Haven: Imagination creates glowing villa

When he was growing up in Wyndmoor, Jeffrey Dean Soulges would pass a brick-trimmed white stucco house that intrigued him.

He knew it was a dentist's office, and that was about all he knew.

"But I did admire the house, even all those years ago," said Soulges, who is now 53.

After graduating from Vassar as an English major, he studied design at the University of the Arts and Drexel University and found his real calling. Today, the interior designer lives in that circa 1890 house with his husband, Stephen Rene Freret, 42, a graduate of Mississippi State University and an architect working at Gensler in Philadelphia as a project manager.

When the couple bought the house in 2003, it was in rough shape and definitely qualified as a fixer-upper. But with their complementary talents, Soulges and Freret believed instinctively - and professionally - that they had found a treasure.

Their hope - and that hunch - has been validated in the house they affectionately call "The Villa," which bears evidence of their signature talents.

Rooms glow with color and texture, walls and floors in some rooms might indeed be like those found in European villas, and furnishings and accessories often change with the seasons, a feat Soulges navigates.

The home has taken on even deeper significance since Soulges and Freret had their wedding reception there in May.

"This is definitely a home for all seasons," says Soulges, whose passion for design has found a perfect outlet.

The three-story house shows not a trace of its dental-office past - proof that soaring imaginations and daring can combine to create a home that makes jaws drop.

In the front foyer, scarlet walls, a grand staircase, and wood floors redone in a parquet pattern set the tone for what's ahead.

Off the foyer is a living room bathed in a hue one sees only on those rare days when "sky blue" is a reality. Blues - pale and deeper - color several other rooms, as well, including the music room, with its handsome six-foot Yamaha piano, and the dining room, where elegance reigns.

As the seasons change, so do the window treatments and the rugs - and even the art. Works on paper make their appearance in summer; oils return when the winter winds blow.

No space is without its character and surprises, from damasks that create a 1920s Paris look and feel, to Regency stripes that might be at home in an English manse.

An upstairs bathroom has been transformed with Japanese touches accented in vivid reds and black lacquer finishes.

The master suite turns convention on its ear. Instead of soothing tones, vivid purples predominate in this sleek, contemporary area where drama is handled with taste.

And then there is Soulges' office, which stretches across the third floor. As he explains it, because this home studio also is his creative homeland, he designed it to be carefully laid out for work, but also a tad whimsical and playful. Yellow and white stripes around the perimeter suggest a joyful "big top."

The home's interior is only part of its total space. When the seasons permit, Soulges and Freret also enjoy outdoor living areas, in the form of several themed gardens sprawling over the grounds.

There are formal gardens near the front "public face" of the house, with dramatic diamond-shaped planting areas.

Proceed beyond that area and along comes an English cottage garden, complete with herbs, and a mini fruit orchard.

In other places, Japanese maples and lavenders coexist with lush flowers.

"It's all like furniture to us," says Freret, "and this is where we love to spend time."

A bee garden provides the very best honey. And at one end of the property are the resident chickens the couple are passionate about. Their "rent" is paid in plentiful eggs.

The house and gardens may cause quite a stir among visitors, who marvel at its glories. For its owners, however, it represents far more than that.

"This is truly our retreat. Everywhere we turn, there's something we can celebrate," says Freret.

"This is a place that always welcomes us back," he says. "And maybe because of the work we each do, we know just how important that welcome is."