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Savannah Magazine Jan/Feb
BR & J, Vol 10 Issue 11
BR & J, Vol 10 Issue 12

 

 
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007 #43

B Y    POLLY POWERSSTRAMM

PHOTOGRAPHY   BY   KELLY  BAXENDALE
 DEDE ROBERTS BELIEVES that all
things happen for a reason. There have
been too many coincidences in her life
for her not to think that a lesson is
learned from each experience — positive
or negative.
Take her comfortable Dutch Island
home, for example. After her divorce,
Roberts decided that the Isle of Hope
home she was sharing with her two
teenage daughters was too large and
rambling for their liking.
Roberts, who is personal trainer, also
needed a home with a room that would be
suitable for a gym. She wanted that particular
room to have a separate entrance.
Roberts conducted an exhaustive
search — “looking all over the place”
— and one day while touring a home at
Dutch Island, Roberts told real estate
agent Thea Blanton that she was probably
going to have to build to get exactly
what she wanted and needed.
Turns out, Thea’s husband, contractor
Tommy Blanton, owned the lot next
door and was planning to build a spec
home. It was a coincidence that was
almost too good to be true.
Roberts had an idea of what she
wanted because she would lie in bed at
night drawing house plans in her head
and then on paper — keepsake documents
that she still treasures. Roberts,
Blanton and residential designer Wilson
Roberts huddled over plans and came
up with a four bedroom, four-and-a-half
bath home with an open floor plan and
lots of windows that allow light to
stream into every room.
“It’s a dream come true,” Roberts said
of the 4,300-square-foot home that was
completed nearly two years ago.
“Building this house was an act of love.”

PERFECT PERCH: Brumby, the Roberts’ tiny poodle, enjoys the view in the home’s beautiful
living room. The room’s focal point is the fireplace and hearth constructed of flat rocks.
OPPOSITE PAGE: The dining room furniture dates to the 1800s, and the striking Oriental
rug complements the navy blue walls.


Roberts describes the casually elegant
home as a retreat for her, the girls and a
tiny poodle named Brumby. However,
she insists that she isn’t “an elegant person.”
Her brother’s death last year from a
swift-moving cancer was a blow to Roberts
and her daughters, Megan and Morgan.
Change is difficult, admitted Roberts, who
has experienced her share, but, as in the
past when life dealt her a bad hand, she
realizes that she must go on and cope with
whatever comes her way.
Roberts enjoyed every moment of
watching her dream house become a reality.
“I can’t say enough about Tommy
(Blanton),” she said of the patient contractor
who worked on the house for
about two years.
Blanton said Roberts was a “fantastic”
person to work with. “Sometimes when
you work with clients and make suggestions,
they think you’re just trying to
make money instead of trying to do what
will turn out best,” he said. “She was very
understanding and open to ideas.”
One of Roberts’ first requests of
Blanton was that the house be placed as
far back from the street as possible with
the rear of the structure as close to the
lagoon as code would allow. As a result,
when looking out back from the living
room, Roberts sees only water with trees
in the distance. In the fall, dozens of
snowy egrets spend the night in the trees
across the lagoon, making for a dropdead
gorgeous landscape.
The view from the girls’ upstairs bedrooms
looks as if they’re living in a boathouse,
Roberts said.
She wanted her house to be similar to
a Greek Revival-style house she had seen
in Southern Living magazine.
“I loved that look,” she said. “So I
kind of went for that.” She also likes the
idea that from the street the house looks
like a one-story structure.
Roberts wanted red, double front
doors with large glass panes. She studied
all sorts of reds — shades from Chinese to
Tomochichi — and finally zeroed in on a
paint called raspberry truffle. Eight-foot
doors with transoms were installed, and
Roberts walked out to the street to see
how they looked.
“I stood on the road and realized that
the doors made the house look squatty,”
she said. The look was transformed after
the eight-foot doors were replaced with
10-foot doors without transoms.
Interior colors were also somewhat of
a dilemma. “I think I have 11 colors in
this house,” Roberts said, while sitting in
the spacious, yet cozy, living room.
Downstairs colors are warm such as
those in the yellow living room and neutral
tones in the master bedroom.
Upstairs shades are cheerful and bright.
“Tommy says no one could ever be in
a bad mood up there,” she said with a laugh.
COZY SEATING: The walls of the sitting room (opposite
page, left) adjacent to the bright kitchen were faux painted
with a plastic grocery bag. The kitchen features granite
countertops and glazed cabinets.
ABOVE: French doors (left) in the living room lead to a covered
back porch overlooking the lagoon. A colorful painting
of a tree-lined path hangs in the home’s wide foyer.


