This elegant home blends right into its historic neighborhood, but was actually built quite recently.
Written by MARY CORNETTA
Photography by KELLI BOYD
GLANCING AROUND BOBBY AND ELAINE HUGHES’ HOME in Ardsley Park, you might be surprised to learn it was built just five years ago. From an 18th-century French dining table to a shiplap accent wall to decorative wooden corner guards, the aesthetic is reminiscent of bygone times.
Elaine’s love for antiques began when she was just 20 years old. “I was walking down Waters Avenue and saw a side table in the window of an antique shop,” she recalls. “It was only $75, but to me back then, it might as well have been $1,000!” When the owner noticed Elaine eyeing the piece of furniture, she informed her about the store’s layaway plan. That table has now been in every living room the couple has had, and it was one of the first things that came out of the old house and into this one.
The table, along with the rest of their furniture and decor, didn’t have to travel far for this move. For 30 years, Elaine and Bobby lived in the home next door and owned the lot that the new build now stands on. The couple had planned to stay in their original home, but, Elaine says, “As you get older, your needs change.” The couple wanted to stay in the neighborhood but find a home with a primary bedroom and bathroom on the main floor. After exhausting their search, they came to the realization that building would be a guaranteed way to get what they wanted.
It turned out that they were staring at the solution all along. “We were sitting outside one day, and I asked, ‘Why don’t we build a house here?’” Elaine said, referring to their side yard. Bobby was skeptical at first, but Elaine did her research and confirmed it was a buildable lot. The original owner of the property initially had a horse and carriage, and when cars were introduced in Savannah, he had bought the neighboring lot to build a garage, which was still standing.
They began sketching a plan and hired local architect Clay Branson to execute it. They had the expansive boxwood garden cleared so they could use every available piece of land that the City of Savannah permitted. Over the two years the build took to complete (slowed in part due to the pandemic), Bobby and Elaine continued to live next door. Their new home is roughly 1,000 square feet less than their old one, so they had to pick and choose the furniture that would make the short move. Most of their collection includes antiques (“The only things we tend to buy new are beds and mattresses,” says Elaine), and friends and family were given the pieces that wouldn’t fit in the new space.
Married for 56 years, the couple has been amassing furniture, art, and decor for most of their lives together. Bobby founded Hughes Refrigeration Inc., DBA Hughes Service Co., in 1985, which is now operated by their son, Ashley. For many years, they also had a business that offered antiques, gifts, and Elaine’s self-taught interior decorating services. Although she is retired, she sticks to her design theory, evident throughout the new home: “The floors and your window treatments have to be great, after that everything else will come together.”
Dramatic floor-to-ceiling drapes cover the front room windows, while one-of-a-kind pine flooring by Zeagler Farms Handcrafted Flooring was laid throughout the first floor and the staircase in the foyer.
To one side of the entrance is a bold yet cozy dining room drenched in Benjamin Moore’s Wrought Iron black paint and adorned with an assortment of Chinoiserie on the sideboard. The space also includes a reproduction of an ornate, gilded French style mirror leaning against a pair of weathered English door panels, and a mounted deer head. In lieu of formal dining chairs around the antique table, they used skirted Louis XV-style chairs and a sofa that Bobby scored for only $6 at an antiques auction on Tybee Island.
That couch and a pair of wingback armchairs in the opposite-facing living room have been reupholstered numerous times by locally owned Davis Upholstery. The rest of the furniture and decor in this space is a mix of special finds from their travels. “If we leave this house together, no matter where we go, whether in town or 1,000 miles away, we’re going to bring home something, I promise you,” says Elaine. For example, the paintings on the fireplace wall were painted by local artists the couple discovered in Prague and in Venice.
As you head down the hallway, you encounter a second fireplace in an unusual spot: the kitchen. When the person the Hugheses hired to lay the brick didn’t complete the rest of the wall surrounding it, Bobby took it upon himself to finish it, along with the matching brick backsplash behind the stove. A dining table sits in front of the fireplace, anchored by an oversized armchair that has become Elaine’s beloved spot to sit. “I like to be comfy, now that we’re retired, and we sit here for at least an hour with our coffee every morning.”
This table, as well as the island and corner breakfast nook, is also where the extended family crowds around when she cooks for them every Wednesday evening. Above the island is an oversized rustic wood-framed chandelier found in an unlikely place: Dollywood. Elaine has a tradition of taking the grandkids on a trip there every summer, and during a trip while the house was being built, it caught her eye in one of the gift shops. Speedily packed and shipped, it made it from Tennessee to Georgia before Elaine did. “I called Bobby to let him know it would be arriving, and he said, ‘You bought a light fixture where?’” she jokes. “I said, ‘Don’t worry, you’re going to love it!’”
