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The Meybohms
photography by steve bracci
Walking up the sidewalk on Meigs Street, it’s impossible to miss the bedecked stucco home with French doors opening to wrought-iron laced balconies. A quirky iron fence artfully outlines the landscaping, from which the splitter-splatter of a fountain bubbles. An evergreen wreath on an ample red velvet ribbon festively hangs on each window. More evergreen in bountiful swags adorned with red velvet bows enticingly loops along the balconies and the wonderful fence. It’s more than tempting to swing open the gate and rush eagerly to the door.
Walking up the sidewalk on Meigs Street, it’s impossible to miss the bedecked stucco home with French doors opening to wrought-iron laced balconies. A quirky iron fence artfully outlines the landscaping, from which the splitter-splatter of a fountain bubbles. An evergreen wreath on an ample red velvet ribbon festively hangs on each window. More evergreen in bountiful swags adorned with red velvet bows enticingly loops along the balconies and the wonderful fence. It’s more than tempting to swing open the gate and rush eagerly to the door.
Inside, the enchantment of Christmas palpably fills the five senses of all who cross the threshold, whether child or adult. Vintage Santa ornaments and figurines in classic red-and-white peer down from behind the glass panes of Sandi and Bobby Meybohm’s kitchen cabinets. Light from the kitchen window dances across the dazzling honey onyx on the central island. The warm gold and amber tones fingering through the rock slab brilliantly imitate a Texas sunset aflame on a distant, imaginary horizon. Mark Roberts elves keep watch from their dizzying perch on the mantel above the range, while the graceful arms of a crystal chandelier cradle a wreath of fresh rosemary, pinecones and holly berries. A hedge of rosemary and holly sprigs in an assortment of bud vases stands along the window ledge above the sink.
From the front entryway to the living room and beyond, a wonderland of holiday finery is a treat for the eyes and a delight to the heart.
The merry gazes of those Santas and elves hovering over this domain hint that they have been part and parcel not just to this yuletide, but to many Christmases past, as well. They hold positions of seniority over the festive season, knowing that ribbons and bows and balls and boxes will come and go; they however will be steadfast treasures for years and years hence. Many in fact stood witness to the debacle several Christmases yore that initiated the Meybohm Christmas as it is now.
Sandi recalls the lovely 10 foot evergreen she picked out that fateful December—every side a good side—having it delivered to her house and placed in the perfect corner. Its glorious aroma swallowed up any hint of pumpkin spice remaining from Thanksgiving. She invested in colorful glass balls—blues, greens, pinks, reds—in a variety of sizes. Until two a.m. she worked on that tree, her long, slender fingers nimbly delivering it from fresh-faced forestry to Christmas fantasy. Finally satisfied, she retired until dawn.
The Meybohms’ stucco house on Meigs (above), generously bedecked evergreen swags, wreaths and yards of velvet ribbon, is the very essence of Christmas.
In those few brief hours of blissful ignorance, dreams of a perfect holiday season pleasantly washing away any anxieties, she slept, unaware of the debacle unfolding across her living room floor. The next morning, leaving for a business trip, she glanced back over her shoulder at the monstrosity of branches and shattered glass tragically and broadly splayed in a glittering mess. Turning away and walking out, she closed the door on it and on ever decorating another live tree.
“Now I use only pencil trees that are artificial and manageable,” she says. This change in her approach to decorating, resulting in numerous Christmas trees displayed throughout her home in a range of heights and themes, is more in keeping with her penchant for layers and color and surprise in her decorating flare. “I have to live in color,” explains Sandi. “I do it with wall color. I do it with fabrics. I do it with my Christmas trees.” In the living room alone there are seven—one parading her cherished collection of Annalee angels, another topped with a generous red bow and hosting sparkling gold grape vine entwined among the branches, still another with delicate butterflies alight. As in every room of her house, the decorations on the trees are unique to each one, but all the trees share the privilege of reflecting the colors present in the room—a red leather sofa, gold silk upholstery on a pair of French chairs, the roadwork of green meandering through the rug.
Built in 1987 in the transitional modern style by architect John Sandeford to be his personal home, the original portion of the Meigs Street house speaks as much to Sandi and Bobby Meybohm’s tastes as it did to Sandeford’s. From the living room doorway the eye can travel to the bar, past the dainty Christmas tree adorned with darling wine bottle ornaments and iridescent grapes, and beyond to the oil painting hanging on the powder room wall. Holiday music and scents of evergreen and cinnamon flow easily in and out and about the adjacent living room and dining room, separated by a partial wall, making the heart of the home perfect for seamless entertaining—a shared joy of both the Meybohms and Sandeford.
Sandeford, who passed away about a decade ago, graduated from Georgia Tech and moved to Augusta to begin his career in architecture. Specializing in residential design work, for several years he partnered with fellow architect Jim Webb. Although Sandeford’s design style is characterized by telling features, very little information is written and recorded about the professional impact he had on the face of the CSRA.
As with every room in the house, the trees and decorations in the living room reflect the room’s colors—a red leather sofa, gold silk upholstered French chairs and the roadwork of green meandering through the rug.
An examination of examples of his work, however, reveals that he had a penchant for traditional lines and elements punctuated by contemporary components. He emphasized doors and, in particular, front doors. As the welcoming point for all visitors to a home, he believed they should be obvious and impressive. He is also known for wide casings and unique moldings on the interiors of homes he built. More than that, however, a Sandeford house will always be a model of proportion. Room length to window height to door width was carefully considered to avoid a sensation of disjointedness or architectural features out of relationship with each other. Such attention to detail leads to comfortable, unpretentious spaces.
