By Marla Caligaris- Photography by R. Caligaris

When Martha Cunningham decided to downsize from her spacious Hilton Avenue home where she raised her two children, she knew she wanted to stay in Midtown, and she also knew she still wanted a traditional home. She enlisted Jack Jenkins to draw up what he calls a cottage Tudor home. The house was built 20 years ago by John Thayer Construction and has been recently remodeled by Scott Pearson. In 2019 Martha’s daughter Brooks Dykes moved in and began to make it her own.

The first person Brooks enlisted was Chris Harman of Wildwood Gardens. Chris worked closely with Jeremy Smith of Elite Masonry to create a lovely walled-in garden, terraced yard, and pool area. “ I really wanted to enclose the front yard with a wall front garden and terrace the backyard, which was literally a bamboo forest,” says Brooks. Brooks also wanted a small pool but knew that wasn’t possible. Chris said, “Wanna bet?” and called Don Dowdy of Pools by Design, and he got to work. The backyard had a huge slope, so Chris and his team at Wildwood Gardens continued the terracing and created a space for the pool. Brooks also wanted some areas for less formal planting, and that’s exactly what she got.

The front yard is a loosely formal garden enclosed by a pierced low brick wall filled with hydrangeas and colorful perennials. One side is flanked by loquat trees underplanted with low-growing azaleas, agapanthus, black-eyed susans, foxgloves, and coneflowers. Underneath the front windows, two large antique planters containing palmetto palms anchor the home and give the outside a formal look. Inside her home, Betsy Illges did a fabulous job of mixing Brooks' many collections from her trips to Africa, Belize, Ecuador, Italy, and France. Barbara Hale, interior designer and owner of At Home with Baldwin also helped Brooks design and decorate her new home.” The best and most fun part of this project was the day my mother came by to see the work in progress, and she gave it her seal of approval,” said Brooks.

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Brooks Dykes