People take various routes to the Stuart area, but few have had a more interesting itinerary than Christine and Joe Abbott. He was born in Ireland. She was born in Scotland but taught school in Ireland. But they didn't meet there. They met in Gibraltar, the British enclave surrounded by Spain at the narrow entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. They lived there for several years and built a successful real estate and development business in nearby resort regions of Spain.

“I was in the Royal Navy and stationed in Gibraltar,” said Joe Abbott, whose full name is John Joseph Abbott. “We met at a dance.”

The former Christine Adams was the daughter of Gibraltar's chief of police, who raised her with a strict ethic. “Always remember you're an Adams,” she recalled him saying to her. Growing up above the Mediterranean Sea was a return to her roots - well, sort of. She was only born in Scotland because her mother was sent there to avoid danger during World War II, when Gibraltar was the gateway to war in the Mediterranean. After the war, the family returned, Christine to a multicultural experience.

“I had an Italian grandfather,” she said. “And I grew up speaking Spanish at home and English at school.”

Their business was located on Costa del Sol, a favorite second home location for Europeans. The business was vertically integrated. They were a large real estate company, but they were also in construction, as well as furnishing and decorating. Although this is their first year in Stuart, they are already in the process of expanding their Patio & Pool Showroom, this month adding a 1,000-squarefoot interior design division adjacent to the store on Indian Street, not far from Kanner Highway.

“In Spain, our customers were able to deal with one person all the way through the process,” Christine said. “And I'm bringing some of those ideas over here. In this short time here, I've had people say, 'Meet these nice people. They'll take good care of you.'”

And make you laugh a bit in the process, particularly Joe, who brings an Irish playfulness to the team in which his wife is clearly the design talent.

“She is developing a one-stop shopping center for people who don't have the time to go running around,” he said.

One stop as far as outdoor living goes. The Abbotts decided to specialize in pools and patios after experiencing Florida living firsthand and realizing how much time people spent outside their home. They decided to move to Florida after their daughter moved here. They first lived in Lighthouse Point in Broward County, then Delray Beach, where their daughter also owns a store.

They came to Martin Downs when Christine joined the Sears Home Improvement division. She did well, being named regional sales representative of the year, but decided she was doing too much traveling. Thus, their store was born.

They specialize in unusual, high-end products, from outdoor kitchens to patio furnishings from around the world to pool maintenance, where Christine often acts as a consultant.

“We try to make life easy when it comes to pool maintenance,” she said. “Before anybody buys anything, they get a free analysis of what they need - things like a salt purification system, which eliminates the need for chlorine. And you can heat a pool inexpensively if you do it right.”

With the new interior design facility up and running, they are going inside, taking the one-stop shopping one step further.