Jennifer Lewis can honestly say that she spends most of her time in the kitchen. As a mother of two, avid entertainer of family and friends and a cooking instructor who runs her business, Fresh and Fabulous Entertaining, from her own home, prepping food and preparing meals are continuous daily activities.
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Creating bedrooms for her twin son and daughter that were unique yet equally inviting was the top priority when graphic designer Sandra Marbaise, co-owner of Little Rock-based SanLori Invitations, and her family moved into their Heights home. As inspiration, she looked to each child’s favorite activities.
For Isabella’s room, Sandra envisioned a space where her daughter could play dress-up and make-believe with her favorite stuffed animals and dolls. From that starting point, the room’s color palette followed easily. “I love pink and green together, they’re happy and festive,” she says. She painted the walls green and the ceiling pink and then repeated the combination in the bedding, mixing in green and white toile fabric “to give it a little bit of an elegant edge,” she says.
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In contrast to daughter Isabella’s dress-up inspired room, graphic designer Sandra Marbaise had a maritime theme in mind for her son Ethan’s space. “My husband grew up with this great love of the ocean and fishing, and that became our starting point,” she says.
Coastal vacations are a family favorite and the Marbaises have taken their seven-year-old twins to Nantucket three times. “The painting of the boat is from Nantucket and the map up on the wall is of that area,” she says. The sailboats around Ethan’s room are from the family’s travels to the beaches of Brittany in the west of France.
Artist Andrea Trieschmann added the flags and captain’s wheel over Ethan’s bed. “The nautical theme was already established, but Andrea came in with some wonderful touches,” Sandra says. Polished oak furnishings and an extra-deep armchair, designed as a cozy reading nook, completed the nautical retreat. “Now Ethan has a room that reflects his love of the water and fishing, things that his daddy loves so much too,” she says.
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Freelance writer and Little Rock native Emily Benton Ryan is a recent Baylor University graduate.
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“How many kids that are wheelchair users ever get to go up in a treehouse?” asks Sarah Wacaster, executive director of Camp Aldersgate. Thanks to students from the University of Arkansas School of Architecture and their professor, the answer is now hundreds. And they’re also able to shoot bows and arrows from an archery pavilion, wheel onto a stage to perform and have uninterrupted access to nearly all corners of the camp for picnicking, bird watching and just plain enjoying the natural world.
Located on 120 acres on the outskirts of Little Rock, Camp Aldersgate has been serving children with disabilities for over 60 years. As part of their continual quest to find ways for their campers to experience the outdoors, they began collaborating with the architecture program in 2002, when associate professor Laura Terry opted to teach her summer design-build program at the camp. “We had students interested in both serving the community and in getting practical building experience, and this idea seemed like a good solution for everyone involved,” she says.
That first summer, Terry and a group of eight students built an archery pavilion which functions as well for kids who can stand at the stations as it does for those in wheelchairs. Adjustable shooting stations were designed with visual appeal in mind, using bicycle parts, airplane propellers and other items to make them more interactive. “We decided that just making the pavilion accessible wasn’t enough,” says Terry. “It needed to be interesting and stimulating as well.”
That concept was reinforced the following year, when Terry and a new group of students returned and built a wheelchair-accessible treehouse, 21 feet above the ground. Successive visits resulted in a stage and amphitheater as well as a series of picnic areas, all designed to entice kids, whatever their medical or physical condition, to come out and play. “Children, regardless of their ability, are still children,” says Terry. “They need to be able to experience their surroundings and above all, to have fun.”
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On any given day of the week, the Bell residence in Little Rock’s Pulaski Heights neighborhood bustles with activity. Between Ray and Carrie Bell, their 9-year-old daughter, Caroline, and Carrie’s 17-year-old son, Candler, the house is a hub of game-watching parties, sleepovers, cocktail hours and formal dinners.
