Lakeside Luxe

The Lake Claiborne home of Mary and John Eaves is a relaxing getaway nestled along wooded shorelines and pristine water. Designer Gregory Hudgins guided them along the process of designing this luxurious retreat.

ARTICLE BY MARÉ BRENNAN DESIGN AND STYLING BY GREGORY HUDGINS PHOTOGRAPHY BY TAYLOR BENNETT

Built as a reservoir in 1970, Lake Claiborne is a rural respite with lakeside vistas more like Italy’s Lago del Como than rural Louisiana. Wooded shorelines and pristine water are complemented by continuous gentle breezes that invite visitors to spend time lounging on loggias, watching the sun set behind towering pines.

Such is the inspiration for the lake house designed for Mary and John Eaves by their frequent design collaborator and close friend Gregory Hudgins. After Gregory masterminded the  luxurious renovations to the couple’s West Monroe home (featured in the October 2015 issue of BayouLife), the couple asked the designer to guide them in their lake house building process.
Mary and John Eaves’ plan for lakeside living began years ago. Mary, who was raised in nearby Homer, bought this piece of property with her parents in the late 1980s. “When we decided to build,” says Mary, “my daddy deeded his half of the property to me.” Adds Mary, “We didn’t have any trouble during building, because we had Gregory leading the way with Robert Stone of Frank Stone & Son Construction as our builder. Very, very few times would I doubt Gregory’s choices, but it always turns out perfect.” Adds John, “We couldn’t have done it without Gregory.”

The gregarious couple, who married in 2012 after John retired as a Captain in the Fort Lauderdale police force, love hosting family and friends. Building a lake get-away was their next logical step.

Explains Gregory, “I designed the Eaves’ lake house backwards. I thought, ‘Let’s figure out the furniture first and design the spaces around it,’” ensuring porches and interior spaces would afford maximum pleasure and ease of entertaining while retaining essential views of Lake Claiborne.

First things first, the Eaves chose a generous Summer Classics dining table and chairs to seat eight comfortably as well as Summer Classics sofas, chairs and tables for a conversation area for opposite sides of the oversized porch. Sourced from Parterre, the mahogany and aluminum chairs are softened with plush cushions in a fresh blue and white print. Another trademark of a Hudgins-designed home is the liberal use of smart home technology. Music can fill any space of the home and custom blinds in the dining room can be raised or lowered to provide shade from afternoon sun with a touch of a button.

The iron porch railings were custom designed to scale by Gregory, inspired by a book on Old Philadelphia iron works. Based on a 1750’s design, the Eaves’ railings on the porch and on the interior stairs were custom fabricated by Custom Fabrication and Welding of Haughton. The porch features 100-year-old, reclaimed raw wood beams which give instant character to the outdoor living space.

An old trailer with a tree growing up the middle of it was razed, and the project broke ground in March 2016. The Eaves spent their first night in the lake house in November 2017, enjoying Christmas with their family. “We’re like the parents now, and all of our family comes out to celebrate holidays and special occasions with us,” says Mary.

But then again, who could resist time spent with the Eaves at their European-inspired lake house? With a super casual, very edited aesthetic, the lake home, sited high atop a hill, features a brick exterior accented with stacked, hand-chiseled sandstone. The Eaves credit David Foster with Southern Living Landscape Management with the naturalistic plantings throughout the grounds. The home’s entry is distinguished with natural plantings of vitex, Japanese maples, lorapetulum, and bright blue agapanthus, which are quite irresistible to the lake’s deer population. A pair of Chippendale concrete benches, sourced from Parterre, are situated on either side of the oversized front door. Electric copper lanterns with opaque glass panes are outfitted with LED bulbs, which give the illusion of flickering gas flames. So realistic are they that a neighbor called to make sure there wasn’t a fire, laughs Mary.

Upon entering the spacious foyer, Gregory has placed a masculine stags head mirror, a find from Mike Ackels’ auction house, and has surrounded it with European mounted antlers. Carved brackets with stags hold large urns. Tall ten foot ceilings throughout the home add to the relaxed feel of the home. Gregory sourced all of the pre-Civil War antique doors throughout the home from The Corbel, outside of St. Francisville. Each door was painstakingly remade – stripped, reglued and sanded – and refitted with Rocky Mountain Hardware. Gregory chose coordinating bronze door pulls, some with leather inlays for interest.
A jewel of a half bath in the foyer was where Gregory’s creative license is on full display. Walls are covered in a textural grass cloth. An antique carved cabinet from Traditions was repurposed as a vanity with a Watermark faucet and fixtures handmade in Brooklyn. Gregory custom designed a Link a Sink with a custom drain cover inlaid with mother of pearl. Ruston’s Chris Hart made custom brackets for hanging sconces. The Moroccan inspired tile flooring is handmade in California. Gilded gothic panels were found at Traditions.”

Another antique door opens into Mary’s office, which contains built-in storage and a desk, ample counter space and even a hidden gift-wrapping station. Some of Mary’s favorite hardware and drawer pulls utilizing tortoiseshell are found in her office space.

