about me.  
I am a retired career federal agent with a very strong creative side.

​I created The Bella Rustica Design Studio in 2008 after appearing in a national design magazine and have been in business ever since.  

​I began my law enforcement career in 1987 training at The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in south coastal Georgia and ended my career at the same place as a forensic science instructor.  

​Prior to that, I lived many years in San Francisco and San Diego;  I graduated from San Francisco State University + the University  of Florence, Italy.

After retirement, I combined my creative skills with real estate + interior design.

I bought, re-modeled and have sold six of my personal homes in ten years; each home has been featured in several national design magazines and a book - Small Homes, Big Appeal - The Luxury of Less (2023):

Country Living magazine; This Old House magazine; Country Home magazine; Better Homes & Gardens (BHG) magazine; BHG Kitchen & Bath Makeovers; Modern Farmhouse magazine; Vintage Style magazine; Golden Isles Living magazine + Elegant Island Living magazine. 

Through the years I have assisted countless others to both find a place to call home and design it within their budget and with their own signature - often discovering + defining that along the way.

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Training for ship board entry after 9/11.

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a life of service.

Moose snacking leaves at the barn gutter

I volunteer at the Highland Lake barn & The Backpack Program (feeding food insecure children) thru St Johns of the Wilderness, Flat Rock.

​I am also the owner of 8 rescue dogs through the years & a proud foster failure twice. 

Sugar, my 'rescue' pup, at the ready, for fetching in the creek.

State of North Carolina, Real Estate Commission No. 338445
​ State of Georgia,  Real Estate Commission No. 376523
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