TEAHOUSE OFFERS HOMEY ENVIRONMENT ENTREPRENEUR REALIZES DREAM IN DESIGNING, OPERATING BELLADONNA FAMILY BRINGS UNIQUE ESTABLISHMENT TO LANCASTER.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LANCASTER - The Sebunia family has a plan they think can't miss - a place for a spot of tea in a house that's easy to spot.

The Sebunias - Lancaster native Donna, husband Gary and daughter Chelsie - turned an aging home at 10th Street West and Avenue J-6 into the Belladonna tearoom and boutique.

With its purple, teal and yellow paint job, the small house with the steeply pitched roof is one of the most distinctive buildings in the Antelope Valley.

``We drove by the area and thought it would be great to start a teahouse in one of those little houses,'' said Sebunia. ``At the time, this house was not for sale. About three months later, we saw a for-sale sign. Six months later, we're open.''

Sebunia said she wanted to share her love of tea in a relaxed, cozy setting.

``Ever since I can remember I've loved tea. It's time with your friends and talking,'' Sebunia said. ``With coffee, you're up. Tea has a serenity about it.''

The interior decor is a creative, eclectic mix of refurbished objects given new functions. The home's former backyard gate, now painted gold, is used for a hat rack. The checkout counter is a dresser with the headboard and footboard of a bed attached to it. Another dresser serves as a kitchen cabinet.

Light-switch plates are decorated with spoons and painted to give an old-fashioned, antique feel.

Word-of-mouth about the tearoom's bathroom has brought in customers, Sebunia said. The bathroom is decorated with window shutters nailed to the wall, a wicker headboard for a hatrack, and a boudoir chandelier with the lights decorated with garters.

The floor appears to be brickwork, but is actually smooth concrete painted with a sponge.

Her creative bent is the result of finding ways to make ends meet during lean years and her contractor husband's ability to make those ideas real, Sebunia said.

``Chelsie says, `Mommy sees things that aren't really there,' '' Sebunia said of her creative vision.

For now, the restaurant serves just tea and scones, but starting Feb. 3, Chelsie's 13th birthday, the menu will expand to include high tea. The menu will feature finger sandwiches, scones with preserves and a topping called ``Chelsie's creme,'' and a salad.

The boutique has tea, tea accessories, desserts and cookies, jewelry, hats and purses.

Making the switch from blighted house to teahouse required a great deal of work and numerous consultations with city officials, who were eager to see the home cleaned up and put to use.

The home was built in 1953 as part of the Storybook homes development. The previous owner had died and the disposition of the home became bogged down in the probate process.

A renter had trashed the place, leaving behind garbage and filthy clothes and furniture. The Sebunias filled a 40-cubic-yard Dumpster with the trash left behind.

The home required new concrete, new drywall and a lot of paint.

The exterior paint is in keeping with Victorian style, Sebunia said.

Not everyone is pleased with the new look.

Some neighbors told the Sebunias that the paint job is ruining the look of the area and one lobbed profanities at Gary Sebunia, owner of GD Construction, as he worked on the home.

The new look does have its fans, including city officials. The city saluted the Sebunias' work by launching a tree planting campaign at the Belladonna.

``It's a cute little place,'' Lancaster Mayor Frank Roberts said of the home. ``It was a mess. We're pleased we can make that kind of conversion from a blighted house to a business.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo: (1 -- color) Donna Sebunia owns Lancaster's brightly painted teahouse, Belladona.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) Customers enjoy tea and scones at the Belladonna teahouse in Lancaster. Owner Donna Sebunia assembled the old-fashioned interior decorations from refurbished found objects.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer

(3 -- color) The boutique inside the Belladonna teahouse offers tea, tea accessories, desserts and cookies, jewelry, hats and purses.