In 2022, I had the honor of welcoming you all into my now 103 year old home, The Anona Bee, as part of our local Lakewood Home Tour benefitting Dallas public schools. November 2022 marked the Centennial Anniversary (or then 100th birthday!) of our home originally being sold to W.T. Pittman in 1922. The tour was a success, raising over $355,000 dollars for public schools. Special thanks to my team, the LECPTA committee, and all those who volunteered to make it such a great success.
At the time, I promised myself I would post, but months pass and life gets busy. I hope you don’t mind me getting caught up. So much has changed since the show. As a designer, I am always changing things. But if you will indulge me, I will do my best to give a bit of the home’s history, as well as my design choices at the time. I’ve tried my best to keep the integrity of the Georgian intact while keeping it functional.
Much of the Georgian is original. Georgian style is known for ornate dentals and brickwork, as well as “fenestration” a fancy word for symmetry of windows. If you look at the front of my house you will see brick work on the windows, as well as some under a few of the awnings! At times, I wonder if we should take the awnings off to show more of the beautiful brick work, but I thing the awnings are fun!
Why the Anona Bee? Anona is the name of my paternal great grandmother. It’s also Latin for Great Harvest and means pineapple. of all things! (And thanks to Williams Sonoma and every 9th grade American History tour to Mount Vernon – all of us hosts and hostesses out there have memorized that pineapples symbolize welcoming!) In addition, in ancient Roman mythology, Anona was revered as the Goddess of the Harvest, responsible for ensuring abundance…which I just adore. So if you look closely you will see pineapples and wheat throughout my home. (Wheat & pineapple chandeliers, nightstands, doorbells & knockers, light fixtures, etc. I didn’t go nuts, but you will see them if you look.) The Bee is a meaningful symbol as well. To me, the bee symbolizes sweet things come from hard work – and are meant to be shared. The Bee reminds me of my parents, Gary and Sandra Anderson, who taught me to work hard, serve others, and do what is right even when no one is watching. Bees also remind me of Utah, my home state. If you look carefully throughout my home, you will see tiny bees flying about my home decor! I like to leave decor hints and symbols of my most prominent life lessons. Some of the most important being: never forget who you are, where you came from, and who came before you.
With the help of a local historian, Paula Bosse at Flashback: Dallas, I have been able to collect vintage newspaper clippings about my home. There are adorable snippets about the house, everything from a 1923 burglary that ended with a shooting inside the home, to the original owner being congratulated! Each sweet article is a treasured artifact. Below are just a few of the clippings I have collected. You can also see in the old clippings below where the home’s original mortgage was 25,000 dollars and later relisted in 1924 at a quick resale for a whopping 37,000 dollars – touting it’s all white brick and black trim – and servant quarters in the back.
Georgian styled homes are also known for metal piqued awnings at entry ways, and fireplaces. The Awning Portico at the front of the house is original as well as it’s black ironwork. The window boxes were added by me in 2017 and were custom ordered from London to match the home. I researched a lot before purchasing them to what Georgian window boxes should look like. Years later when I found out that the original sketch of the home had window boxes similar to the ones I chose I was thrilled! A) I felt my research had paid off and b) I was happy that perhaps the original designers of the home would have approved of my choice. You worry so much when you add to the exterior of a historic home. I realize that this home isn’t that old in comparison to those in Europe and other parts of the world, but for me it is the first home that I have done restorative work on and so I have tried to first and foremost do no harm and second restore responsibly – which at times can be difficult when you are on a budget. You can see below the original 1920s poster featuring the home with window boxes! It is the home in the top left corner.
Special Note: Many people have asked about the retailer of my window boxes. The company I ordered my custom window boxes is mywindowbox.com based in the UK. They are unfortunately no longer in business. That said, you can email them at sales@mywindowbox.com to see if they may be able to work with you on an order still. They do beautiful work.
I am grateful to all the loving owners who came before. I have now owned this home for 8+ years and loved it. Old homes take care, but often their type of character are difficult to replicate through new construction. Dallas has been kind to the home and me, listing it in D Magazine as one of the 10 Top Most Charming Homes in Dallas. I, of course, have many complaints about the home, 🙂 I think most homeowners do of their own homes. But I love it terribly. Most of the room photos I am showing here I have since changed as these were taken in 2022. I hope many of you designers/creators/humans out there understand, the itch to change. But in the interest of sharing and integrity to what it looked like at the time – I am showing you these older images.