Noticeably absent from the kitchen is the refrigerator and an abundance of cabinets, which Elaine did by design. Their beautiful dishes and glassware are stored inside furniture, including a vintage armoire against one wall. “We had friends on 42nd Street with a kitchen so tiny that their fridge lived in the butler’s pantry,” she explains. “They hated it, but I loved the fact that you didn’t have to look at it.” So, she made it so their fridge is hidden in a nearby hallway, which also houses an under-the-stairs walk-in pantry, a decor storage closet, and a home office.
A powder room, covered in eye-catching floral wallpaper, and a laundry room are located in the hallway leading to the primary suite. A warm color palette welcomes you as you enter the bedroom, as well as galleries of gold, Baroque-style mirrors and framed family photographs on the walls.
The bathroom presented a bit of a challenge due to its size, but the end result exceeded their vision. “When we received the plans for this room, I knew it was going to be tight, so we used every inch we could,” says Elaine. Wallpaper adorned with metallic gold vines stretches toward the tall ceilings. An ornate chandelier hangs above, and an arch detail over the pedestal tub enhances the room’s grandeur.
The second story was designed with loved ones in mind. At the top of the staircase is the designated grandkids’ hangout. “They were all teenagers when we moved here, and they loved to come up together and watch movies,” says Elaine. “Now that they’re getting older, we may do something else with the space.” Past Bobby’s collection of clocks, including an antique German cuckoo clock, is a full-sized bath that often gets used by one of their grandsons after football practice and before Wednesday dinner.
Down the hallway are two guest rooms with their own bathrooms, the first of which is where their niece sleeps a few nights a week when she’s in Savannah for work. Romantic details envelop the space, from the white wrought iron bedframe to the window curtains used as a shower curtain and from the tufted chaise lounge to the Victorian marble top dresser.
Passing a window seat on the way to the second guest suite, Elaine admits, “I call this my ‘English countryside room,’ and it’s one of my favorite rooms in the house.” The traditional wooden carved four-poster bed was theirs at the last home, and she skirted it and added a patterned comforter for a pop of color. A layered Persian rug, a pair of vintage candle sconces, and her collection of decorative wall-mounted plates all add to the overall charm. “A friend stayed in here recently and said she wished she could stay forever,” says Elaine.
While it’s a toss-up between this room and the kitchen as Elaine’s favorite spaces, the part of the home that Bobby is most proud of can be seen from the front yard. “I just love the exterior brick, it’s comforting to me,” he says. Elaine had initially envisioned Hardie board siding, but when Bobby came home one day with a brick sample, they changed their minds, as the brick fit in so well with the old-world aesthetic they were aiming for.
Bobby reveals that they have very similar styles and generally work very well together. Elaine jokes, “Whether I’m cooking or decorating, I’m all about the details. Bobby’s a great helper and will do anything for me, but sometimes he leaves out the details, and I have to come back and add them in!”
Reflecting on their decision to build their new home next door, and then ultimately sell their old home, the Hugheses say they wouldn’t have done anything differently. “I knew a new house would be great, but I wanted it to feel like an old house, and I think we did a really good job of making that happen,” says Elaine. “We love this street and this neighborhood, and I’m so glad we did this.”
Details
- Neighborhood: Ardsley Park
- Year built: 2020
- Square footage: 3,085
- Number of bedrooms: 3, plus loft
- Number of bathrooms: 4.5
- Architect: Clay Branson
- Interior designer: Elaine Hughes (homeowner)
- Contractor: Bobby and Elaine Hughes (homeowners)
- Flooring: Custom pine floors made by Zeagler Farms Handcrafted Flooring; Bruce plank oak floor upstairs from Home Depot; tile flooring and showers from Floor & Decor
- Paint: Benjamin Moore B&B Paint, Spectrum Paint services
- Wallpaper: Lowcountry Wallpaper
- Windows/doors: Guerry Lumber
- Window treatments: Martha Scarboro
- Kitchen cabinets: Harbor Cabinetry
- Kitchen appliances: KitchenAid
- Plumbing: JB Plumbing
- Landscape: Installations and gravel driveway by Beckler Design Studio; plants from Wise Nurseries and Hester & Zipperer
- Electrician: C&A Electric Inc.
- HVAC: Hughes Refrigeration Inc., DBA Hughes Service Co.
- Lighting: Ferguson Gallery, Quorum International
- Accessories and art: Owners’ collection, including local artists Mark Hiott and Susan Maquire
- Exterior brick: Boral Magnolia Bay, sourced from Daniel Brick Co.
