'Tulsa Heart & Soil': Former home of world-renowned Oklahoma designer featured in garden tour

Tulsa Garden Club's Tulsa Heart & Soil is Oklahoma's longest running educational and charitable garden tour. Co-chair of the event, Brenda Michael-Haggard, said it started 74 years ago to raise money to create the Tulsa Garden Center.

This year's tour offers a self-guided peek into three private interiors and four gardens, including the former home of world-renowned designer Charles Faudree.

Who is Charles Faudree?

Faudree was a native of Muskogee, but was known worldwide for being an expert in French Country decor. His interior design shop and studio was based in Tulsa's Cherry Street district throughout his entire 35-year career.

Faudree built an impressive list of clients from across the U.S. and Europe. His designs appeared in several major magazines and decorating books. Faudree also wrote five books of his own on design. He died November 27, 2013 at the age of 75.

Where is Faudree's former home located?

The last home Faudree redesigned is in midtown Tulsa. It was bought by Bill Mullen and Christopher Roberts after his death 11 years ago.

Mullen said he and Faudree had been friends since the early 80's. "I loved his style and his work," he continued saying, "He helped me decorate some of my past homes and so when the house came on the market, we naturally just wanted to get it right away."

The garden tour will be the first time Mullen and Roberts have opened their home to the public and said they plan to pay tribute to Faudree. "We are showing some of the pictures, what it looked like when we lived here and even before he did his redesign of the house, so a lot of people are coming to see just that segment of it alone and then the garden is just going to be the cherry on top," said Roberts.

What is Tulsa Heart & Soil?

The 74th annual garden tour is a fundraising event for the Tulsa Garden Club. Michael-Haggard said the club was formed in 1929 by women who wanted to learn about botany, conservation, and what sort of plants can grow in Tulsa.

In the 50's the club needed to raise money to create a garden center, so they started the garden tour. "From that time we have gathered garden homeowners who are open to and willing to share what they have done and the beauty that there is," she said. "It is hard work, but all of it is done with love."

The tour is self-guided and includes stops at Faudree's former home, a pool house filled with sports and concert memorabilia of the Marshall family, and Tulsa Designer Showcase's revival of a century-old home surrounded by its refreshed double lot.

When is the garden tour?

Tulsa Heart & Soil is on Saturday, May 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. One ticket gets garden guests access to all four of the gardens and the three interiors on the tour. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online or by visiting the Tulsa Garden Center at 2435 S Peoria Ave.