The couple first met in the 1980s, outside a Saint John nightclub. He walked her home, they fell for each other, and got engaged. But he worked too much, so she broke it off. She spent most of the next 30 years working overseas as a nurse while he ran shipbuilding projects in Canada and beyond.

To the left of the front door is a brass plaque: “On this site in 1897, nothing happened.” This bit of humour, installed by a previous owner, retained by the current ones, sends a signal: the people who live here don’t take themselves too seriously.

Set in the cobblestones outside the front steps of this Saint John, N.B. brownstone is a brick carved with “M & M, 12-15.”

Through the small front entryway and into the hallway, a lush, floor-to-ceiling wallpaper mural of branches and birds draws the eye.

The main bath features a Victorian claw-foot tub just like the one the couple enjoyed in a London hotel room.

Jakobsen added a subtle Middle-Eastern touch via arabesque tiles in Carrara marble on the floor.

The narrow Germain Street house isn’t the first the couple owned together. When the couple was engaged the first time, they bought an old shipbuilder’s mansion on the city’s west side.

A wide entryway between the kitchen and living room allows both spaces to share natural light.

A wide entryway between the kitchen and living room allows both spaces to share natural light.

“That’s Maria Theresa,” Jakobsen says, pointing up at the tiered crystal chandelier in the living room, its sparkle multiplied in mirrored panels on the wall, bordered by trim that picks up the original gridded ceiling moulding.

A rug becomes wall art and a well-placed mirror adds sparkle to the basement Arabian-inspired oasis.