By Donna Cornelius
There was something about the house at 3121 Brookwood Road that drew Kathy Thomson’s eye every time she drove past it.
“The house just seemed so cozy and warm,” said Kathy, who as a teenager often passed the Mountain Brook house on her way to school. “I loved the big front porch.”
She was so taken with the house that she eventually left a note in the owners’ mailbox saying she loved their home and asking them to call her if they ever wanted to sell. Ann and Hugh Morgan owned the house at the time. Kathy said Ann Morgan called to thank her for the note but said they weren’t interested in selling the house.
The Morgans also weren’t selling when the Thomsons were in the market for a house several years later, but in 2013, Kathy got the call she had been waiting for; the Morgans were moving to North Carolina to be closer to their children.
After a long love affair with the house, the Thomsons at last had the chance to make the relationship permanent. They bought the house in September 2013 and spent about seven months renovating it, Tommy Thomson said.
The Thomsons’ house will be one of the stops on this year’s Independent Presbyterian Church Holiday House Tour, set for Dec. 12 and 13.
The Thomsons’ architect was Debbie Simmons, a fellow IPC member. The original architect of the house, built in 1959, was the Birmingham firm of Warren, Knight and Davis, which also designed Independent Presbyterian Church. The Victor Hansen family built the house and lived there for about 10 years.
The Thomsons kept the traditional house’s most appealing features but updated and expanded it. They created a larger kitchen, dining area and family room by building on to the back of the house and built an upstairs playroom in a space that “was just air” before, Kathy said.
The couple refinished the original parquet floors in the foyer, where large closets are almost hidden in the wood paneling of the walls. The living room still has its distinctive plaster moldings and fireplace.
The house was built with his-and-her master bathrooms. The Thomsons kept them, rebuilding them with the same layout as the originals. Sconces in Kathy’s bathroom also are original and just had to be rewired, Kathy said.
An apartment over the garage was once a servant’s room and now gives guests their own private quarters. Buttons that were used to call workers still can be seen throughout the main house.
One of the family’s favorite spots is the sunroom, which has new windows.
“It used to have jalousie windows, which I thought were cool, but apparently I was the only one,” Tommy said, laughing.
Throughout the house are paintings and other artwork that are special to the Thomsons such as photos and portraits of their children. Their daughter, Ellie, is a sophomore at the College of Charleston. Their son, Matt, is a sophomore at Mountain Brook High School, where he plays football and lacrosse.
Over the master bedroom fireplace is a painting by well-known Mississippi artist Richard Kelso. The artist captured one of Kathy’s favorite childhood spots, her grandparents’ farm near Arcola, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta.
“I made photos with my iPhone during a rice harvest there,” she said. “He painted the picture from a photo.”
Another Mississippi artist, John Armistead, painted the picture in the study of a lonely Union County, Mississippi, farmhouse. Armistead is a Presbyterian minister, Kathy said.
Tommy brought back paintings and carvings from IPC mission trips to Zambia and Kenya. They’re displayed in the study and playroom.
In the guest bedroom, two angel-themed paintings are by Petru Botezatu, a Romanian-born artist who also painted the murals in Samford University’s Andrew Gerow Hodges Chapel. The bed came from one of Kathy’s grandmothers, and the quilt was made by her other grandmother.
Her grandfather’s pocket watches are on the living room coffee table next to a family Bible from 1885.
The Thomsons’ interior designer was Robin Donahue of Donahue Interiors. She shares with Kathy not only an appreciation for traditional architecture, but for the Brookwood Road house itself.
“I also used to drive by this house and loved it,” Robin said.
She said when Kathy first contacted her about decorating the house, she looked at a map to find out where the house was.
“I thought, oh, my goodness. Is that going to be that house?” Robin said. “I couldn’t wait to see it. It’s one of my favorite houses in Mountain Brook.”
Robin will help the Thomsons decorate for Christmas, Kathy said.
“Our son’s Boy Scout troop at IPC sells wreaths and garlands, so we’ll be getting those from them,” Kathy said.
The house’s holiday finery will include trees in the living room and family room.
“This house is so cottagey, so New England,” Robin said. “You want to see wreaths with red bows outside. We’ll have gold and greens in the living room and try to bring out gold and greens in the dining room with lemons and greenery. The family room will be red and white. We want everything to be fresh and bright.
“To me, this is where I’d want to come home for Christmas. It’s homey, cozy and welcoming – it’s a fun house to decorate.”
The Thomsons said they’re happy to open their home for this year’s IPC holiday tour. They’ve been active church members for many years, they said.
Kathy is an attorney who does probate work, and Tommy is an emergency room physician at St. Vincent’s Hospital. They got married at IPC, Tommy said.
“We wanted to participate in the tour because it supports children’s ministries,” Kathy said.
“I was the co-chairman of the tour the year before last, and I said, if I ever had a house that they wanted for the tour, I’d do it.”