Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

Upstairs in the main living area, a dining table near a balcony allows quick access for a breath of fresh air. The balcony faces the front of the home with distant views of Aransas and Little Bays. Lilly, the Anderson’s labrador retriever, peeks through the glass door.

By Diane S. Morales, Caller-Times

April 02, 2006

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

Jan Anderson said Allegro Pools designed and constructed the home’s pool and spa that sit perched on the canal. The outdoor kitchen comes in handy for entertaining family and friends.

Some people in Rockport can’t wait to see the inside of Jan and Jim Anderson’s home. The couple moved in about a year and a half ago after the previous owners overhauled the house.

“A lot of people in town wanted to see it after it was done,” Jan said. “There was always this curiosity about what it looked like.”

The suspense ends Saturday and Sunday when the Andersons’ home on Lakeview Drive opens to the public for the 17th annual Rockport Art Association, Inc.

The tour features six homes and a trawler. Proceeds from the tour will go to the Rockport Center for the Arts.

The Andersons gave up their New Orleans colonial-style home of 22 years in Corpus Christi after Jim took fly-fishing lessons in Rockport. Visits to the small town with big charm eventually hooked the couple, plus it was time for the empty nesters to start the next phase of their lives.

“We were ready for a change and new scenery,” Jan said. “And this really was the best way to do it because we didn’t have to give up much of what we had.”

The only thing the co-owners of a construction company Haas-Anderson had to sacrifice was commuting to Corpus Christi for work, but it’s a small price to pay for living by the water.

Ideal wall colors, slate and red oak floors, guest quarters, an open floor plan and a swimming pool oasis made the home move-in ready.

“I walked in the front door and knew this was it. This is me,” Jan said. “Both of us knew it was meant for us.”

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

A sitting area in the upstairs master suite provides a cozy spot for reading. The colorful artwork near the four-post rattan-style bed is by Bro. Cletus Behlmann, the art center director at St. Mary’s University. Behlmann is Jan’s favorite artist and several of his works are displayed in the house.

Gold and green tone wall colors in faux finishes make up the four-bedroom, six-bathroom home scheme. The color palette worked with the Andersons’ traditional taste and love for antique furniture.

A distressed alderwood front door from Puertas! opens to the first floor of the home reserved for overnight stays from family and friends. The space allows guests to make themselves at home with a semi-full kitchen in an open living area with access to a flagstone patio and pool.

Green slate floors complement the khaki walls and cream trim downstairs. A round teak wood dining table, a rattan sofa with matching accent chairs and a zebra print oversized ottoman from Reno fill the living space.

The living area and one of the guest bedrooms offer access to the patio where a flagstone pool and spa and outdoor kitchen draws guests’ attention.

“In the summertime, I can spend three hours in the pool,” Jan said.

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

Arches soften the edges of the flagstone patio and hard lines of the swimming pool. Water fountains around the edges pour into the pool, while contemporary fountain vessels add a decorative touch to the scene.

Resort living

Near the front door, a wrought iron banister leads upstairs to the Anderson’s main living area where red oak floors spread throughout the kitchen, living and dining space.

Knotted cherry cabinets and forest green granite counters decorate the kitchen. A gas-top island offers extra sitting space on handmade wood stools from Sinton.

“When you’re in the kitchen, people can be right with you,” Jan said.

Guests can relax on the tractor-seat modeled bar stools, dine or chat at one of the wood dining tables or lounge in the distressed tan leather sofa in the living room.

Wherever guests sit, a view of the canal is just a few steps away from the row of five fixed windows.

Art from Jan’s travels to Mexico lines the hallway between another guest bedroom and the master suite.

Rattan-style furniture from Buddy Walker in the master suite continues the home’s Mediterranean style. An abstract quilt with orange, gray and ivory colors made by Jan’s mother covers the four-post bed.

Soothing green faux-finished walls pick up the green palm trees seen through the windows that overlook the canal.

“We feel like we live on a permanent resort. All of our friends say when they come over, ‘OK, we’re at the resort now,” Jan said.