“We loved the house as he designed it for himself,” says Sandi. In keeping with their appreciation of the past and its influence on the present, the Meybohms changed only wall colors and updated the kitchen when they moved in six years ago. The grass-cloth wallpaper in the foyer and along the stairs leading to the second floor remains the same as when Sandeford owned the house, as does all of the unpainted woodwork.
Jimmy Garren, of Garren Construction, knew Sandeford both professionally and personally. He says of Sandeford, “He had a great artistic eye.” Though expressed in her own unique way on different types of canvases, this “artistic eye,” along with a bent to enjoy the company of others amidst its product, is something Sandi shares with her predecessor. And as Sandeford intended, guests never experience difficulty finding their way into the heart of his home. “He loved his house. He took great joy in everything about it. It was built to entertain friends,” says Garren.
Sandi and Bobby carry on that tradition. “What happens to us every year is we get the house decorated and then we start thinking about people we’d like to have over,” says Sandi. Over time she has collected all of the implements of a well-dressed table: linen tablecloths, angel bud vases, silver trays, monogrammed napkins, green Lenox glasses, dinner plates with gold edging, star-shaped bread and butter dishes and the list goes on to set an elegant table.
As much as she loves the old, admitting, “I treasure things. I keep things forever” (she, in fact, still owns her junior varsity cheerleading sweater), Sandi also embraces the new, and her mind never stops working out ideas. She and Bobby, wishing to expand their living and storage space, completed an addition to the home a little more than four years ago, in July 2008. With a courtyard between the original structure and the addition, the new square footage mimics the rectangular footprint of the old and connects on the backside of the house via a sunny glassed room that provides dual views of the courtyard in one direction and the pool paradise in the other.
A centerpiece of fresh greenery contrasts dramatically with the dining room’s varnished red walls. A sparkling array of exquisite tableware, monogrammed linens and gold angel bud vases set a beautiful table, made all the more spectacular when mirrored on either end of the room.
Upstairs, the addition includes a master suite, an office and his-and-her closets. Sandi’s immaculately organized closet is an expansive 26-by-30 feet. Cabinets with glass paneled doors allow for easy viewing of contents and drawers, each built with a specific storage need in mind, keep out clutter. Custom-designed hardware, each pull is different from every other, again reflects Sandi’s desire for color and surprise. Downstairs, the garage and the pool room, glassed on two walls with a walk-out to the outdoor kitchen, complete the added space. Complementary balconies overlooking the courtyard and the driveway tie together the exterior facades.
In the downstairs pool room, along with a fruit-bearing orange tree posing with Annalee ornaments, are the “family and friends” Christmas trees Sandi put together last year. Having saved invitations and holiday greeting cards from year to year, she struggled with what to do with them. Finally she arrived at an ingenious solution. First she separated the Christmas cards into sets for each person or family. Once divided, she punched a hole in all of the cards of each set and secured them together with a ribbon, then tied them to the tree. She also punched holes in past party invitations and tied them with ribbons to the trees. This simple idea brings mementos out of boxes into the everyday of the season. Flipping through the galleries of cards, Sandi and Bobby and their visitors can appreciate the passage of time.
Every year, Sandi spends about nine days in November preparing their house for the holidays. Organization is the means to getting it done; not in putting everything up now, but in putting it away after New Year’s. She advises, “Label, organize, plan so that when you’re ready to bring things out the following year, it’s really a piece of cake.” Bobby helps take out all of the boxes and bags and Sandi handles the details and the baubles. Despite her meticulous organization and labeling from year to year, Sandi isn’t one to stick to mundane routines. She makes changes each year to keep her décor fresh and interesting. Guests can always expect to see a new twist on old collections.
“You never finish,” she says with a smile. After Thanksgiving, Bobby hangs the wreaths on the windows outside and drapes the garland and lights along the fence perimeter. But the best day of all, says Sandi, is the one when she and Bobby hop in the car and go on their annual hunt for fresh greenery. As much as she touts the benefits of artificial trees, Sandi emphasizes the importance of adding natural touches. Sprays of holly, cedar, rosemary, Leyland cypress, magnolia and other indigenous evergreens lend their stratum of fragrance and tradition to every room. “When you put that fresh greenery in the container, that’s what seals the deal,” she says.
The gorgeous centerpiece of rosemary and holly on the dining room table concurs, contrasting dramatically with the stunning varnished red walls, which in turn set off the richly patinaed paneling. Gold angel bud vases offer up white camellias to diners. Apples, pears, pomegranates and grapes coated with a sugary sparkle dance on a pair of trees flanking the buffet. Gold rimmed dishes and monogrammed linen napkins from Sandi and Bobby’s wedding at the Breakers set a beautiful table among small white candles. Mirrors on either end of the room multiply the sparkle.
Don’t let the lush garlands and bows, in a spectrum of reds from pink to amber and a rainbow of greens from chartreuse to Kelly, or the poinsettias generously distributed throughout the house, from the front door to the back deck, fool you. Children and their marvelous fascination with symbols of the season are not forgotten. Sandi decorates a tree for each of the grandchildren, making it a spotlight of that individual child’s interests. In the sunroom, a receiving line of Annalee free-standing figures, at conversational height, greets young guests. The Annalees invite secret whispered conversations between themselves and little ones.
“Most of these are just made of memories,” says Sandi, glancing around the room from the Fitz Floyd ornament tree to the drummer boy tree to the Mark Roberts elves playing a xylophone. Christmas has commandeered every nook. Her attention lands on a tree outfitted in delightful, reflective glass balls in purple, pinks, greens, blues and reds; these are what remain of the 10-foot disaster that started it all. In a flash of days, all that will remain of this Christmas, like all the others, is a memory. One can’t help but get the impression, however, that somehow it will be preserved in Christmases to come.
This article appears in the November – December 2012 issue of Augusta Magazine
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