Almost three decades ago, Jenny and Andy Dabbs met at University Medical Center in Jackson, where she was a registered nurse, and he was in his residency for general surgery. The couple fell in love and married, and after having their first child, they moved to Jenny’s hometown of Philadelphia to raise their family. When their children were young, Jenny retired from nursing to embrace her creative side and opened The Potting Shed, a small garden shop in a historic home. She ran the retail shop for over 10 years before relocating her business to ASJ in Jackson. She began focusing on the design/ build sector and eventually established her studio and warehouse in Philadelphia in 2021, renamed JDabbs Designs. Today, the studio and retail space is in the renovated Busy Bee Café downtown, filled with beautiful furnishings and accessories.
Finding she needed even more space, Jenny discovered a nearby abandoned Western Auto filled with crumbling bricks and rotting wood and faced the challenge of creating a modern warehouse space showcasing the business’s larger furnishings. “We are a full-scale, high-end retail and design shop in Philadelphia. Odd, but it works!” she adds. We are always there with a song in the air, dance on the floor, and wine in the back!”
Their home was built in 1973 and renovated in 2003. They raised their two children in the classic residence located in a historic neighborhood in town. “We lived in the neighborhood where I grew up. We rode bikes and had cookouts with friends—all the things that make neighbors feel like family,” Jenny notes. It was a beautiful home with light-filled spaces designed in an East Coast cottage style.
For years, the couple dreamed of building on a farm on the outskirts of town. They were weeks away from beginning construction on their dream home when Jenny received a call about a house going on the market. It was a rustic lodge on a sprawling 10-acre property on a lake, but it was the complete opposite of her classic, historic style. She laughs, “Long story short, we bought it!”
Throughout her career, Jenny was personal friends with the builder and recognized his standards and phenomenal work, so she knew the quality of the home they were purchasing. She accepted the challenge to embrace the beauty in the home while dreaming up plans to reinvent the spaces into ones that suited her specific tastes. She aimed to create a comfortable yet elegant twist on a lake house. The designer stayed true to herself throughout the process and began nonnegotiable lists, including brightening the dark spaces, covering brick floors, and inserting a modern edge to offset the rustic bones. Antique wide-plank oak flooring now covers the brick in the kitchen and sunroom, while classic black and white marble was installed in the back foyer. The heavy wooden stair rail was replaced with modern glass. The screen porch and outdoor kitchen were reimagined as a glassed-in den that features stunning views of the backyard and lake. The bathrooms were taken down to the studs and refilled with crocodile wallpapers, crystal chandeliers, modern art, and old English antique wood carvings. In the kitchen, Jenny replaced countertops, painted brick walls, and added lighting that sparkles, again juxtaposing modern flair with the rustic wood walls and beams. “My biggest joy in design is when people say, ‘Wow, I didn’t expect that, but it is so pretty,’” she smiles. “I changed everything I could and left everything I should.”
What exists now is a modern lodge with characteristics of a classic Southern home. With exterior features such as large beams from an old warehouse in Boston and stained cedar siding, the style exudes a vibe more likely found in Montana. Still, Jenny transformed the property into a true Southern oasis. The land was originally deeply wooded, and she cleared spaces in the yard to install 400 azaleas, 250 hydrangeas, and 17,000 daffodils, all of which accent the patios, pool, boathouse, and cabana.
Indoors, the 8,000-square-foot home features six bedrooms and five baths. The spacious downstairs living area is fresh and current, showcasing a masculine, rustic style. The dark, moody dining room features pieces Jenny has gathered from travels all over the country. Trips to Round Top, Texas, brought forth a 12-foot antique English sideboard and a towering iron mirror from a monastery in Belgium, both pieces that tell a story about the Dabbs family’s life and style. The keeping room adjacent to the kitchen is a daily gathering spot. The custom banquette feels like a lounge-like sectional and is situated around a small dining table. Jenny and Andy kept their home in town, and its furnishings remained there, so Jenny was able to methodically and carefully fill the new home with pieces scaled and styled for each space. “We have very meaningful pieces here—my piano, my children’s first and last sports uniforms framed, and my dad’s original albums from high school,” Jenny notes. “The things that mean nothing to anyone but us. They make the house our home.” Two master suites upstairs serve as spaces for the children: Grace, 25, in nurse practitioner school, and Henry, 21, a junior at Mississippi State. The den is a nod to their daughter, a former SEC athlete who played softball at Mississippi State, and features a vintage scoreboard from the 1950s. Steps down from the den is a game room, the only space in the house not touched by a paintbrush. Jenny spared the space as a request from her son, an avid outdoorsman, to be outfitted as a Delta hunting lodge filled with trophies from his hunts.
“Even though it’s a new house to us, it feels like it has been our home for decades,” Jenny notes. “We love this home—it’s filled with music, friends, laughter, and dancing.” Raised by an artist and a drummer, many pieces in the home are inspired by music and the arts. Sheet music that represents her children is framed in the dining room. “Amazing Grace,” their daughter’s nickname, and “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong, the song playing in the hospital room when son Henry was born, are both beloved tunes that hold a special place in Jenny’s and Andy’s hearts and home. Contemporary paintings by such artists as Paul Edelstein and Harris Fyfe also grace the walls and bring color and movement to the spaces.
Jenny describes her style as “classic with very unexpected elements,” and she poured her personal touches into her family’s home. “I encourage my clients to be brave,” she adds. “Let’s mix it all up so the home has soul, character, and meaning.” Color and pattern offset white walls, while modern glass juxtaposes warm antiques. Her daring design talent turned a rustic lodge into a modern, Southern-style home with loads of fun and personality—one that is the perfect fit for the Dabbs family.