Stewart

from Green Country Living — Spring Edition 2021

Renovate Restore

A rustic, broad front porch and Tudorstyle trim on garage doors accent Candace and David’s in-town/country home just south of the Arkansas River.

Town and country: Best of both worlds

Couple adds features to home to meet their needs

Optometrist Candace Stewart says her house on the north tip of the River Oaks addition offers the best of both worlds.

Her husband, David Stewart, said it has “the convenience of town and country.”

“You get the privacy of a country setting on 11-plus acres,” Candace said. “You can sit outside, you can’t hear anything but birds.”

The yard spreads from Country Club Drive to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers property along the Arkansas River. A pond is off to one side.

Flagstone steps lead to a porch that stretches across the front of the Texas limestone house.

By Cathy Spaulding • Photos by John haSler

Candace and David Stewart say they have the best of both worlds in their 11-acre spread.

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David Stewart has a comfortable view of his big screen TV in the spacious living room.

When Candace and David Stewart moved there 12 years ago, the house oozed with Southwest style.

They kept some rustic southwest touches, such as the antler chandeliers in the entry and dining rooms.

They also kept the office’s knotty pine paneling, but had it glazed to give it a more formal, less yellow look.

David, a retired electrician with OG&E, made the stained glass window over the office entry. He also crafted the wrought iron banisters that go up the entry room steps and throughout the house, plus other adornments.

The first story has a hickory wood floor throughout.

The living room’s limestone fireplace matches the exterior stonework. Candace said the fireplace and window shades operate by remote control.

The Stewarts redesigned the kitchen to have a big island. A sink on the island has a regular faucet, plus a smaller one that dispenses hot or cold drinking water.

The main kitchen sink is a copper farmhouse sink.

“Copper is so forgiving, because it’s antibacterial,” Candace said. “It spots up, then it will tarnish right back to its original look.”

A sunroom links the kitchen with a three-car garage the Stewarts built.

The master bedroom is on the opposite end of the first floor. The Stewarts recently repainted the master bedroom and master bath in the same delicate pastel. The white tufted headboard, made by Thayer Upholstery, matches the bedroom’s delicate robin’s egg blue paint.

“But the same color in the bathroom looks green,” Candace said.

The open kitchen features several seating options.

Another antler chandelier lights the formal dining room.

An antler chandelier hangs in the entry.

The remodeled bathroom features a square free-standing tub and a spacious walk-in shower. Both are new. Candace said the bathroom used to have a corner tub. The former shower area was changed into a toilet nook. The bath has heated floors.

Cream-colored cabinets and drawers surround the walk-in closet. The cabinets reach the ceiling, but the Stewarts can pull down clothes rods that are too high. Candace said her favorite part is a fulllength mirror that covers her jewelry box. The closet has enough room for a leather bench.

The utility room has a sink and ample granite countertops.

Down a few steps, the Stewarts converted a former garage into what Candace calls “an apartment.” It features a kitchenette with a sink. A toilet and shower are in a closet space. A Murphy bed pulls down from the wall.

“My grandkids stay here now,” she said. “They’re 11 and 12, they don’t want to stay upstairs by themselves.”

The Stewarts have two children and three grandchildren.

A game room is above the apartment, in what Candace calls a mezzanine. It features a shuffleboard table and bumper pool table.

The second floor, a few steps up from the game room, has four bedrooms and two baths.

One bedroom could be an elegant nursery with a wrought iron crib and matching daybed.

Another bedroom has its own threequarter bath.

The other two bedrooms are linked by a Jack-and-Jill bathroom.

A second-floor balcony offers a view of the living room and its half-cathedral ceiling.

A hide rug adds a rustic touch to the elegant master bathroom.

Candace Stewart has a selection of jewelry behind a closet mirror.

A game room offers a variety of options for fun and refreshment.

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Flagstone steps go down to the Stewart’s swimming pool.

A red easy chair and curtains add pop to a sunroom. ABOVE: A pergola keeps the outdoor kitchen cool. The kitchen is made of stonework.

LEFT: One bedroom has a cozy corner for reading.

One of the Stewart’s four bedrooms features a luxurious bed.

The back porch sweeps behind the house and features a textured concrete floor. An outdoor kitchen, also made with limestone, features a smoker and farmhouse sink.

David also made the back porch pergola, as well as the flagstone steps that lead down to the swimming pool.

The Stewarts redid the swimming pool several years ago. It has fountains and waterfalls, plus, umbrellas shade a shallow area.

“It’s a sun shelf, so you can sit chairs there, and put the bubblers on,” she said.

A limestone cabana is by the pool.

They keep their tractors and mowers in a 3,000-square-foot shop. Candace said her husband uses a brush hog for most of the back half and mows the front half. They also have a greenhouse and an area for chickens. Plenty of wildlife, including coyotes, come onto the property.

The Arkansas River flows just beyond the Stewart’s backyard, but is concealed by trees. But that doesn’t keep the Stewarts from seeing the eagles that fly over the river.

“One perched right on top of the pool house one day,” Candace said. “I hollered at Dave to come look at it. It looked almost fake with a bald eagle sitting by our pool.”