Dean and Kelly Andrews’ stately home could just as easily be sitting in the south of France, but the quintessential country French style house is located in Vicksburg near Porters Chapel Road in the Woodlands subdivision.

Designed by architect Greg Roberts from Baton Rouge, the one-story home at first site gives an air of opulence, but once inside it is easy to see visitors find an inviting retreat that is relaxing and grand.

“We wanted a comfortable house because we live in every square inch. We wanted a plop-down feeling,” Kelly said.

Built 13 years ago by contractor Jesse Thomas, the ambiance of the home is due in part to some of its architectural features that were actually shipped in from France including the front, side and dining room doors of the house and the French terracotta tiles that cover a large section of the home.

“The tiles came out of an old building in France that had been torn down,” Kelly said, adding that after making it to the U.S., they were delayed in arriving at the construction site because of the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001.

Nothing was allowed to be shipped for some time, and construction on the home was delayed for six months.

Other architectural features in the home include large wooden ceiling beams from Baton Rouge and old Chicago “yard mix” brick.

Linda Lewis helped with the design plan for the house, but Kelly, being a hands-on kind of woman with an eye for detail, said she made a lot of design decisions on her own.

The wide entryway, loggia and open floor plan of the home makes the Andrews’ home an ideal location to host parties, of which they have had too many to even count, but she did recall the largest gathering was an engagement announcement party.

Kelly said she and Dean, who both grew up in Vicksburg, enjoy entertaining, and one of their favorite parties to host is held annually during the holidays.

“We always love entertaining on Christmas Eve, and you know me, anybody can come to my house, and I don’t care, the more the merrier,” Kelly laughed.

All of the couple’s parties flow outdoors onto their massive outdoor living space, which has a built-in grill and wood burning fireplace — an area of the home that Kelly said, “we live in.”

Landscape architect for the Andrews’ home was Clinton Streeter from Madison. Streeter is associated with Martinson’s Garden Works in Ridgeland and has been featured in magazines and newspapers.

If there is one word to describe the Andrews’ home, it would have to be collections.

Kelly has amassed all kinds of collections from majolica pottery to artwork to Staffordshire ceramics to Herend figurines.

“I have been collecting majolica for 27 years, and I have it everywhere,” Kelly said.

Majolica is 19th century earthenware modeled in naturalistic shapes and is tin-glazed with lively colors. It is all the colors in the pottery that Kelly said she loves.

Kelly said before moving into their home, she and Dean, who is an attorney in Vicksburg, lived in the Audubon subdivision located near their current home.

“We just love this area of town.”

It took 17 months for the construction to be finalized on the house and during that time the couple shopped in Atlanta, Dallas and New Orleans for furnishings and accessories for the home.

Paintings were collected from the Bryant and Sutton art galleries in New Orleans, Browns Fine Art and Framing in Jackson and the Attic Gallery in Vicksburg, Kelly said, adding that she is partial to oil paintings and scenes.

Kelly said they also frequented antique stores to help add to their collections.

“Dean likes goodies too.”

One of the couple’s more unique pieces in the home is a cow head which is affixed to the vent hood in Kelly’s kitchen.

Kelly said she had seen the head, which would have typically hung outside a butcher shop, while shopping in Dallas one year.

“Dean would not let me buy it,” she said, but after returning to the city the following year, the cow head was still there at half price giving a go-ahead to purchase.

“I thought if the head was still there, it must have been meant to be, and I’m getting it.”

Not only have Dean and Kelly been generous with their home by sharing it with family and friends, it has also been a home where pets are welcome. They are her children Kelly said and at one time, the couple had four canines residing in their home.

The attachment to her dogs is obvious, because when asked about her previous pets who were a beloved corgie and two “Lake Bruin” terriers, the couple owned, Kelly just waves her hand and says it is just tooo hard to talk about them.

Currently Dean and Kelly have one beautiful yellow Labrador retriever by the name of Sophie.