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Drive-up appeal has a dual meaning for a waterfront home, as visitors can approach not only by car but also by boat. Designing a house that offers an enticing exterior from both vantage points can be a challenge, which is what architect Chip Chambers faced when he and his wife, Susan, decided to build a new home on Lake Windsor in Bella Vista.
“We decided early on that we wanted the front of the house to face the lake and take advantage of the view,” says Chambers, “but we wanted to create an attractive entry from the street to the house as well.”
The couple had settled on a 1-½ story Cape Cod-inspired cottage as their style of choice, a look that Chambers calls “as classic and enduring as a great pair of khaki pants.” Since the house would face west, he designed a deep front porch to screen the afternoon sun, and realized that by wrapping it around the sides of the house he could create sheltered entrances for guests arriving from any direction. “That porch became the most endearing element of the design,” Chambers says, a place to not only greet family and friends but also a gathering spot to enjoy the views of the lake.
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It all started with a weekend visit to a friend’s vacation home on Eden Isle on Greers Ferry Lake. Smitten by the expansive lake views and the wooded backyards where neighborhood kids played freely, a Little Rock couple with three young children decided to look for a similar retreat of their own.
House hunting proved difficult though, as their favorite waterfront lot already had a 1970s era home on it, a place so dark and outdated that the family found it gloomy. “We walked away, but we ended up thinking about it for months,” says the homeowner. “The location was ideal and the bones of the house were good, so we bought it with the idea of giving it a fresh update.”
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“Entertaining has always been a source of pleasure for us,” says Martha Murphy, who along with her husband, Vent, and their three daughters has hosted numerous parties at their Ft. Smith home and at a condo they owned on Lake Hamilton. The relaxed, summer get-togethers on the lake were their perennial favorites, though, prompting Martha and Vent to look for a larger place where extended family and friends could gather.
Their search led them to a water-view lot on Lake Ouachita, and they had begun drawing up house plans with designer Tobi Fairley, who had worked with them on their Ft. Smith residence, when an opportunity arose. A house next to their lot went on the market, and it boasted an excellent view of the lake as well as ample square footage. Even though it needed some remodeling, there was no doubt that reworking an existing house would be faster than building new,” says Fairley. The thought that they wouldn’t miss a summer of lakeside entertaining was enough to persuade the Murphys, and they opted for the change in plans.
Renovation work began in the winter months, geared around creating accommodating spaces for family and friends and updating the building materials in the early 1990s home. Laminate flooring was replaced with hardwood, custom cabinets were added alongside the living room fireplace and a wet bar was built into an unused portion of the entry hall.
The kitchen in particular needed to be overhauled to handle large-scale entertaining, and Fairley had it refurbished with new cabinetry for increased storage, high-efficiency appliances and easily cleaned tile and quartz surfaces. “We went for quality and classic styles so that the elements would be long-lasting,” she says. The existing bathrooms were similarly updated with a more streamlined floor plan and durable surfacing, and a new one was added alongside the guest bedroom.
At the onset of the project, Fairley and the Murphys had agreed that the emphasis of the home should be on the views. When it came to furnishing the renovated spaces, Fairley opted for a neutral color palette on the home’s main level to complement the natural setting and the vistas out the windows. From the brown and cream colors used in the living and dining areas, she mixed in bold strokes of green on the adjacent screened porch. “That seemed like a natural connection to the Ouachita National Forest that surrounds the house,” says Fairley.
On the lower level, a space designed as a retreat for the Murphy’s daughters and their friends and where the views weren’t as prominent, Fairley incorporated brighter colors to enliven the area. “The downstairs was darker, and we certainly didn’t want it to seem gloomy,” she says. “So we used reds and greens, plus a variety of patterns, to make it feel fresh and fun.”
