By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF
Published November 7, 2003
Caroline Hill is a runner.
Always has been.
You can tell right off the bat because she's lean and sparkly and bubbling with good cheer. For years, her regular jaunt took her along Bayshore Boulevard, through the tree-canopied historic neighborhoods of South Tampa, then deep into the commercial pocket at MacDill Avenue and Bay-to-Bay Boulevard.
Sometimes Hill would stop for water or to rest for a minute, usually at a little shop a few strides from the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway.
The building was always a landmark of sorts: cement block, pineapple-yellow, with green shutters and a zingy, seasonal wind sock snapping in the breeze.
The Garden Party.
It's 20 years old this year, a rather amazing feat in an age when corporate chain stores rule.
"I loved it because it was peaceful. Fountains were running and the wind chimes jingled and it smelled good," Hill recalls of her first encounters with the Garden Party.
"Sometimes, I would hang out and buy an orchid or a candle for my house. Everything and everyone was always so pleasant, so nice."
Hill's philosophy about home is similar. A home, she thinks, should be pleasant and comforting, thoughtfully decorated and filled with beautiful things.
Even if there are small children.
Especially if there are small children.
Hill, 41, who is married and the mother of four children ages 1-12, knows something about the subject.
Let her explain: "A wonderful, nice home that you want to spend time in is a gift you can give your family," she says. "There is nothing more important than the care you show for your home because it reflects the importance of those you love."
Two years ago, Hill chose to take her passion for home and garden a step further:
She actually bought the Garden Party.
Hanging out and sipping water after one of her runs, she happened to overhear a conversation that the store was for sale.
She decided that running the store would be a challenging way to spend time.
So did the six loyal employees who stayed on after the change in ownership.
"I think people love to come in here and shop because it's familiar, because the people who work here have been here a long time," says Diane Cornwell, an eight-year employee.
"Plus, it's just a fun place to be."
In a way, the store is as much a cultural landmark as an actual place, all girly-girl and Southern, stocked with pretty things that reflect the flavor of Charleston, Savannah, Atlanta or New Orleans, rather than Miami or Naples.
Because that's how we tend to decorate in Tampa, Hill contends.
Southern rather than tropical.
You can buy a pair of great silver candlesticks here, a wooden glider for your porch or a hand-painted telescope box for a fireplace mantle.
It's a place you'd likely find a lion's head door knocker or a good gardening book or an Arthur Court tray shaped like a fish or a front door mat festooned with colorful flip flops.
The services are rooted in the past and haven't flinched.
They gift-wrap.
They maintain a bridal registry.
Wedding gifts are wrapped in shiny silver paper and tied with a thick white ribbon and a sprig of lily-of-the-valley, like something off the set of Father of the Bride.
They also deliver, locally and within reason, right to the bride's front door.
Heavy garden pots and furniture are ferried directly to a customer's house by Hill and her 73-year-old father, Paul Clark.
And the lovingly tended bromeliads and orchids that arrive at the store weekly - from a grower Hill raves about - are also delivered.
So, as a small and personable little business celebrates its 20th birthday this year, Hill marks the occasion with an annual holiday open house and sale from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 13.
