Page 163 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2022

Cottage
SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living | www.smliving.net
May 2022 | 163
estled under the sprawling branches of three live oak trees, babies from the iconic “Friendship Oak,” a symbol of the University of Southern Mississippi campus in Long Beach, this home has been transformed from its simple beginnings into this hidden coastal treasure by the artful hands of its occupant, Karen Blanchard, owner of the Blue Door Studio
and the Three Oaks Cottage.
Blanchard brought this home to new life seven years ago,
starting with the bare bones of a small cottage next to the railroad tracks. The cottage was built in 1948 to house a small family, even in name: the Littles. The cottage derives its name from the three live oaks, one for each child who grew up there, that were planted by the Littles shortly after moving into their newly-built home. The children, now grown with grandchildren of their own, tell tales of how they used to play games, jumping over the saplings, which were these three live oaks.
For decades this quaint home sat beside the railroad tracks with only the three oaks for landscaping. After Blanchard purchased it, she slowly transformed the landscape into this welcoming coastal gem, which she now calls home. She has befriended one of the girls who grew up there, and has learned much about the history of this home as a result.
The wrap-around rock driveway encompasses a welcoming, relaxing garden, housing the upper part of a rocking chair, transformed into a swing which looks upon a small dingy, made into a fountain and water garden. The trickling of the fountain sits under canvas sails draped from Grecian columns with pergola coverings. The hammock sways between two pier posts, which lend imagination to the up and down motion of a summer afternoon’s peaceful sailing adventure as a Gulf breeze softly wisps across the slumbering soul.
Leading up to the artful display, which Blanchard calls her cottage, is a trail of tropical landscape, which fosters your emotions to the feeling of being in a South Seas paradise. As you enter the porch breezeway, you are greeted by a glorious full-sized glass sculpture, which stands in the sunlight, capturing morning and evening sun rays, scattering colorful beams of light as the sun hits it at just the right angle every day.
You could spend hours outside the cottage exploring Blanchard 's fascinating mind through the display of art which is her landscape. However, upon entering the cottage, there is an aura of the spirit that you are walking into the belly of an old sailing schooner. Every nook of the cottage is draped in artwork that makes you feel as though you have entered another dimension.