fabric, furniture, and trim.
thibautdesign.com
McKinnon and Harris Sofa in Brynn. Pillows in Iggy, Turtle Bay, Kalea Stripe, Panama Matelassé, Harper, and Brynn with Easton Fringe.
AT PRESENT, WE’VE JUST come off International Women’s Day. I don’t always trumpet these commemorative moments on my social media scaffolding, and it can be for any number of reasons. In this case, I refrained because I felt that the topic had been duly acknowledged in the zeitgeist, which allowed me to simply appreciate the messages of others. But as I read through our content for this issue, I can’t help but remark on the exclusively feminine makeup of the stories— not only the subjects whose houses, gardens, art, textiles, and games populate the pages, but even the writers. I am an editor, a business owner, and a woman. However, I’ve never really highlighted the fact of my being a woman in business, or in the publishing business specifically. I simply had an idea that wouldn’t leave me alone, followed it down the path, and welcomed all who have wanted to walk alongside me. This must sound incredibly naïve, even obtuse, but it just never occurred to me not to do this thing, or that I might not be able to due to being a woman. What a luxury! I’ve been pondering those who went before and those who have inspired me—a list too long to undertake here. But the table of contents is pretty much a microcosm—from the late Fleur Cowles who fearlessly launched a magazine that embodied her iconoclastic aesthetic to Denise McGaha who bundled
the botanical signposts from her family ranch into a groundbreaking collection of textiles and wallcoverings to Charlotte Moss who left the gray walls of Wall Street to launch into the kaleidoscope of interior design, gardening, flowering, and writing. We also include Barbara Israel who turned an impulse to collect garden statues into a thriving business, and Tovah Martin, the celebrated and prolific garden writer whose name is synonymous with all things horticultural. And on the last page, we feature Ariella Chezar who gave up a promising future in opera to immerse herself in the world of flowering. All these women—and thousands more—have lived into their gifts and passions, and we are the beneficiaries. Let EVERY day be International Women’s Day! Love and SDG,
Margot Shaw EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Please send your comments, triumphs, challenges & questions to: wateringcan@flowermag.com OR: Letters to the Editor FLOWER Magazine I P.O. Box 530645 I Birmingham, AL 35253 Get the FLOWER email newsletter! Sign up at flowermag.com/news
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May•June 2024
PORTRAIT BY BECKY LUIGART-STAYNER
Watering can
A Note from the Editor
PORTRAIT BY BECKY LUIGART-STAYNER
Scene
What We’ve Got Our Eyes On FRESH-FROM-THE-FARM ROSES, FLORAL-INSPIRED JEWELRY, AND THE NEWEST GARDEN READS Produced & styled by Amanda Smith Fowler Photography by David Hillegas
f l owe r m a g .co m
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Scene
Petal Pushers
Drawing from nature’s most timeless shapes, these pieces will bloom eternally.
PREVIOUS PAGE: David Austin roses (bundles starting at $99) from Grace Rose Farm, gracerosefarm.com • Scalloped Leaf Tray with Handles ($550) by Anna Weatherley through Fête, tresbellefete.com • Vivian fabric in Forget-Me-Not (inquire for pricing) by Leah O’Connell Textiles, leahoconnelltextiles.com THIS PAGE; CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: 30mm Floral Engraved Round Disc ($5,000) on Club Bracelet with Diamond Clasp ($10,500) by Single Stone, singlestone.com • 13mm Wild Child Studs ($8,000) by Paul Morelli, paulmorelli.com • Daisy with Moonstone Petals and Diamond Center Earrings ($7,650) by Elizabeth Locke Jewels, elizabethlocke.com • Small Pave Diamond Flower Drop Earrings ($8,600) by Anita Ko, anitako.com • Kelly Necklace ($8,000) by Gumuchian, gumuchian.com • Chocolatier® Earrings with Cinnamon Citrine® ($2,468) by LeVian, levian.com • Chalcedony, Blue Topaz and Diamond Brooch ($4,200) by Singhvi Jewels, singhvijewels.com • Velvet (to the trade) by Osborne & Little, osborneandlittle.com • Golden Lily Wallpaper (to the trade) by Morris & Co., morrisandco.sandersondesigngroup.com
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May•June 2024
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