THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604120076
SECTION: HOME & GARDEN PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SHIRLEY BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
A PAIR OF VIVID teal-colored columns make it hard to miss the entrance to Burdette and Joann Gatten's Franklin home. But they only hint at the fun and whimsy inside.
The Gattens found the columns, once part a department store display, in a shop that resells office furniture and added them to their collection of vintage memorabilia from auctions, junk shops and antique stores.
Burdette Gatten put wooden pillars inside the fiberglass columns for added weight and painted them his favorite shade of blue/green, which dominates the living room, kitchen and master bedroom.
Other eclectic, quirky items such as a mythical Pegasus, a Seeburg jukebox and a pulsing Sealtest sign give each room a distinctive personality. And they've become an integral part of the Gattens' daily family life.
The public will be invited to see the Gatten home at 704 Hunterdale Road in Franklin when it opens for tours Saturday as part of Historic Garden Week in Virginia. The Franklin Tour, sponsored by the Franklin Garden Club, also includes three homes and gardens on Clay Street.
Burdette Gatten began collecting as a boy, everything from seashells to unusually shaped rocks and stones. His wife was a later convert.
``I'd never been a collector,'' she said, ``but I've learned a lot, and I've enjoyed most of this, particularly the neon and bright colors. We never take a trip without stopping at every junk shop and flea market along the way. It takes us a long time to get where we're going.''
While attending the Southern College of Ophthalmology in Memphis, Tenn., Burdette bought an old red gas pump, which has found its niche in the couple's living room.
Accented by white woodwork, the room's teal walls and carpet set off the soft, cream-colored leather sofas. The shiny tin ceiling was hand-nailed by the Gattens and reflects light from original school house lamps. A 72-drawer restaurant back bar topped by open shelves covers an entire wall and serves as a display for several sculptures.
The Gattens searched extensively to find a mythical Pegasus, the red-winged horse that now soars above their white brick fireplace. They first heard through an Atlanta acquaintance that someone near Concord, N.C., owned a Pegasus.
``We called city hall and talked to a lady who had gone to school with the person who had it,'' Burdette said. ``We found it in Mount Olive, N.C., out in the middle of nowhere . . . in a barn.''
Other decorative pieces in the living room are an antique, round wall clock framed in glowing red and green neon and a 1940s Watling scale that still tells your weight and fortune for a penny.
A distressed shop table salvaged from the former Hayden High School in Franklin serves as a cocktail table.
``We like the personality of it,'' Burdette said. ``You can glue, hammer or dance on it.''
When the Gattens bought their '50s ranch-style home seven years ago, they removed interior walls, changed the front entrance and made other major renovations.
A kitchen was built in an open, 13-foot-wide area between the house and former garage, which was turned into a recreation area.
The 53-foot-long kitchen with its aqua and white checker-block floor is a step back in time to the days of saddle shoes and soda shops.
The painted frame of an antique barber shop mirror matches the teal and hot pink bar stools and an immense bar of '50s boomerang formica. A Sealtest sign with pulsing lights spotlights a bottle that appears to be pouring milk.
There is space at one end of the kitchen for a family ``fun center,'' which includes a bubble-gum machine, barber-shop pole, life-size sign of a Coca-Cola policeman and a theater popcorn machine. The Gattens drop nickels into the 1954 Seeburg jukebox and play an old pinball machine.
``We like nostalgic things from simpler times or something modern that attracts our eye,'' Burdette said. ``One of our favorites is a Coppertone sign and clock. We waited until the last day of a three-day auction in Atlanta for it. If something is not the right thing or the right price, we're good about waiting.''
The Gattens also are tennis buffs and have a lighted tennis court. A collection of antique sports equipment is displayed in the sports room, and the wall of an adjoining fitness room is decorated with vintage tennis rackets.
The spacious bedrooms and baths reflect Joann's handiwork. The room of their 4-year-old daughter, Gabby, is a lemon yellow accentuated by a splashy flowered bedspread in primary colors. For the blue room of their 1-year-old daughter, Barclay, Joann cut, painted and glued small wooden figures to a bright blue mirror frame.
``I've always liked `little people' things,'' she said.
To decorate the walls of the black and white tile guest bathroom, Joann sponged yellow, teal and black paint over a white background and added a wallpaper border of dancing figures. A decorative wrought iron woman affectionately named ``Gladys'' stands by the door, holding guest towels.
The focal point of the turquoise master bedroom is a verdigris wrought iron sleigh bed, and a tropical print hangs on the wall.
``These cheerful Caribbean or Miami colors are what we like,'' Burdette said. ``We know our home is not so conventional, but we enjoy the electricity of the mood. There have been a lot of years of looking and finding, stripping, sanding and polishing. But it's exciting to see how things have gone together.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by Moyoya Nakamura
E. Burdette Gatten III with his wife, Joann, and their daughters,
Gabby, 4, and Barclay, 1, enjoy their 53-foot long kitchen and
family "fun center,' which has the look of a '50s soda shop.
RIGHT: Gabby Burdette dances to music from a 1954 Seeburg jukebox.
FAR RIGHT: A red-winged Pegasus and a 1940s Watling scale decorate
the living room.
by CNB