EMPTY NESTERS’ EMPIRE

New to the neighborhood, a couple makes friends on the home tour

BY LISA KRESL PHOTOS BY DANNY FULGENCIO

Mary Ann Johnson decided to feature her 2,800-square-foot Baxtershire Drive home on the Northaven Home Tour because she wanted to meet her neighbors.

Recently retired from Texas Instruments’ human resources department, Mary Ann and her husband, Ray, a pediatrician, bought the house 11 months ago, downsizing from a 3,800-square-foot home.

“We love this,” she says. “It does feel like home. We live in all of the spaces here. When you downsize, you feel like you have the right amount of space. It’s a private neighborhood, though, so getting to know people takes a little bit, but I’m willing to do that work.”

The home showcases the couple’s eclectic interests. The décor has an Asian influence, reflecting Mary Ann’s frequent travels in China, but it doesn’t dominate. Figures of the Terracotta Army, funerary art purchased in Xi’an, China, in 2003, are the focal of the entryway and attracted a lot of attention and curiosity on the tour.

Diane Lewis Designs, who remodels and designs houses in the Park Cities, Preston Hollow and Lakewood, was her designer and contractor. The bedrooms and bathrooms were remodeled by the previous owners.

Mary Ann hates to admit it, but she redid the newly remodeled kitchen. The Johnsons love to cook. Mary Ann wanted to open the space, and they added a giant marble island for food preparation.

In addition, Mary Ann removed the slate floors, replaced the windows, added a floating wall and convert- ed the third bedroom into a closet, outfitted by IKEA. She also replaced many of the halogen lights, which she found to be hot and expensive.

Mary Ann likes the amount of living space. In addition to the living and dining rooms, there is a library decorated with her husband’s guitars. There wasn’t enough closet space to store the instruments, including a dulcimer that Ray made in medical school, so she hung them on the walls instead. She says she finds that he plays more frequently as a result.

A bottom shelf in the library holds books and toys for granddaughter, Emily.

Ray’s daughters live in Dallas, and Mary Ann’s son just graduated from the University of Texas and gets married next month.

Family dinners take place a couple of Sundays a month with as many as 14 attending, typically seated at an altar used as a bench around the dining room table.

Beaudry Gallery on Dragon Street reframed family photos. Custom glasswork by Caryln Ray Designs is another of Mary Ann’s finds.

Future projects include adding a water feature in the backyard by the pool and planting a vegetable garden.

Ray is an avid golfer who sings in the Munger Place United Methodist Church choir and Mary Ann takes glassblowing classes at Carlyn’s Studio in the Design District.

During the home tour, Mary Ann found herself staying to meet people. In particular, she was thankful to the home tour organizers and volunteers.

“I hadn’t intended to stay the whole time,” she says. “But people would introduce themselves, and that was the whole point of doing the tour.

“I think a couple will lead to dinner, and we’ll do that invite first,” she says.

“Even if I just have names and faces, I might recognize someone when I walk the dog or vice versa, and that’s good.”