Chai Style Home: Garden Muse in a Bohemian Setting

Nestled in a lush setting at harmony with nature, Lisa Frank’s mid-century house is full of nostalgia and her mother’s art — all “at one with the land.”

Featured on tours and in magazines, her four-season garden blooms year-round. She stated, “Finding color combinations that echo and complement each other is the fun part of gardening. I studied art and photography with Ansel Adams and have come to realize Mother Nature is the greatest artist of all. This garden has taught me to appreciate the shapes of seed pods, different bark textures and leaf patterns — not just the flowers.”

The home’s entire lower level is replete with hundreds of her mother, Shirlee Frank’s, watercolor, ceramics and etchings. She laughed, “Mom used corny titles like Cosmic Influences and Stoking the Celestial Fire in all kinds of styles. We just can’t put Shirlee Frank’s art in one box.”

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Lisa transported this useful 1920s table from a New York bank. An African batik hangs on the left.

Jaffe: Explain the history of the house.
Frank: I bought it in 1980 from Sarah Oberdorfer who inherited it from her mother, an older Jewish woman living alone. After growing up in Santa Monica, Calif., where there are no forests, I was enchanted with its large, wooded backyard dominated by tall pines and native trees. I had no idea what to do with the property until I met Terry May, superintendent of grounds at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. I was the Garden’s first public relations director after leaving a similar position at the High Museum of Art. Terry and I lived here for 10 years. He cleared the lot of invasives and undesirable trees and planted rare ones from around the world.

Lisa relaxes on a 1920s velvet love seat. A watercolor by her mother hangs above.

Jaffe: Describe your furnishings?
Frank: I like things with meaning like this old bank table from Rochester, N.Y., a velvet love seat of my father’s from 1920, a Tiffany-style lamp, with the stripped-down wood floors.

Jaffe: Your mother was an artist?
Frank: Shirlee Frank was the oldest of seven children and a trend-setter. She was artistic and read The New Yorker every week. As a divorced mother of two young girls in 1960, she made the bold move to relocate from her traditional roots in Ohio to California. She found her liberal, artistic community. Attending gallery openings was my mom’s favorite sport. My sister and I grew up going to galleries, museums, theaters and international cultural festivals. After becoming an empty nester, Shirlee immersed herself in art full-time. For 10 years, she painted large, colorful watercolors, influenced by Picasso, Chagall and Kandinsky. For the next 10 years, she experimented with printmaking creating intricate etchings of women with different beasts.

Frank’s great room looks out to the west garden.

Jaffe: You created a gallery for her work in your lower level.
Frank: Yes. She also experimented with ceramics, creating more than 100 whimsical whistles, vessels and one-of-a-kind masks. When rent in L.A. got too high, she moved to Atlanta. Before she died, Barbara Archer lent us her gallery for one weekend. When so many pieces sold, I realized people appreciated her talent. There are still hundreds of pieces. Two of my favorite oversized masks are hung prominently in my living room and kitchen. Several of her large abstract watercolors have sold to friends. Her etchings are also impressive. The large “Basilisk on the Roof” is stunning. I’ve sold three and have one left.

Shirlee Frank’s antique desk is surrounded by her etchings, abstract watercolors and ceramics.

Jaffe: Is gardening more of an art or a science?
Frank: Both. I benefited from Terry’s science background (master’s degree in horticulture). He understood how to amend the soil, what requirements each plant needed, and then sited each one based on its needs.
In 2011, my garden was on the Audubon Society’s Wildlife Sanctuary Tour when more than 200 people came through. People really enjoyed it. One woman told me, “I can see a lot of love went into this garden.” The landscape was always designed to attract wildlife with salvia for hummingbirds, leaving dead pine snags for nuthatch nests, and letting the leaves pile up for moths and caterpillars to flourish for example. The property is also a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. Though I have seen declines, there’s a wide variety of birds that visit my feeder: six types of woodpeckers, hawks and owls. They have plenty of foliage for cover and nest building, and seeds and berries to eat.

Frank’s 1950s kitchen has brick-red accents and a California vibe.

Jaffe: Now that it’s spring, what new growth are you seeing?
Frank: Some of the interesting perennials are foetidus hellebores, native to Greece and Asia; trachystemon, native to Bulgaria and Turkey; galanthus, native to Europe and Asia; pulmonaria, native to Europe and Russia; trillium, native to North America, and early blooming anise shrubs, native to Asia and Egypt. I have six varieties of anise, a rare orange-blooming witch hazel, and a collection of epimediums, a hardy perennial with intricate orchid-like flowers, native to China. I have 18 varieties that bloom from March through April. It’s entertaining to watch the buds emerge, then bloom. They’re still rare in Atlanta.

Jaffe: You authored a book? 
Frank: Yes, “Myco-Town,” a magical mushroom fantasy novel, is set in my garden, and full of observations and fantasies about communicating with trees and birds. In this high-tech world, it’s essential to appreciate Mother Nature. Her systems and patterns are fascinating and the highest form of design. Especially in Atlanta, we have such a wide diversity of native trees and plants that must be protected. I became fascinated with mushrooms. They have tremendous potential as medicines and cures, healthy foods, as agents to soak up toxins, and cleanse the planet.

Jaffe: Last word …
Frank: Now, 44 years later, I’m still here — an old Jewish woman living alone!