Before and After of the Laurietta House built in 1825 in Mississippi.

When high school sweethearts Maria Teresa “Tere” and William “Mac” Thomas, married for 39 years, began searching for a getaway near their hometown of New Iberia, Louisiana, Mac, an oil executive, had a hunting camp in mind. After a broker showed him the 680-acre property with rolling, wooded hills and a three-acre lake, he loved everything … except the broken-down shell of a house that came with the parcel. “It was nothing that a match couldn’t cure,” jokes Mac. And so began what Tere calls Mac’s “gift of love,” a three-year gut renovation.

You can read more about the restoration of Laurietta and find additional information about the furnishings here: Renovating a Historic Home in Mississippi