Throughout the home, Fairley ensured that the furnishings would accommodate large gatherings. She incorporated a living room on each level, so that college-age kids could have a separate relaxing space from the adults. On the screened porch, she worked in two dining areas as well as multiple chairs, a sofa and even ottomans for extra seating. In the dining room, she included a table that can easily be extended to fit 10 or more guests. “We also used multi-purpose pieces whenever we could,” says Fairley, “like ottomans with removable tray tops and benches that double as seating or tables.”
The home’s transformation was wrapped up in time for the Murphys to enjoy it that summer, and they celebrated its completion by throwing a 4th of July celebration. “We’ve been entertaining here ever since, and it’s a full house on summer weekends,” says Martha. “For our family and friends, it’s become a destination, and we love that.”
Resources
Design: Tobi Fairley, Tobi Fairley Interior Design, Little Rock
Contractor: Robert Wortsmith, Wortsmith Construction, Mt. Ida
Tile: Elder Distributing, North Little Rock
Window treatments: Mountjoy’s Custom Draperies, Mabelvale
Appliances and bath fixtures: Metro Builders Supply, North Little Rock
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When the cabin’s roof needed replacing, Kris and Bob agreed that the views from the third floor could be increased if they added dormers. “We had used the finished attic as a kind of dorm room for our kids and their friends and filled it with bunk beds,” Kris says. “Once the roof had to come off, we figured raising the roof line with dormers would be a great improvement. I really had no idea we would continue the renovation from there.”
“We’ve always been lake people,” says Ft. Smith resident Kris Klein. “We never thought we would be able to pick just one to visit, but when we came across this cabin on Beaver Lake in 1999, we had a change of heart.”
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When faced with the challenge of converting a driveway and carport area into an inviting courtyard, landscape designer Chris Olsen had a ready solution. “We used the transformative power of water,” he says, “to turn a space that was barren and hot into a place that’s enticing and cooling.”
His clients, Bill and Jane Hardin, envisioned a welcoming garden in place of the existing side drive along their Little Rock home, and Olsen obliged with a plan for a brick-lined patio featuring a raised pond and fountain. “Water subliminally softens a space, adding the element of sound, plus something to look at and touch,” he says. “I find that raised ponds are especially good for this, since you can sit on the edge and feel closer to the water.”
He began by adding brick retaining walls to form the pond and painting them to blend with the white exterior of the Hardin’s home. Antique brick was used for the courtyard flooring and semi-circular accent walls, one containing the pond’s water fountain and another defining the boundary of the garden. Within the pond, Olsen created two planting areas rimmed with bricks and created a channel where water flows between them. “We didn’t want a gushing waterfall, but the faint sound of water flowing into the pond,” he says. “With the brick walls as a backdrop, the sound ricochets around.”
Olsen filled the planting areas with a wide variety of water-tolerant plants, including canna lilies, oat grass and obedient plant, and then turned the main section of the pond into a habitat for koi and goldfish. “That made the pond into a destination, a place to come sit, feed the fish and watch them for awhile,” he adds.
Alongside the new courtyard, in an area where water drainage had long been an issue, Olsen added more water-loving plants and created a thriving bog garden. Since the property’s existing retaining walls held in moisture, he was able to fill the area with arrow arum, pickerelweed, variegated carex grass, sweet flag grass and other varieties common to waterside settings. “As the plants grew together, they created this lush garden,” says Olsen. “You’d never suspect that it had been a problem area.”
For a final burst of bright green color, he planted masses of horsetail reed underneath Crepe Myrtle trees that flank the Hardin’s house. “Including water plants in all the areas tied them together,” says Olsen. “They became a good solution for dealing with the site’s challenges, and created a unique look as well.”
Resources
Landscape design: Chris Olsen, Botanica Gardens, Little Rock
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At Home in Arkansas offers you a look inside the state's most inspiring homes. The magazine features monthly advice from the experts to help you plan your next remodel or redesign, entertain at home, or find Arkansas's best kept secrets. It is your definitive guide to the state's finest homes and gardens, design professionals, fashion and entertaining essentials, and premier shops and showrooms.