Stepping into Pandora de Balthazár’s Navarre home, admiration and respect follow. It takes only seconds to appreciate the immeasurable effort it must have taken Balthazár to save her precious stock of centuries-old linens and laces she collected from Italy, France, Hungary, Austria and beyond.
Near the entrance, a large, gilded gold frame showcases Austrian linen and cotton stocking design samples about 150 years old. An adaptation she designed of a 17th century Florentine bed cover drapes over a hanger on a French door. Next to it sits a tall 18th century linen press, from France or Italy. She’s not certain of its origin.
A few steps away you learn why she is called a “premier collector of antique textiles in the country.” Enter Balthazár’s antique linen room — home to about 400 pillow shams, 1,000 dinner napkins, and 2,000-plus lace and embroidered pieces including tablecloths, duvets, sheets, window covers, christening blankets and more.
Her business of 35 years, Pandora de Balthazár’s Fine Linens, was located in downtown Pensacola for many years. It temporarily closed when the building was sold. She moved to a new Pensacola location, but unfortunately that building flooded. Hence, the colossal move to Navarre.
Balthazár now does business by appointment and via her website catalog. Long-time clients and new customers spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on her luxurious European linens and bedding — antique and contemporary.
For instance, you cand spend from $180 on an American Eleganza pillowcase (600 thread count) made in Italy to $9,600 on a Queen Sheet Set (1,000 thread count) made in Italy.
“No, I am not a boutique store and running a huge showroom anymore, but I still service clients, about 55,000 around the world,” Balthazár said. “My clients range from the wealthy to the famous to the schoolteacher.”
Balthazár’s inventory is vast. All textiles are one-of-a-kind artwork in linen, mohair, cotton and silk — from centuries-old European laces to Art Deco, Bohemian and more modern Primitives. Plus, her textile services include custom design, restoration and expert care and laundering of heirloom-quality pieces “that last many lifetimes.”
Walking into her bedroom, Balthazár presents her pride-and-joy: a king-size, upholstered, 38-inch-high bed, which represents her “revolutionary European Sleep System.” The bed is Hungarian goose down heaven from top to bottom and piled high with specially sized pillows and neckroll. It’s all custom-designed to cradle and support her body, and provide an ergonomically correct, healthy and restful sleep. The custom design system is available online.
“You see, my luxury is a necessity,” Balthazár explained. “I began my professional life as a financial planner in Pensacola, but I ended up going to Budapest, Hungary, after I broke my neck in a car accident in 1986. I was in constant pain.”
This move changed the course of her life in unimaginable ways, she said.
As part of her recovery from spinal microsurgery performed in Budapest, Balthazár was confined to constant bed rest for six months, surrounded by beautiful textiles. As a result, she said she discovered the important role that luxurious bedding, especially supportive pillows and high-quality linens, plays in attaining quality rest.
While in Hungary, she also met aristocrat Emil de Balthazár, who became her husband. And it was at this time in her life that she became an avid collector of Austro-Hungarian Empire textiles.
“Up until then, I had been a collector of what I thought were the most beautiful textiles ever produced,” Balthazár said. “Once I saw the quality and delicacy of the handwork of the textiles from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, I found an intricacy I’d never seen. These deep primitives of woven jacquard whites and eyelet have an age and depth to them that moved me beyond my former definition of fine linens.”
So, following her recovery and discovery of luxury linens, Balthazár returned to the States, sharing her knowledge with friends and clients. The positive word-of-mouth reviews initiated her boutique luxury linen and bedding business. Balthazár introduced her European Sleep System to interior designers and merchants in High Point, North Carolina, in 1995. The system included custom embroidery and antique linens as well as the ultra-supportive pillows.
Today, the company also manufactures American-size pillows, designer squares, down beds and duvets, baby bedding and down-filled chairs and ottomans. A wide range of antique, new and custom bed linens are offered for all down products.
Balthazár’s passion overflows as she shares her personal understanding of the importance of rest and the unique company that she created within the luxury market so many years ago.
The mother and grandmother thanks God, her family and upbringing for her extraordinary life and entrepreneurial success.
“I grew up with a large family in Dalton, Georgia, an historic textile center,” said Balthazár, whose maiden name was Pandora Elizabeth Morgan. “I started collecting antique textiles when I was 5 and got my first sewing machine when I was 7. I spent a great deal of time with my grandmothers, aunts, and, of course, my mother, who sewed my clothes and taught me to sew.”
She said she was taught to value all things and appreciate beauty.
“My grandmother’s beds were amazing even then. No one in my family was rich, wealthy in money. But they were rich in wisdom, knowing the value of character, hard work, plus the enjoyment of family, food, gatherings, natural beauty and the assembly of a life well lived.”
Balthazár still cherishes her mother’s lasting advice.
“My mother taught me that it’s best to have one great dress, well made, than to have 10 poorly made ones, or trendy ones,” Balthazár said.
And it’s this life philosophy that enriched Balthazár’s appreciation for people who still create fabrics, weave and embroider for themselves.
“In Hungary, every family creates beds full of luxurious pillows, bedding and handmade art. They have no money to speak of in the villages, but they lovingly create dowries of useful, comfortable beauty, handed down for a very long time,” Balthazár said.
“They are a gift to me to share, and that’s what I do.”
Award-winning writer Alice Crann Good spent about 20 years as a journalist for Gannett’s USA Today and Pensacola News Journal; accolades include the Scripps Howard Foundation| National Journalism Award. Alice spent seven years as a communications specialist for Pensacola State College and is author of Betsy the Bookworm children’s book series, available worldwide.
