A life-size statue of a Great Dane sits near the top of a hill, next to a long driveway linking Greenville Road in North Smithfield to the neo-Victorian-style house above.

Another dog statue, this one holding the handle of a basket in its mouth, is perched on a stone patio next to a brick wall in a front-yard garden. The statues are a clue to the influence of canines in the design of the fanciful house with gingerbread trim and a white picket fence at 258 Greenville Rd. Owner Normand Vadenais bred Great Danes for many years.

The property is a private retreat on nearly seven acres in the woodsy Primrose section of town.

There is a shed and a fenced area built for the dogs in the backyard.

Gallery

Walk through the House of the Week

A large, freestanding three-car garage with a workshop on the second floor is to the right and front of the main house, built next to another hill.

According to the house’s listing sheet, a new owner could keep horses on the property. The garage/workshop is large enough to be converted to a number of other uses, including barn space and an art studio.

Like the main house, the garage/workshop has a Victorian façade and is painted pink with blue, buff and light pink trim.

The grounds are lush and landscaped, and a white-picket fence and gate borders the front yard. A good part of the 6.9-acre lot appears to be wooded.

A brick wall runs along one side of the garden near the large garage/workshop building. Stone steps built into the rising ground lead up to the workshop on the second floor.

Vadenais said he personally made the custom millwork for the exterior and interior of the house in the shop.

When Vadenais expanded the original house and changed its exterior façade in 1995, he dedicated spaces for his dogs, both inside the main house and in the backyard. A large room with a tiled floor and a sink was the dogs’ indoor space.

Although the main house has 2,591 square feet of living space, it has only two bedrooms, including a spacious master suite, but a new owner could transform the dog-grooming room into another bedroom.

The expansion included the addition of a large master bedroom suite with a cathedral ceiling. The suite encompasses the entire second floor of the house.

The suite includes a large sitting area in the turreted section of the room, which also includes French doors that lead to a small balcony, and cathedral-style windows.

This part of the room has an even higher ceiling, and a chandelier hangs from a ceiling medallion decorated with blond cherubs.

A rectangular Tiffany-style window is above the bed.

The master suite also includes a full bathroom with a corner jetted tub underneath windows with views of the backyard. The bathroom also has a separate walk-in shower.

The master suite also includes a large walk-in closet and a mirrored vanity area.

In addition to the tiled dog room, the downstairs has a kitchen, a mudroom, a large living/family room, a laundry room, the second bedroom and another full bathroom.

The eat-in kitchen has a neutral off-white tiled floor, pine cabinets and pine paneling along the pitched ceiling. There is seating, storage and extra work space in an island counter.

The living room is carpeted and has a fireplace.

The house has private water and septic systems. There is a crawlspace underneath the original part of the house.

The original house was a small cottage/bungalow-style dwelling, and the renovation and expansion resulted in a unique style that also defies any one description — the listing sheet describes the house “type” as Victorian, Cape Cod, and Colonial.

The house at 258 Greenville Rd., North Smithfield, is priced at $499,900. Annual taxes are $4,561. For more information, contact Scott McGee at Remax Properties, (401) 639-2906. An open house will be held today, June 6, from noon to 2.How to submit a House of the Week

A different House of the Week appears each Saturday in the projoHomes section of The Providence Journal. The feature tells the story of the house and the people who have lived in it. If you would like us to consider a house for sale as a subject of this news feature, send a photo, information about the house and why it is of interest, to Christine Dunn or Andy Smith,

75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902; fax (401) 277-8250; or e-mail pjhomes@projo.com.

For more information,

call Dunn: (401) 277-7913 or Smith: (401) 277-7262.

cdunn@projo.com