By Christina Hennessy
Even with a thick canopy of clouds overhead, Suzanne Bellehumeur had managed to find a sunny spot at Stamford’s Bartlett Arboretum on a recent weekday morning.
“I just love the theme of this show house,” she said, as she carefully crafted another leaf with the bristles of her paintbrush. “Bringing the outdoors in.”
Bellehumeur, a Stamford-based wall mural artist, is one of more than two dozen designers and artisans who are coming together to transform the historic Bartlett homestead into an elegant showcase of architectural design and artistic elements. “Garden Rooms by Design — Bringing the Outdoors In” begins with a gala fundraiser, “Spring Fling in the Garden Party,” on Thursday, June 7, and continues Friday, June 8, to Friday, June 15, at the Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens, a 91-acre site that features woodland trails, gardens and education programs at its new Silver Educational Center.
The showcase coincides with the Bartlett’s Spring Garden Tour, which serves as one of the main fundraisers for this nonprofit organization. The tour, which includes several local gardens as well as the gardens at the arboretum, will run Sunday, June 10, to Monday, June 11.
On this morning, with the warm yellow tones of the foyer walls emanating a sunshiny glow, Bellehumeur worked to create the trees and other botanical elements — in the style of chinoiserie — that will be featured throughout the entry space and up along the walls of the spiraling staircase.
“It is one of my favorite motifs,” she said, as she described the flowers and the birds that would soon appear. Once the walls bloom, so to speak, she said she will begin work on the original oil paintings that will be featured on the walls of the home’s second floor.
“It’s like being a kid in a candy store,” she said of the designer showcase experience. “We get to do what we love to do.”
“We gave a lot of artistic leeway,” said Peter Saverine, the Bartlett’s executive director.
The only guiding principle was attention to the show’s botanical theme. As such, Victoria Vandamm, who is co-chair of the designer showcase along with Helen White of Home Resource Guide.com, said the interior designers, landscape designers and artists who signed on to the project have brought a distinct, yet complementary approach to the home and adjacent grounds.
“This really is a great celebration of the Bartlett Arboretum,” said Vandamm, who runs the interior design firm Vandamm Interiors in Stamford.
In addition to her s co-chair role, Vandamm also is collaborating with Bellehumeur for the entry and staircase work, and Hoffman Landscapes for a unique presentation in the home’s library. Though the library was empty on a recent morning, Vandamm painted a clear picture of what was to come — a collection of fauna to complement the collection of garden books that will soon be on the shelves.
“It’s a different kind of designer showcase because it doesn’t feature the typical mansion or showroom,” she said. “This is an older, real house circa 1900 that has been lived in and will continue to function as an administrative building, historical museum and visitor service center.”
The home served as the residence for Francis A. Bartlett, the founder of the F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Co., from 1913 to 1965. The state bought the property and home in 1965, and the public arboretum opened a year later. In 2002, the city of Stamford gained ownership of the site, which is managed by the Bartlett Arboretum Association.
Given the age of the home, it needed some attention even before the designers and artists could get to work, the organizers said. In fact, the home had recently undergone renovations to install a new heating system.
Accepting the challenge was another co-chairman of the event, Robert Knorr of Pound Ridge, N.Y.-based Nordic Construction, Inc., who also donated his skills to the project.
“I’m not a designer, but I am a builder,” he said during a recent interview.
As such, he focused on creating a clean canvas for the designers, which meant a new paint job, new flooring in some areas, fixes to the plaster and other restorative work. He worked with a number of vendors, including Reclamation Lumber in New Haven, to ensure that any new elements would not compromise the historic look of the house.
“Some of it was challenging,” he said. “But, to bring it back and watch it be reborn, that was really my motivation.”
This is the first designer showcase at Bartlett, which is a source of pride and anticipation for the organizers. Vandamm said it has been a great experience, aided largely by the philanthropic nature of many people who have donated time, talents, supplies and assistance to the effort. For many of the designers and artists, who more typically have their work displayed in private settings, this project will be a way to have their talents seen by the public. Once the showcase ends, the home will be ready to serve as an administrative space and place for the public to gather.
“One of the wonderful things along the way has been this sense of community,” Vandamm said. “So many people have reached out. It’s really been a pleasure.”
“Garden Rooms By Design — Bringing the Outdoors In,” will kick off with a gala reception and fundraiser, “Spring Fling in the Garden Party,” Thursday, June 7, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. $100 nonmember, $85 member. The showcase runs daily 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday, June 8, to Friday, June 15. Entry to the showcase is $20, with a $10 discount with purchase of a garden tour ticket. The Spring Garden Tour runs Sunday, June 10, noon to 4 p.m. and Monday, June 11, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets: $50 nonmember; $40 member. Monday’s luncheon and vendor boutique is an additional $20.
The Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens is located at 151 Brookdale Road, Stamford. Visit www.stamfordshowhouse.com or www.bartlettarboretum.org, or call 914-934-1685 or 203-322-6971.
christina.hennessy@scni.com; 203-964-2241; http://twitter.com/xtinahennessy/
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