Since moving to Mobile from Bangkok, Thailand, just two-and-a-half months ago, Bryant Olson has thrown himself into working on what he describes as a “labor of love.” Last year, he and his husband, Chalong “Cole” Tonklongchan, bought the historic and reputedly haunted home at the corner of Old Government and Houston streets near Mobile’s famed cannon in the Loop area.
Bryant came to manage the job and wait for Cole’s arrival a couple months later. Then the coronavirus pandemic happened. Cole was supposed to fly to Mobile on April 3, but his flight from Bangkok was cancelled. He won’t be coming home anytime soon, so Bryant has continued working diligently to turn the house into the showplace he believes it was meant to be.
And while he doesn’t believe the house is haunted – “It’s peculiar, but there’s nothing dark or evil,” he insists – he does feel that he isn’t alone, even when he’s the only person there. He jokingly calls it “Dracula’s Castle,” which he considers a term of endearment.
Bryant started a Facebook group, 19 Columns Restoration, to keep neighbors and friends apprised of his progress. He often posts photos and videos of the light-filled space that consists of just 10 “enormous” rooms. If you’re going to be stuck at home, there are worse places to be.
Since it was built in 1905 as a wedding gift from real estate developer and lumber exporters George Fearn to his daughter, Bessie Fearn Syson, the house has been through several owners. Designed by architect George B. Rogers, the stately, 4,200-square-foot home is located on three-quarters of an acre, directly across from Memorial Park, with its monument to veterans and recently restored fountain.
“We thought maybe it needed more love than work,” Bryant says of the house.
‘A hidden gem’
A native of Valparaiso, Indiana, just outside Chicago, Bryant was interested in architecture and historic preservation from an early age. When he was four years old, he used to draw pictures of old homes. He’s proud to say that, at the age of 11, he was the youngest member ever to join a historical society in his home state.
Later, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture. His firm specialized in renovation, with projects all over the world. After living in places like Chicago, the Virgin Islands, Beverly Hills and New York City, he moved to Thailand more than a decade ago and became CEO of Philip B., an upscale hair-care line.
“We had a lot of success in Thailand and lived a good life there,” he says. Part of his job was hosting celebrities when they visited Bangkok, and he remains close to many of them. He counts Thai Princess Sirivannavari, a fashion designer, as a friend. He is included on the Thailand Tatler’s Expat Society List of the country’s “most affluent and influential expatriates.”
Last summer, he and his longtime love, Cole, got married. For their honeymoon, Bryant thought Paris would be nice, but Cole wanted to go “to the South again.” While they were in New Orleans, they decided they might like to buy a house in the Garden District.
On a whim during that visit, they stopped in Mobile and “were blown away,” Bryant says. “It’s such a hidden gem, an amazing little magical place.” To them, Mobile was a perfect combination of New Orleans and Savannah, but “its own thing” at the same time.
They decided to stay for a week, “driving through neighborhoods, going downtown and having great meals,” he says. “Cole said he wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”
One night, Bryant heard a voice in his head telling him to sell his 16 stores. As soon as he returned to Bangkok, he did just that, closing the deal in two weeks.
He and Cole finalized their offer on the “haunted house at the cannon” in Mobile on Nov. 8, which also happens to be wedding date of their home’s original owner, Bessie. It’s as if it were meant to be.
“My husband said the house picked us,” says Bryant. “I kind of feel like it did.”
‘Rainbows and sunshine’
Cole, a petrochemical engineer, is still working in Thailand, where he lives with the couple’s beloved cat. Bryant is “trying to stay positive” as he does much of the restoration work himself, often working 14-hour days. The project “keeps me really busy,” says Bryant.
So far, the home has all-new heating and air-conditioning systems, the roof has been repaired, the columns and capitals on the veranda rebuilt, gas lamps installed, all 54 windows completely restored, functioning shutters rescued from a home in New Orleans installed and most of the interior freshly painted.
The home’s unusual proportions are in keeping with its scale – the front door is 9 feet, 6 inches tall and four feet, two inches wide, and weighs more than 300 pounds, and the staircase is five feet wide. “Everything is drawn bigger so you don’t feel overwhelmed,” says Bryant. “The rooms feel cozy because of it.”
Inside, it has the charming architectural features of its era: 11-foot beamed ceilings downstairs, 10-foot ceilings upstairs, transom windows, ornate inlaid floors, an original stained glass window on the stairs, a butler’s pantry and four original fireplaces, including a 300-year-old mantel that “doesn’t match the house at all,” Bryant says, laughing. He thinks George Fearn must have bought it on a trip to England.
Ghost stories didn’t surface until sometime in the 1990s, Bryant says, citing tales about a radio coming on upstairs during a dinner party and then, when it was unplugged, another radio coming on in the kitchen. There have also been sightings of a woman in white with a large, brimmed hat.
“I haven’t seen anything but rainbows and sunshine,” he says.
Bryant was initially attracted by the home’s elegant but somewhat neglected presence. “I tend to like to save things,” he says. “It needed a lot of love, but I knew it could be beautiful.”
He has many more plans for the inside and outside of home, including installing a pool in the back yard, placing a fountain between two live oaks near the fence along Old Government Street and moving the location of the driveway.
Because of the Facebook group, which has more than 600 members, the renovation has become “kind of like a community project,” he says. The members have provided him a wealth of information about the house and have applauded and encouraged his efforts. One woman in nearby Oakleigh even provided a window weight when one of his dropped into the wall. A Mobile history enthusiast from Chattanooga has mailed an ad featuring the house and some vintage postcards of Memorial Park.
“My husband believes people in the South are nicer,” says Bryant. “And I agree with him.”
When Bryant and Cole first purchased the house, there was speculation that they might be turning it into a restaurant or a bed and breakfast, but Bryant calls it “a forever home.” “I’m past needing constant stimuli,” he says. “I definitely wanted a slower pace, and Mobile is still very metropolitan. I’m okay sitting on the porch.”
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April 19, 2020 at 08:01PM
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Renovating this house in Mobile is truly a labor of love - AL.com
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