Macon Magazine

French Flair: Nell Bedgood brakes for special antiques

By James Barfield

Nell Bedgood is a lady of a certain age whose trim figure, vivacious personality and love of life make her seem years younger. She is a lifelong and passionate collector of antiques, particularly French ones.

Happily for her, she also found her perfect mate early in life. She said her late husband, Harris, “always let me have anything I wanted.” His indulgence of her collecting extended beyond antiques to include providing the perfect setting for her collection.

The couple built a large suburban home, but when the house, its full basement and an outbuilding could hold no more antiques an opportunity presented itself. It’s a story Nell enjoys telling. From the time she was a little girl she had felt a strong attraction to a large Greek Revival house sitting on a hill above Georgia Avenue. One night, more than 30 years ago, the Bedgoods’ daughter, Sandra, a real estate agent, telephoned her mother and casually mentioned the house was for sale. Nell insisted on seeing it at once. Armed with flashlights (no electricity), the family toured the sadly neglected house. Harris only said, “this is going to take a ton of work.” But, as usual, he told Nell, “whatever you want.” They signed the contract that midnight.

Nell thought it would be the perfect setting for her collection of antiques, and she was right. Her furniture, paintings, porcelains, sculptures and countless bibelots seem very much at home in the grand rooms, of which there are 32.

When contacted about being the subject of this article, Nell responded, “Well, I’d be glad to, but I’ve given away most of my collection to family members.” As any visitor can testify, the part of her collection remaining in place is perfectly adequate to furnish her dream house in her personal and glorious style.

To see photographs of some of Nell Bedgood’s beautiful, unique antiques, subscribe to Macon Magazine for home delivery or buy the June/July issue at a local store.