Bellingrath Gardens and Home, Theodore Alabama

Date added: February 20, 2025

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Bellingrath Gardens is an excellent example of a large estate garden planned in the late 1920's and is one of the finest of the Southern estate gardens of any period. It is widely accepted as having the most spectacular spring display of any garden in the southeast and is noted for the wide variety of azaleas. Planned as the private country garden of Walter D. Bellingrath, who made a fortune in bottling Coca-cola during the first decades of the 20^th century, it reflects the ideas of the "Gardenesque Movement" of the late 19^th century with the characteristic vignettes of Italian and French formal gardens within an overall romantic English garden. The Gardens are the major landscape work of George B. Rogers, a prominent Mobile architect.

After a trip to Europe in 1927 to view the gardens of Italy, France and England, the Bellingraths determined to convert their fishing camp on the Fowl River into a magnificent landscaped garden similar to those they had seen. They engaged George B. Rogers who drew heavily from turn of the century works on Italian and English gardens such as those published by the Country Life Library of London, Elgood and Jekyll's English Gardens (1905) and Latham's The Gardens of Italy (1905).

The Gardens were opened to the public on one occasion in 1932 and shortly thereafter were permanently opened for a small fee. In 1934 A. A. Hunt, an English landscaper with an impressive background, was hired as the landscape engineer. Hunts' training was extensive, having worked in the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, London and the Marquis of Lansdown's estate, Bowood Castle, and other estates in England before emigrating to the United States in 1906. Once in America he worked at a variety of country estates and professional organizations in New England and California before moving to Louisiana in 1924. There he directed Jungle Gardens on Avery Island and drew plans for planting at Louisiana State University and the State Capitol in Baton Rouge. Bellingrath retained Hunt in 1934 to be General Manager and Landscape Engineer, a position he kept until his retirement in 1954.

In 1935, the Bellingraths determined to move to the gardens, and had Rogers design the house which was completed in 1936. After Mr. Bellingrath died in 1955, the house was opened as a museum.

Site Description

The Bellingrath estate comprises over 1,000 acres of land of which sixty-five are cultivated and landscaped. It is located on the west bank of Fowl River in southeast Mobile County near the small town of Theodore, Alabama. The garden was planned by its creators, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Bellingrath, as a showplace for an extensive variety of plants, shrubs, trees and flowers native to Mobile and similar climates. Found in the garden are over 250,000 azalea bushes, representing every specie known, live oaks, Southern pines, and a wide variety of roses, magnolias, jasmine, wisteria, camellia, mountain laurel, oleander, crepe myrtle, gardenia and dogwood. Flowers vary according to the season.

The focal points of Bellingrath Gardens are: the rose garden, planted in a formal circular pattern based on the symbol of the Rotary Club; the tropical greenhouse; the grotto and spillway near the house planted with flowers and shrubs; the rustic bridge; the terraces which lead to the house; and Mirror Lake.

The approach to the house is via long meandering walks bordered with shoulder high shrubbery hedges. Toward the end of the main walk from the entrance gate, the visitor breaks free of the surrounding hedge to a stunning vista of the great lawn with the house dramatically posed at the opposite end. The approach from the opposite direction (on the north) leads through meandering walks to an impressive view of the house across Mirror Lake. These sections of Bellingrath Gardens were inspired by the English country park which seeks a naturalistic feeling by contrasts of thick growth with open vistas and seemingly random plantings. Most of the plants along the walk are seasonal sun flowers; bulbs in the Spring, chrysanthemums in Fall, poinsettia in Winter and salvia in the Summer.

Closer to the house the garden begins to take on a more formal appearance with terraces, water play areas and symmetrically arranged plantings. Here are found circular, rectangular and square brick beds of lily plants, caladiums and the ubiquitous azalea. The inspiration of the Italian formal garden is particularly evident in the fountain spillway and grotto with the constant splash and movement of water as it makes its way to the river. The area between the house and river descends in a series of formal terraces with brick beds and classical urns planted with seasonal flowers.

Although Bellingrath Gardens suffered great losses during Hurricane Frederick in September 1979, a great recovery effort returned the garden to its former splendor. The greatest change has been the transition from a shade to sun garden due to the loss of most of the great old oaks. Extensive replanting has covered most of the scars and shade is expected to be re-established in about five years.

Despite the damage done by Frederick, the integrity of the gardens has not been impaired; George Rogers' design, which combined English country park with the formal Italian garden, remains the same. The walks, brick beds, great lawn, grotto, and spillway are exactly as they were. Also the original camellia arboretum, gazebo, guest house, chapel, greenhouse, rose garden, Mirror Lake and Rustic Bridge remain. The hurricane did not alter the organization on arrangement of the Gardens or cause more than minor structural damage to the buildings. The only loss was in plant materials, and a large number of trees.

The only major change to the garden since the early 1930's has been the creation of the Oriental Garden, which enhances the overall concept of the garden. The area was originally a bird sanctuary and was expanded to its present form in 1966-67. It features tropical plants set around and in a small lake. The lake serves as the home for various species of birds, mainly swans, ducks and flamingos. The Oriental Garden was designed by John Brown, landscape Engineer at the time.

The Bellingrath home is a two-story with basement brick structure. According to George Rogers, the architect of the house, the design is based on a combination of Renaissance motifs and the popular brick townhouse of the mid-nineteenth century. The frequent use of the round arch and arcade on the exterior reveals the Renaissance influence, while the cast iron balconies, brick dentils and many gables reflect the local style. The buff colored brick and cast iron were taken from an old hotel in Mobile which had been built in 1850's.

The massing is asymmetrical with a major wing on the east side and a smaller wing on the west. The house is arranged around an interior courtyard which separates the two wings. The wings are connected on the second floor level by a balcony which overlooks the courtyard. The exterior of the Bellingrath house is basically restrained with the main emphasis on the use of the round arch on all four sides of the building, the cast iron and the brick quoining on the corners.

The lavish interior of the house is characterized by careful attention to detail and fine craftsmanship. Rogers patterned the crown moldings found in the main drawing room and dining room after those he saw in ante-bellum homes in Mobile. They are comprised of the Greek meander, bead and reel, egg and dart and acanthus leaf motifs. In contrast, the ceiling medallions are modernistic sunbursts created by Rogers. Each room which contains a fireplace has a different mantel, with those in the major rooms being more elaborate. Again, these mantels were patterned after those found in the older homes in Mobile. Each riser in the impressive stairway located to the left of the entrance door features a feathery scroll design. Of particular note are the light colored hardwood floors which are pegged together with darker contrasting pegs.

The Bellingrath home is now used as a house museum which features Mrs. Bellingrath's vast collections of plates, porcelain, silver and antique furniture. In addition, the guest house, which sits to the west of the house, is used as a museum to house a collection of porcelain of Edward Boehm.