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It may have taken some time, but this home now speaks volumes about its owners' Southern style.

Some houses just speak to future owners when they walk through the front door. Such was the case with this home on Champions Run Golf Course in Omaha.

“It was down the street from my parents, so we walked through it. We didn't get 10 feet in, and I whispered, ‘This is it,'” the homeowner recalls of the initial walkthrough.

His wife's reaction: “Are you kidding me? You can't do anything with this.”

The white walls and contemporary home were a striking departure from the rich and spicy Southern colors in their home at the time.

On top of that, the steep backyard wasn't conducive to adding a pool that had become a big part of their lifestyle.

“I went through endless pads of paper trying to explain what it could be,” he says. That was nearly 10 years ago, and the renovated home and backyard are everything both wanted and more.

“I have to give him full credit for this,” she says. “We walked into this stark white home. I told him this just isn't me, but he told me that it could be. He has a much better eye.

“He told me, ‘I know you're going to be happy here.' He was right.”

He credits the architecture courses he took in high school and his early college years. His dad, an architect, ‘‘taught me to look at the details, to look at something and see it not for what it was, but what it could be,” he says.

They needed to be in the home to understand how they wanted to live in it, he explains. After two years, they tackled the main level.

Warm 4-inch, wide-planked, Brazilian walnut boards replaced 1-inch, blond maple floors. The living room's fireplace was refinished and distressed for timeless warmth. She chose rich earth tones for the walls, furniture, and upholstery.

The colors are not unlike her favorite cooking spices.

“People don't think they like spicy until they come here,” she says, referencing her deep New Orleans roots. “All my good friends love to come and eat here. It's because I enjoy cooking; I just don't cook real quick unless I have to.”

Lobster boils, jambalaya and King's cake are perennial favorites. She spends a lot of time in the kitchen, cooking with signature simmering and seasoning methods.

In the old kitchen, her back was to the sweeping golf course views. A wall separated the kitchen from the informal dining and hearth area.

“We completely turned around the kitchen flow. We removed the kitchen wall so she could feel like she was standing at the window looking out at the golf course,” he explains.

Having the right equipment makes all the difference, she says. A six-burner Thermador range and double ovens are her mainstays inside. Outside, several charcoal and gas grills provide the appropriate cooking assist.

For five more years, the couple dreamed about how they would resculpt the backyard to include more entertaining space, a pool, and an outdoor fireplace.

“I promised her a pool when we moved here. It took seven years,” he says. “I used to stand on the back porch, looking out. She'd ask me what I was staring at, and I would say I was working on the pool.”

When he finally pulled the trigger, they had to work within a very tight deadline.

“We had Archistructure as our general contractor, and they worked with New Wave Pools. They started on May 1, and the Cox Classic Golf Tournament was coming,” he says. “We were using part of the area they would need for the tournament to stage our worksite materials. We promised Bob Horgan (managing partner of Champions Run) that it would be resodded and repaired before the tournament began.

“I have never seen anyone work so hard. They turned on the lights and worked into the night many days in a row.”

The oddly shaped lot and aggressive slope (an 8-foot drop over 45 degrees) required taking dirt from one side to build up the other. A retaining wall was added, the back of the house was resided, and the house got a new roof, soffits and gutters.

The pool gate that opens to the course serves as an entrance to golf friends who know where to find the refrigerator. If they are lucky, the homeowners say, they might even catch dinner.

“My mom always had people over every weekend around the pool with plenty of food,” she adds.

The home and backyard reflect a relaxed Southern comfort that comes from mixing family, friends, food, and fun.

“People ask us where we go on vacation,” he says. “I tell them our vacation is in the backyard every day. We enjoy it year-round.”

Cox Classic

July 25-August 1

Champions Run Golf Course

The 15th annual golf tournament is a premier stop on the Nationwide Tour and one of three tours sanctioned by the PGA. Top-flight golfers participate in this event, which has raised more than $1.6 million for local charities. First round of tournament play starts July 29; tee off is at 7:15 a.m. www.coxclassic.com