Once forgotten Danaway gardens return to their original glory near Newnan, Georgia, and again hold visitors and special events. Current owners Jennifer and Roger Bigham have worked on large-scale work in the past decade to forget the infrastructure of the garden and to restore its beauty. Today there are 25 acres of natural beauty in the Dunaway garden.
The original creator of the garden was a famous stage actress of the 1920s, Hettie Jane Dunaway. She got married to Atlanta's reservation agent Wayne Sewell and moved to his family's house south of Atlanta in Coweta County. Dunaway envisaged a beautiful garden surrounding her new house and began to heighten the view. She designed the pond and reflected the pool, waterfalls, stone walls, meandering aisles. In her vision, there were various garden rooms such as Sanken Garden, Rose Garden, Hanging Garden, Japanese Garden with Koi Pond. A hill stone garden was created around the property rock outcroppings.
Part of Hettie Dunaway's vision for her new home was to make a theater center and drama training school. She designed an outdoor amphitheater with a terrace that could have been used in theatrical production. The facility was large enough to accommodate 1,000 people. Patchwork Ba rn was an indoor theater. Blue bonnet tea room is made for dining and honeymoon house offers accommodation to many customers. Couples and celebrity friends visited the garden and enjoyed the theater. Featured guests include Walt Disney, brother Roy and actress Tarula Bankhead. Minnie Pearl was a teacher training school teacher at the theater that Dunaway started. This garden was a place for outdoor theatrical performances, ballets and travel shows in the 1920s and 1930s.
After Dunaway died in 1961, this building had been ignored for decades. Several gardens were covered with kudzu and the stone wall collapsed. Mars shop burned the tea room, the garden was forgotten. Property had many owners for many years, but the garden was almost untouched. In 2000, Vigams discovered long forgotten walls, pools, and rocky gardens and began restoring this building. They planted new roses, hydrangea, azalea, azalea. Dunaway Gardens is currently listed in the national registry of historical heritage.
Dunaway Gardens are open every spring. It is open to the public on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in April and May. The garden will be held only on Saturdays and Sundays in June. It is a popular venue for spring weddings and other features. Admission is $ 10 for adults and $ 8 for children. The garden is located in 3218 Roscoe Road near Newnan, 30 minutes south of Atlanta.