Often times, I get busy designing for clients, busy with my kids, busy doing life, etc. — and then my own personal home design projects are left to the wayside. The old Spanish proverb, “The cobbler’s children have no shoes,” comes to mind. So when originally asked to be in the home show (just a few weeks prior to the actual show), I thought “No, no, no. There is absolutely no way. My home is not at all ready.” I hope you all out there can relate. In addition, I can be an introvert in my private life. So having hundreds of people come through my home was… let’s just say, less than ideal in my mind. I just truly thought the committee was insane. 🙂 But they caught me during a vulnerable moment — and I am really glad that they did. I was out of the country at the time and had just learned my grandmother had passed – someone who I leaned on heavily for friendship. During this time, I was able to actually think about what she would want me to do and this helped to make my decision to participate. My Grandma was very active in her rural community growing up. Often participating in plays, community service, leadership roles, and never saying no when asked to volunteer. Thinking about her changed my mind from an absolute no, to a yes – and so I did it! I was so glad I did. It was one of the most fun personal projects I had taken on for a while. It was a bit like Project Runway. Limited time and tons of creativity needed to make it work in time! And with three people dear to me leaving sooner than expected that 2022 fall (my grandmother to Heaven, my daughter to ballet school, my eldest son to school), it was the exact welcomed distraction I needed to keep me busy while I worked through those unexpected feelings of grief of missing my loved ones. Right now, there is a popular belief that you should say no more. I absolutely believe in that and saying ‘no’ and setting boundaries – but also don’t be afraid to say ‘yes’ too! It may be fun! Lesson re-learned: sometimes doing things outside your comfort zone is good for you and helps others in the process.
Now enough introspection! Here’s a look at my kitchen!
When I first purchased this home, the kitchen had to be tackled. It was truly a mess at the time. I subcontracted the whole thing myself. I don’t know what I was thinking. It truly was a project and almost killed me, but it was a great learning experience – and apparently I haven’t learned my lesson because I am wanting to redo it this year. But let’s talk about what’s here. I wanted a high contrast kitchen instead of the typical all white kitchen you see. So I gutted the kitchen completely and added custom black and white tile. One thing, I felt that I did special here was the kitchen island. It is actually an old dining table of mine. I had a carpenter cut it in half, rework it, give it a paint job, and then add marble to create it. I had the same marble added to the countertops to create a seamless look throughout the whole of the kitchen. I also had the same carpenter create the custom window covers to coordinate with the oven hood. I have two black farmhouse sinks with brass hardware that I adore. I was skeptical about how black sinks would work with a large family, but I took the risk and I have had them now for almost 8 years and they have held beautifully. And I think they make all the difference. The beautiful florals you see in the kitchen here are by Dr. Delphinium. They do a beautiful job. I gift myself for Christmas a monthly floral subscription and it’s my favorite gift.
Each framed quote in the mudroom is a favorite poem from one of my grandparents. The one on the left is a favorite song of my grandpa that passed away when I was in college that he and I used to love. The poem on the right was always hanging on my grandmother’s refrigerator all growing up. The most important thing about a home is making it yours.
I designed the window treatments going up the staircase. They weren’t ready in time for the home show. Que Sera, Sera. I am obsessed with Dalmatian print right now. I would own a Dalmatian if I were not obsessed with my own dogs.
This beautiful floral arrangement my mom sent to me for the show. I loved it.
My laundry room is as small as a thimble—so you’d think wallpaper would be the last thing it needed. But I designed this bold floral print (and the coordinating laundry bag!), and now this tiny corner has become my cozy “nook and fold.” The pattern, woven shade, and checkered floor make it feel warm, happy, and like a little secret room just for me. You can find this design on the website here.
The smallness of this half bath under my staircase in my foyer to me makes it enchanting. It’s a little Harry Potter-esque! I gutted it put little porcelain black and white 1920 mosaic tiles in it, because…well, we had to. I also added this sink because there was a situation with the one that was there before! 🙂 The joys of having four teens! I wish you could see more inside the bathroom, but it is painted in the most fabulous Farrow and Ball green that took me forever to find the right shade. And this photo doesn’t do it justice. And inside, is just a ton of framed horse paintings by George Stubbs on all sides of the tiny tiny bathroom along with horse crops mounted.
My boys room. I’ve made changes since, since my oldest has moved out, but my favorite thing about this room is their ceiling. I took dozens of vintage maps and wallpapered them onto the ceiling. It’s unique and fun. We travel a lot as a family for fun both internationally and domestically, so on the side of the room is a world map and a map of the states with pins for them to mark everywhere we have visited together.
Since this show we have changed this room drastically as the girls have grown and rooms grow with children It is now light blue and white. 🙂 But here it is before. And I loved it.
I will post more of the rooms shortly! Thank you for stopping by!
xo, LL
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