A DREAM COME TRUE

For 20 years, longtime Burlington City residents Derrick Owings and his wife, Nancy Collier, lived in a contemporary townhouse a half-mile from the Delaware River.

They enjoyed walking the promenade and admiring old homes nearby, including a brick twin with a century-old boxwood hedge bordering the long side yard. When they met one of the home’s owners, they asked him to let them know if he was ever interested in selling.

In 2019, he finally was. Owings and Collier bought the three-story, three-bedroom, 1½-bath house. Now, they get to enjoy the river views even closer to home.

“Sunsets are beautiful,” Owings said.

The twin, which was built in 1810, had been modernized, but the wide-planked pine floors and federal-style mantle in the living room had been preserved.

Owings and Collier installed ceiling medallions in the living and dining rooms and white quartz countertops in the kitchen. They replaced the bathroom tub with a shower. The third floor was turned into a playroom for visiting grandchildren.

Outdoor areas required more work. Instead of a secret garden behind the tall, dense boxwood, there was just ragged lawn. The backyard was also barren, save for a brick path.

Collier and Owings had cultivated a small garden at their former home. After the pandemic hit in 2020, the two retired teachers were up to the challenge of landscaping the 20-by-70-foot side yard and the slightly smaller backyard. “We had nothing else to do,” Collier said.

At the shady end of the side yard, with the boxwood hedge as a backdrop, the couple created a meditative space with a stone angel and bench, surrounded with ferns and hostas. A stone planter now filled with geraniums came from a nearby retirement home that was closing.

“They said ‘If you can move it, you can have it,’” Collier remembered.

Slate pavers were from a neighbor who purchased too many for his yard. Other pavers were from the grounds of the Burlington Quaker Meeting House.

A stone child’s head was found in a local antique store, and Collier purchased a sculpture of a young girl holding two bowls like the one in the film Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Owings crafted two cylindrical fountains in the side yard. The water attracts birds, as well as opossums and raccoons and sometimes a skunk, he said.

The backyard is planted with bleeding hearts, spirea, coral bells, crepe myrtle, day lilies, feathery red astilbe, blue hydrangea, and other perennials. “We let plants tell us what doesn’t do well,” Collier said. She planted pink Joe Pye weed and two kinds of milkweed to attract butterflies.

Collier and Owings have converted the area behind their home into outdoor living and dining rooms with cushioned rattan sofas and a table and chairs from Rattan Patio & Fireplace Shoppe in Burlington. The store also supplied the gas-fueled fire pits. Blue umbrellas were ordered from Amazon. Justin Smith of Cutting Edge Construction Services in Burlington built the gray-stained deck.

A wrought iron gate with a pineapple motif under an arbor divides the backyard.

The arbor is inscribed “At Last” in English on one side and “Just for fun” on the other side in Italian, Collier said. Etta James’ rendition of “At Last” was the song she and Owings chose for their wedding dance.

They married in 2004 after being together for seven years. The couple had both been married before, and each have two children. They met teaching at Northern Burlington Middle School. Collier retired from Northern Burlington. After a year at the middle school, Owings returned to high school teaching. He retired from Cherry Hill High School West.

Beyond the arbor is a potting shed covered with a screen to protect it from falling leaves of a huge holly tree as old as the boxwood.

By the maroon front door, there is a pot of red zinnias. A bed lined with Belgian block is planted with dwarf boxwood and barberry shrubs.

A sign below a first-floor window reads “Boxwood House, Circa 1810.” It was, after all, the handsome evergreen hedge that drew Owings and Collier to the home years ago.

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