Designer's domain: after a successful career as a fabric designer, an artist and her husband settle into a home full of creative flair.

Oxford may be changing and growing, with suburbs and condominium developments sprouting daily in all directions, but there still remains a quiet, genteel heart of the town whose character and ambience beats unaltered. When Judy and Dennis Ford decided to trade their busy Jackson lifestyle for the simpler pace of a smaller place, they looked northward to the tradition-rich university town in Lafayette County. The old streets, and many old friends, that Dennis recalled fondly from his law school days were still there. Judy, ready to explore new artistic avenues after a spectacular international career in custom painted fabric design, agreed instantly that Oxford seemed like a charming venue to start a new phase of life.

Lincoln Avenue, just off South Lamar Street, is in the heart of the "old neighborhood" and within easy walking distance of the courthouse square and the Ole Miss campus. When the Fords saw the pretty white cottage near the end of the street, they knew instantly that it was exactly the house they were looking for. A few phone calls later, it was theirs, and the adventure of renovation began.

It turned out not to be a renovation at all, in the end. Upon closer inspection, the 1930s-era clapboard house had some serious structural issues that would complicate the planned additions. Disappointed but undaunted, they decided to heed their contractor's and architect's advice and take the original structure down to the ground and begin all over again.

Sam Coker, AIA, took precise measurements before the house came down and designed a facade that was identical to that of the old house. Inside, while they did pay homage to the original floorplan, a bit of artistic license was used, eventually expanding the original 1,100 square feet to more than triple that. The staircase was moved to the new back hall, and the tiny galley kitchen became a much larger, open workspace. The dark, utilitarian basement became a spacious office/den/retreat for Dennis (and, often, for the couple's two energetic little dogs).

"We wanted to retain the simple cottage quality of the house," says Judy, who worked with dear friend and interior designer Michael Grogan to fill the rooms with art, color, and family antiques. "The house had a character we wanted to preserve."

The front door opens to what was originally a small parlor but is now recast as what might be called a reception hall. Painted a soft spring-like lettuce green, it is warmed by a working fireplace whose overmantel boasts an Eleanor Greaves painting of a string of large-mouth bass and a rare pair of Grogan's trademark Star Boxes, the "Black Angels"--rare because anyone familiar with his work knows that Michael won't often duplicate an effect!

Through a wide cased opening to the left is what Judy, with characteristic understatement, calls the "book room." It is a sunny space with windows on three sides, and, indeed, every square inch of its walls is covered with books--real and faux. Judy scored off "shelves" that she painted white and then filled with painted books with no titles. The titles have been added over the years as whim, family, and friends dictate: there is now The Fine Art of Raising Sons, dedicated to friends who raised five boys; Patience on Lincoln and 11th, dedicated to another couple of close friends, and Williamson Ford Smith, a tribute to the newest addition--the grandson who was "published" 20 months ago and is obviously destined to be the title character in many a sequel on these walls.

Beyond the old house's rearmost parameter, Coker designed a new sitting room with a fireplace, bookshelves, and ample conversation area. Judy's oil painting of the "Sleeping Indian," a Teton mountain ridge in their beloved Wyoming, is the centerpiece of this airy space. Through a pair of French doors, there is a sunny screened porch filled with plants and, beyond this, a cheerful deck that sees a good deal of use in pleasant weather for al fresco breakfasts and barbecues. Because the lot slopes sharply downward from the street, this deck is perched high above the side garden, giving the illusion of a mountain aerie.

On the opposite side of the house, the old dining room retained its original proportions. Here, Judy gave the walls a dramatic checkerboard treatment, painting gold squares over the deep water-green base coat. Her own "Medici" lion-motif fabric, lushly gathered in floor-length panels on either side of the windows, is lit from above by densely wound strings of twinkling lights on the curtain rods. A narrow refectory-style table beneath an extravagantly proportioned brass chandelier gives banqueting-hall dignity to what is a relatively small room. Much like the Fords' diminutive but self-important Jack Russell terrier, Thurman, it lives large.

Tucked away behind the new kitchen and beyond the staircase, the master bedroom looks out over the backyard below and on the other side opens onto the screened porch. Painted a calm, neutral taupe, it is a serene place to greet and end the days.

Judy and Dennis Ford may call this their "retirement," but by anyone's standards, these two are busier than most folks ever dream of being. Her newly embraced, highly energizing painting studies, Dennis' ongoing interest in flying and travel, and their common passion for friends, family, entertaining, and their frisky little grandboy combine to make life chez Ford an ever-changing kaleidoscope of color and adventure.