In the guest room located nearest the front of the home, a pair of Leigh Buffington paintings are placed above nightstands topped with Arteriors lamps on either side of the expertly made bed dressed in Matouk linens from Haven. On the walls, Mary has created an homage to her dad’s service in the Coast Guard during World War II, framing a photograph of his ship and a certificate which documents his first time crossing the International Dateline in a gorgeous aluminum riveted frame from Lenece Laseter’s Artistic Designs. A Jack and Jill bathroom between the two downstairs guest rooms features a Walker-Zanger backsplash with Arabesque floor tile handmade in California. Light blue walls add a hint of color. The tub apron is the same marble that is found on countertops. Gregory designed a barrel vaulted ceiling above the shower and tub, which is lined with the same Walker-Zanger tile.

In the second guest room, an older four post Thomasville bed and dresser take on new life when Gregory had John Honeycutt paint them a chic, matte black. Sleek polished nickel Emtek drawer pulls were added to the dresser. Night stands by OLY are graced with botanically inspired lamps by Michael Aram, a reference to the lake and the country setting. Watercolor paintings above the bedside tables were sourced from Material Things. A “Steel Magnolias” poster features John’s aunt, a Natchitoches beauty salon owner, who was the inspiration for the playwright’s character, “Truvy.”  Custom-made curtains from Haven in a Kravet fabric open and close easily on a hidden zip rod and lead out onto the back porch.

In the living room, a sparkling wet bar is lined with a mirrored mosaic by Artistic Tile. Brackets from the U.K. hold shelves filled with the couple’s collection of handpainted glassware. Tumblers goblets and flutes painted by Hudgins integrate Catholic hearts and Renaissance figures under brilliant gold. Antiqued mirror panels line the sides of the wetbar and add dimension. A brushed matte gold fixture is by Brizo and spills water into a sink that looks like a polished nickel serving tray. An English Bobby helmet is a gift presented to John upon his police force retirement from British friends the couple met when they first started dating.
The Eaves’ lake house kitchen is a culinary dream. Gregory and Mary chose an Artistic Tile backsplash of marble cut in geometric shapes. Sequoia soapstone countertops are honed to resemble grains of wood and feels like brushed leather to the touch. Artist Joshua Mitchell was commissioned to craft the home’s island of reclaimed wood planks. One of John’s favorite fixtures in the home is the over island lighting, which was found in Baton Rouge. The light is a lozenge shape punctuated by mirrored glass panels. Above the gas range hangs an antique fireplace back, depicting the fable of the stork and the fox. Mary found the piece on 1st Dibs and thought it was perfect for the space above the range. A Sub-Zero refrigerator, wine cooler and freezer are integrated into built-in cabinetry.
On either side of the oven, antique doors lead to a well-appointed pantry on the left and the home’s laundry room on the right. The pantry has warming drawers and ample storage within built-in cabinetry, while the laundry room features a stacked washer and dryer.

Mary loves the entire second floor of their lake house. The master bedroom and en suite bath is located at the top of the stairs. Julie Crews’ canvas “Goodwill and Gumballs,” which the couple bought at a Masur Museum Juried Show, hangs above the staircase, in full view when walking downstairs. A pair of handmade Chinese paper lantern sconces provide illumination for the stairwell.

In the master bedroom, a Gothic mantle found at Traditions is the perfect surround for the fireplace. A pair of leather slingback chairs from Lee Industries provides seating at the foot of the Jan Barboglio designed metal bed. So heavy was the bed that it had to be pulled up into the second story bedroom via a crain. On an excursion to Manhattan, Gregory and Mary buzzed in to the Pratesi linen store and secured what has to be the most luxurious bedding for the Eaves master bedroom. Mary chose bedding in a soft and silky neutral background with a sateen sheen, patterned with a traditional Magnolia flower print in grey. Gilded altar pieces create focal points above the bedside cabinets from Summer House. A collection of French botanicals are arranged on the wall that leads to the master bath. A matching Barboglio metal doggie bed for the couple’s dachshunds is a miniature version of the couple’s bed.

Antique French doors with beveled glass panes lead to the master bath. The floor is a reclaimed stone cut in large rectangles. The Schwab drawer pulls on cabinets are inlaid with mother of pearl, bone, turquoise and tortoise shell, which Gregory calls the “jewelry for your cabinets.” Sconces from Korbet echo the colors found in the drawer pulls with crystals and stained glass drops. Blue flower granite countertops enhance built in cabinetry with under counter lighting at the floor level. The walk-in shower is lined with large grey and white marble tiles on the walls and river rock floor. A teak bench provides seating within the shower. Porcelain agate flooring is by Artistic Tile.

The master bedroom opens onto a second story balcony with spectacular views of the lake. Adds John, “This is a perfect place to watch a thunderstorm roll in.” Gregory designed a custom hanging daybed with khaki fabric coverings and blue and white patterned pillows.

Along the back of the home, Tuscan-style terraced steps lead from the open porch, past a trio of purple-blossomed vitex and muhley grass down to a small grove of newly planted cypress trees at the water’s edge. Here, Hudgins designed a boat house and pier for unparalleled access and enjoyment. Under roof at the boat house, John has a built-in fish cleaning station with a grate floor for easy clean-up, and the pier features a set of stairs, where swimmers can ease into (and out of) Claiborne’s clear waters.
With her dimpled smile, Mary recounts her love of the country around her hometown, her new camp and adds, “This lake house has been a great way to reconnect with friends and share great times with our families.” The couple’s first summer on the water is sure to be a season to remember.