BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A house in Bell Buckle is a true work of art. It's just gone up on the market. It's one thing to have a tour. It's another to hear the powerful story of the place.
If you're like me, sometimes you see a work of art and think, 'what's the story there?' Well, I do know this one. The sea serpent in Nashville's Fannie Mae Dees Park is by artist Pedro Silva. It arrived in the early 80s, and a few years ago, a restoration was lead by Lynn Driver.
Driver is the owner of the Bell Buckle Mosaic House.
"I told the lady at the coffee shop, I think I'm going to mosaic my house and call it the Bell Buckle Mosaic House," Driver remembered. "I've been known to do what I say I'm going to do!"
Driver started the work in 2019. Then, it became a project throughout COVID.
"These are high fired tiles, tiles that can go through a freeze, thaw cycle," Driver said, motioning to the house. "I have the Amazon folks ask if they can take pictures!"
Truly, the house tells Driver's story.
"My dog, Al!" Driver said, looking at another part of the mosaic.
Several scenes capture Bell Buckle. However, the most personal part of the mosaic house is a tribute to her son, John Hood.
"Kinda like his mom, he was a little non-conforming," Driver laughed. "He saw everything as a blank canvas."
Hood was what you'd call a street artist.
"He would do what I'd call his removable graffiti," Driver said. "He'd scale up a telephone pole and hang [a piece] as high as he could and see how long it would last."
Their work and materials were different, but Driver and her son, at their core, were both artists.
"He would take these Polaroids and that was his documentation," Driver said, flipping through a stack of pictures.
"He was an insulin dependent diabetic, and I always say he lived by a needle, and he died by one with an accidental heroin overdose in 2014. He told me he had a problem. I asked him, 'why didn't you tell me sooner?' He said, 'mom, I knew I was going to break your heart.'"
It matters a lot to Driver what happens to the Bell Buckle Mosaic House. She's moving to Portland, Oregon to be close to another of her children. That means she has put the house on the market.
All throughout the house is Driver's mosaic work. She said taking the place will need the right kind of buyer.
"We're looking for someone creative," Driver explained. "It would be a great recording studio here. It would be great for a songwriters retreat, an artist residency."
I asked Driver if it was going to be hard leaving the Bell Buckle Mosaic House. She doesn't think so. It helped her with loss. She's ready to move on.
"Now it's time for this to have a life of its own," she said. "It will continue on without me."
If you're interested in the Bell Buckle Mosaic House, visit here.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
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