What’s all this talk about downsizing just because your kids now have families of their own? Didn’t you once plan a dream house that never got built because life happened? You might be considering a move, but not necessarily to a smaller house — think BIG!

Betty Ann and George Lennon, grandparents in their early 60s, recently moved from Yadkin Avenue, where they lived for 25 years, into a new 6,000-square-foot brick home on Marlowe Road in Raleigh’s Drewry Hills, a community of single-family homes in charmingly diverse architectural styles.

The Lennons’ $1.5 million three-story 18th century Georgian-style home sits majestically on a quiet half-acre lot beautifully landscaped by Mac Newsome AILA of Raleigh. Newsome created a lovely 18th century rear garden overlooking Crabtree Creek with brown pea gravel paths edged with old brick and trees like Japanese maple and crepe myrtle. The lot offers a spectacular view of the creek and its ever-changing scene with bluebirds and finches nesting nearby and bats frolicking in the shutters. In fact, that’s why the couple bought the lot.

“During the drought two years ago before we started building,” Betty Ann recalled, “the creek was a very small trickle. When we finally got heavy rainfall, it began to take on the character of a mountain river.” That view can be captured from the veranda, breakfast room, den, sunroom and kitchen.

The home is known in the building trade as an infill because there was a small house on the lot when it was purchased. The Lennons donated the house to Builders of Hope, the non-profit that rescues unwanted homes from demolition. “It allowed that home to be rehabilitated and used for generations to come,” Betty Ann said. Why build a Georgian-style home? Because that’s what the Lennons, who have been married 27 years, had been dreaming and planning for 20 years. Both history buffs with a large collection of books on historic homes, they enjoyed touring historic houses, especially Georgian homes in England and America. Several features in those houses were incorporated in George’s 20-year-old floor plan.

“In designing a house for this site, we wanted a ‘new old house’ combining the best of traditional architecture and modern convenience,” Betty Ann explained. The couple also wanted one that would be compatible with the neighborhood, in terms of style and scale.

Although Georgian houses historically have two stories, the Lennon home also has a finished basement because the lot slopes to the rear. It includes the garage as well as a game room/grandchildren’s playroom, George’s office, a workshop and appliances. An elevator that rises to the attic and 36-inch doorways make the home accessible to everyone.

The couple chose architect John Hitch AIA of Smith Sennett to design their home and showed him the 20-year-old floor plan. Hitch says it was obvious they knew what they wanted.

For example, the Lennons told him they wanted a house that would circulate without dead-end spaces. He also noticed the attention George paid to details, like using a fireplace mantel from his uncle’s house. Hitch said George specifically requested an oculus gable for the attic — “he wants to take his grandchildren up there to look out over the creek.”

George also told their builder, Sigmon Construction, that wherever possible the millwork, manufactured by Stephenson Millworks, be made in Georgian style. That, notes Sigmon’s administrative project director Dan Byrum, includes the mahogany stairway landing with wainscoting that has a custom-made plaster panel with a Georgian floral design.

The mahogany den — Betty Ann calls it George’s funky room — features teak and maple striped flooring resembling a ship’s deck. It is what George Lennon would call a Georgism. “This house has a lot of Georgisms,” he explains, smiling, “things other folks might not have thought of.”

Like the sailboat ceramic tiles around the dining room fireplace and custom-fabricated leaf diverter on the downspout. Also, the unusual brick pattern on the lower panel of the home’s retaining wall was copied from brick on the N.C. State Government mall. Those are all Georgisms.

The Lumberton native — now a Raleigh attorney specializing in worker’s compensation and social security disability cases — may have learned to pay attention to detail from the U.S. Navy. He served three years on active duty on a destroyer and 28 years as senior attorney in the Navy Reserve. That might also be where he got his a sense of humor. Many Georgisms in the home are whimsical, like the first-floor powder room with a lock that controls a brass sign outside its door proclaiming “vacant” or “engaged”. And in the very spacious master suite upstairs, George had a urinal installed in HIS bathroom. Actually the suite has two completely separate his-and-her bathrooms (HERS includes a Bain Ultra-Air Jet) divided by a roomy shared shower and two walk-in closets, the larger of which is hers. That’s okay with George. “I don’t have to compete with cosmetics and hair stuff,” he quips. “Men are really simple creatures; it’s the women who complicate.”

Really? There’s nothing complicated about the Lennons’ stunning but very functional red oak kitchen and breakfast room which Betty Ann — gourmet cook, former caterer and cuisine student — created, designed and adores.

The massive island (11 feet by 45 inches) as well as the counters are topped with beautiful Italian marble and all the kitchen appliances are of professional grade, including the two dishwashers and four ovens: conventional, convectional, microwave and a warming oven. The custom walk-in pantry with its wall of spice racks would have delighted Julia herself.

It’s a big house with a huge welcoming marble foyer. Yet despite its unique features, the 6,000 square-foot structure has only three bedrooms, including the master and two guest rooms to be used by the owners’ children and four grandchildren ages 12 to 21 months), as well as out-of-town guests. “We wanted fewer but larger rooms, Betty Ann explained. George’s floor plan called for centrally located back-to-back fireplaces rather than placing them at the ends of the house, which permitted each corner room to have three large windows and additional light. It also created space for a bar and a closet for audio equipment. Each of the owners has a small office — hers is on the second floor; his is in the basement. The attic is ready for expansion.

Even though the Lennons’ Georgian home maintains historically accurate architectural features, Byrum notes it has several green features, including materials purchased locally. And in addition to being a registered and certified Energy Star structure, the house is very well insulated and soundproofed. Moreover, the exterior paneling, cornice work and moldings that resemble finely dressed wood are made from PVC material, which should permanently keep them from splitting, warping or decaying.

In other words, building this “new old house” is the process of recreating a well-crafted 250-year-old home and making it work for a modern family. As Hitch, the architect, put it, “A home like this should sit proudly on the land.”

E-mail Iris June Vinegar at irisjune11@aol.com.