Text by Cathy Gordon • Photography by J. Heiliger Photography • Builder: Darling Homes • Landscaping: New Image Landscaping
Water Features: Synergy Design • Hammock Arbor: Woodlands Outdoor Living
Rita and Mark Ramsey relax at
home with their adorable,
bandana-clad Labrador, Reagan.
Rita and Mark Ramsey love to travel, but one of their favorite destinations is,
well, home.
“And why wouldn’t it be?” says Mark, pointing to a slightly wind-swept pond behind their gorgeously
landscaped yard.
“You wouldn’t believe some of the sunsets we’ve seen over that water, just sitting out back. It’s wonderful.”
From their vantage point in this 3,000-square-foot, one-story patio home with
voluminous windows, life is good.
“We sit out here in the back in those rocking chairs and look out over that water
and say,
‘Now, why would we want to go to a bed and breakfast when we’ve got this right here?’” says Mark.
Indeed, nature seems to put on a show here. Birds flit about. Herons glide over
the pond. Thunderstorms and sunsets provide more enjoyment than any movie
could. Whether from their porch rockers or inside looking out, the Ramseys are
constantly entertained. And that goes for their bandana-clad, black Labrador,
Reagan, too.
So how did they find their little slice of paradise?
“Well, it all started when we came out to meet friends for dinner one night,” recalls Rita, who used to live in West Houston. “We met them at Grottos restaurant. When we pulled in that entrance at Market
Street with all those little twinkling lights I went,
‘Oh my gosh, where are we? This is charming. There were all those cute shops and
the place just looked adorable. After that, we started looking seriously.
”
But they knew what they wanted. And it didn’t include a huge home with an enormous yard. “We drove around and looked at all these neighborhoods and we wouldn’t even get out of the car when we saw those kind of places. It was like ‘Been there, done that,’” recalls Rita. “That’s not what we wanted. It’s not the feel we were after.”
But eventually Rita discovered Mason Pond, a neighborhood of patio homes. What’s more, she found the perfect cul-de-sac lot, backing up to the pond. The lot
was already spoken for, but lucky for them, that deal fell through.
“We’re so happy here,” says Rita.
The brick and stone home attracts attention with a charming front courtyard with
an urn fountain water feature. Once inside, it
’s easy to see what attracted the Ramseys to the floorplan. A unified sweep of
Chesapeake hickory floors connects the spaces. The dining room, preening in
silk curtains, antiques and a colorful stained glass chandelier, is immediately
to the left of the entry. This location allows dinner guests to look out over
the courtyard and, weather permitting, enjoy the breeze and trickle of the
fountains. Two guest bedrooms and Mark
’s study also occupy the front of the house.
An entry hall leads to the kitchen, breakfast area and a spacious living room
abundant in windows for viewing of the pond and the home
’s many outdoor features. Tempting outdoor amenities give the homeowners many
reasons to step outside
—a large cascading waterfall fountain, an arbor harboring a hammock, a line of
porch rockers on a flagstone-paved lanai and, of course, the pond.
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An antique buffet in the entry holds some of Rita’s
favorite Italian pottery. The painting of Italy above is a destination she and
her husband would like to visit someday.
“I figure we’ll travel until we find it,” she says.
