Home Smart Designs
October 2002, p. 6

     One function of a gate is to prohibit passage. Another is to frame a splendid view thereby inviting interest rather than discouraging it. At the end of Lee Lane, an historic Covington street of quaint shops and somewhat gentrified country charm, is just such a gate and just such a view, both of which belong to husband and wife business partners Vikki Leftwich and Bryan Colwell. "We knew we wanted to put an exterior gate at the property line," says Leftwich. "We put up vines for some privacy but we wanted to be able to see through it."

     Leftwich and Colwell had just completed the renovation of another Covington house and were about to embark upon a second, addition phase with architect George Hopkins when a friend called about the Lee Lane property. Leftwich and Colwell put in the winning bid for the 12 acres of prime beachfront real estate and several years later, after clearing its overgrown grounds and completely renovating its 150-year-old center hall cottage, now home to the couple and their two sons, they also put in the winning landscape design seen from the street. "It took eight months to clear away the brush, " says Leftwich, who searched magazines for landscaping ideas and teamed up with Hopkins to map out the circular driveway using bags of flour. The expertise of landscape architect Virginia Bessent was then called in to execute the orderly, classically designed driveway and gardens which center around a tiered, circular fountain custom made from architectural stone. "We wanted formal gardens with perennials and lots of bedding and greenery so that when the flowers aren't in bloom, it still looks controlled," says Leftwich.

     Today, the property at the end of Lee Lane, includes the main house, a guest cottage, a pool, a lagoon area, and a sandy beach on the Bogue Falaya River, and the first impression passersby and visitors see as their car noses on to the gravel road and through the electric gate is a good indication of the beauty that lies beyond.

     "Our circular drive is the key to the puzzle," says Colwell. "It is wide enough for friends to park along the perimeter, yet still allows for room for others to circle the fountain and leave through the gate. George Hopkins cleverly designed an offshoot from the circle that leads to a three-car garage hidden behind the house. We love its practicality and elegant simplicity."