Life at Home
Published 1:29 pm Monday, October 30, 2017
The Scott and Stephanie Potter home
Home can be a reflection of what is important to the people who live there. In the Scott and Stephanie Potter house, the focus is on family, the joy of reading and creative learning opportunities.
The foyer of the Potter home decorated for Halloween.
In the family room of this house, dolls, doll clothes, dollhouses, play food and dishes, musical toys, stuffed animals and a small desk for art projects share space with the big screen TV and Scott’s hardback collection. Shelves for toys are low. The girls, ages five and two, can put up their own things. The sofa, a beautiful mid-century Dunbar design, was handed down from Stephanie’s grandparents. It has been reupholstered. The recliner has not. When the girls get in the chair, they usually manage to make what was a small crack in the bottom of the seat into a slightly larger tear, according to Stephanie.
Real people live here.
“I read that children are happiest in spaces they share with adults,” Stephanie, a preschool teacher, said.
The pink in this room is named Begonia. The painters thought that Stephanie had made a mistake and the first time they painted, they used a paint color two shades lighter. The room had to be repainted.
This two-story, open plan, four bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom house shows that great style and kid-friendly living do not have to be mutually exclusive.
Stephanie Potter grew up in Lake Charles within walking distance of where she now lives. She met her husband, Scott, when they were in school at California’s Santa Clara University.
Table centerpieces can’t be too elaborate in this house where real people live and family togetherness is paramount.
“My grandparents built a house, stayed in that house and raised their family there,” Stephanie said. “My parents did the same. We wanted a place thoughtfully designed with our own family in mind.”
Their home in Lake Charles is on Barbe Street between West Sallier Street and Shell Beach Drive, close to Stephanie’s mother’s home, the ballet studio where Stephanie helps teach, Scott’s office and the Racquet Club.
“Our entire life is right here, within walking distance,” Stephanie said.
The Par Group was contractor.
“When meeting with the Potters early on I realized they wanted to mix up the coastal flair of the Allison Ramsey Architects style with a more traditional four-square. By using that traditional look with some subtle low-country features and a vibrant color scheme, they hit a home run,” Robert Authement said. “It is a great addition to the Barbe Street streetscape.”
“The floor plan allowed us to have both girls upstairs,” Scott said. “They share a true Jack and Jill space. We have a guest room downstairs.”
On the day of the American Press interview, it was decorated for Halloween, inside and out.
“My mom made a big deal of decorating every holiday,” Stephanie said. “Scott really loves decorating for Christmas.”
“I go a little overboard,” Scott admits.
The children help. Stephanie, who suggests she is particular – and not just about decorating – said her five-year-old daughter is as good at it as she is.
Scott’s garden is perfection, almost completely organically grown and a learning opportunity for the girls. Together they have planted vegetables and milkweed to attract butterflies. Not long ago the family had great fun releasing 4500 ladybugs, and not quite that many earthworms, to help keep the garden healthy. He has installed an irrigation system for his garden. The house has rain barrels and a solar panel system.
To the question, “What makes your house a home,” Stephanie quickly answered, “The people who live there.”
These kitchen island pendant lights look like hammered metal, but they are actually glass from Joseph’s Electric in Lake Charles. Stephanie added the touch of copper colored seed pods as part of her fall decorations.