The front doors open into a broad
foyer with views of the dining room, living
room, kitchen and adjoining sitting
area. Windows in the front of the foyer
and the living room were purposely left
without treatments to let in as much light
as possible. The home has many charming
details, including arched doorways,
columns and crown molding.
A large, painting of a palm-lined path
in bold colors by local artist Bellamy
Murphy is to the right of a small table and
chair in the wide foyer. The painting was
first spotted by a friend of Roberts who
loved it but couldn’t find a place for it in
her house. She insisted that Roberts try it
out in her unfinished home.
One night Roberts, the friend and
another pal hauled the painting to the
house, set it against the yellow wall and
shined flashlights on it. It was a perfect
fit. When it was time to hang the painting,
Roberts invited the artist to an
impromptu ceremony.
The focal point of the living room —
other than the spectacular view — is a fireplace
and hearth constructed of flat rocks
similar to those found in a mountain cabin.
Above the fireplace is a studio portrait of
Roberts and her daughters taken nine
years ago when Roberts was 40. She plans
to have another photo taken when she
turns 50. The fireplace is flanked by custom-
made white bookshelves. Floors are
Brazilian cherry covered with area rugs.
To the right of the foyer is a hall
leading to the mirrored gym — with its
own exterior entrance — and the master
suite in the back. Four-inch plantation
blinds were selected by Martha
Scarboro, who did all the window treatments
in the home. A powder room
conveniently located in the hall near the
gym was faux painted with green stripes.
Except for the pieces in a small sitting
area in the bedroom, Roberts chose to use
the same furniture that she had in her Isle
of Hope bedroom. The bed is a massive
four-poster with carved pineapples at the
top to coordinate with the pineapple
theme found in various spots throughout
the home.

Out front, a pair of imposing pineapple
sconces adorns the garage and a huge
matching pineapple light hangs over the
front porch. The pineapples are a symbol
of Southern hospitality and pay homage to
Roberts’ former mother-in-law to whom
she was very close, she said.

When people who live on Dutch Island,
as well as others familiar with the neighborhood,
find out where Roberts lives, they
usually say to her: “Oh, you’re the one with
the pineapple lights.”
The luscious-looking silk drapes in the
master bedroom were custom ordered and
took “forever” to arrive, but they were
worth the wait, Roberts said. The adjoining
bathroom has granite countertops over
a cherry vanity and a large, tiled doorless
shower. Natural light streams through the
window’s glass blocks.
Back through the foyer is the formal
dining room decorated with antique furniture
that dates to the 1800s. An Oriental
rug in muted shades of pink and blue
complement the navy walls and ornate
crystal chandelier. A large mirror with a
distressed frame came from Connecticut.
Beyond the dining room are guest
quarters, complete with a bathroom
decorated in exquisitely hand-painted wall
designs that match the print on the bedspread
and accessories in the bedroom.
The bathroom has two doors, one of
which leads to the spacious laundry suite.
The laundry room has three doors — the
one that leads to the bathroom, a door that
goes outside to a breezeway and garage,
and a third that opens to the hall.
Back down the hall is the stairway,
which is almost hidden, per Roberts’ plan.
“I didn’t want a grand staircase,” she
explained. Upstairs are her daughters’
two bedrooms and two baths joined by a
sitting room.
Morgan’s room at the top of the stairs
is a gorgeous shade of light orange with
bright pink and lime green accessories.
The yellow sitting room, with an unusual
angled ceiling, has two oversized chairs, a
television, various other electronics and
lots of family photographs. Megan’s
room is painted lime green with colorful
accoutrements.
Roberts describes her two teenagers
as the “joys” of her life. She brings them

BRIGHT AND CHEERFUL: The rooms of
Dede Roberts’ two teenage daughters are
filled with color. Morgan’s room is shown
at the top and Megan’s at the bottom.

breakfast upstairs, straightens their
rooms most mornings, and in general,
spoils them with love. She knows they’ll
be off to college in no time.
Back downstairs to the kitchen,
Roberts points out favorites, such as
granite countertops, glazed cabinets and
“cut outs” in the cabinets that give the
room a cozy feeling.
The huge walk-in pantry has plenty
of space for dry goods on one side and
small appliances necessary for baking
on the other. “I’m a baker,” she admitted.
During the holidays, friends and relatives
are grateful recipients of her
Christmas cookies.
The adjoining sitting room was faux
painted by Angie Thompson, who
achieved the look by dabbing on paint
with a plastic grocery bag.
A door from the sitting room leads to
a covered brick porch that overlooks the
lagoon and Roberts’ garden. “I love it
back here,” she said, pointing out,
among other things, the tree that was
planted in memory of her brother. ■