If you walk up East Brookhaven Drive from the Club Drive intersection toward the street’s cul-de-sac ending, you may have noticed a dog bowl full of water placed in a sitting area just off the driveway of a blue house on your left. Over 20 years ago, homeowner Gary Mehr built the area for his wife Julia and their Pomeranian Max.

 

The area is loving referred to as “Max’s Dog Watering Station.” It includes benches and is intended for dogs and their owners to sit and rest for a bit when out on a walk and allow the pup to get a drink.

 

“Gary built it himself,” says Julia. “He got the stones and did the wall, bought benches and had them delivered. We fixed it up.”

 

The Mehrs figured out a way to run water from their sprinkler system to the dog watering station’s faucet. They also put in a trellis with vines to add to the aesthetic.

 

At the time Gary built the area, Julia was receiving treatment for breast cancer. She says having to get up and take Max out kept her going. The two were very close and Max always wanted to be with her.

 

The Mehrs moved into Historic Brookhaven in 1976. At that time, their house was much smaller and the exterior was aluminum siding painted mustard yellow. “[The former owner] hated pine pollen so bad that she had the house painted the same color of pine pollen so she couldn’t see the pollen,” Julia notes. A lot around the corner on Club Drive was just pasture with horses.

 

When it was time to renovate and expand, Julia says they built around the original house and completely changed it to create their current structure. “When we moved to the house, we were by far the youngest people on the street,” she notes.

 

Adding Max’s Dog Watering Station was only one of many alterations the Mehrs made to their property but certainly one that can be enjoyed by all Historic Brookhaven residents. “I’ll see people walking across the street and their dogs will pull them to the dog watering station,” Julia says.