There are toggle-style light switches, tons of paneling, and even a detached garage. 'The spaces all flow so well,' says DeBriere.

A wide central hallway stretches from the front to the back with lots of rooms branching from it.

The couple was adamant about forgoing a contemporary open floor plan to keep the house in character. The house would need a painted-wood exterior, a 360-degree continuous porch, and a standing-seam metal roof with cupolas and clerestories on top (another convincing nod to a time before air-conditioning). They collaborated on the Florida Cracker-style home, an architectural form popular in the 19th century, that the couple envisioned. The busy attorneys and new parents to daughter Ruth Anne pulled together a local team to guide them: architect William Leuthold, interior designer Stephanie Jarvis, landscape designer Jamie Ross, and builder Matt Carlton. Hector Manuel Sanchez Styling: Barbara Schmidt Soon after, they bought the lot and committed to building the closest thing to an old home. Our long-term plan was to buy something old and renovate it, but here was this piece of land on the river.' It was also close to family, and they were already in the neighborhood. 'And I like the way they smell and the wood floors. 'My husband grew up in historic houses,' says DeBriere. 'I immediately exclaimed, 'This is perfect! Why didn't you say anything before?''īut there was one problem with building a new house: They love homes with soul. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida, when Pajcic casually mentioned, 'There is that pretty land at the end of the block for sale.' 'I had no idea what he was talking about, but we got up right then and walked down there,' DeBriere says. They were debating whether to move out of their historic 1,500-square-foot farmhouse in Avondale, a quaint neighborhood along the St. One evening, new parents Michael Pajcic and Katy Debriere sat on their sofa amid an explosion of baby gear.

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