Yard of dreams
By Sydney Ashby
Since moving to the United States from Vienna, Austria in 1956, Charlotte Dunn has spent all but three months in and around the Cooper-Young area. Those of you who have been in the neighborhood awhile may remember Charlotte’s Place on Cooper at Peabody (where Eclectic Eye is now), or as it was nicknamed in its heyday, “South Cooper Country Club.” Ms. Dunn started working there as a waitress and a few years later, bought it and then operated it for 42 years. Many claimed that she served the coldest beer in town.
Since retiring, Ms. Dunn moved into what she describes as her dream home at 2171 Elzey. And despite being 78-years-old and experiencing a horrible car accident and years later a stroke, she has not let that detract her from working in her yard. “It’s a stress reliever,” she said. Her front yard is an explosion of color, with an array of mums, geraniums, pansies, and marigolds. There are Siberian wallflowers, petunias, and zinnias in pots on her porch and even a small water feature by the walkway to her door. Swing by to admire her handiwork and appreciate one of the many unique people that make up the CY neighborhood.