The breakfast room is particularly attractive, with inset wood flooring details that coordinate with the kitchen cabinetry carvings. The border is a colorful grapevine and leaf pattern in maple and cherry. Also on the first level, the very traditional master suite combines true Venetian plaster and silk wall covering with travertine columns and light and dark Emperador marble at the fireplace and cherry-wood cabinetry and built-ins.
The four childrens' bedrooms are upstairs, all individually themed and boasting full baths and walk-in closets. A central game room has a full kitchen, a full bath and a pool table. For the youngest girl, the team designed a secret room hidden behind a shelving unit in the playroom. When first designed in 2001, this was to be her hiding place and where she housed her doll collection. Now nearing junior high school, she enjoys a bathroom that is distinctly feminine, with a large striped fuchsia wall covering, off-white painted cabinets, and light ivory travertine walls with glazed accent tiles of bumblebees and flowers.
The home carries many Western influences—family members compete in horse competitions-as well as French influences reflecting their background. The guest casita includes living and dining rooms, a kitchen, a powder room, a bedroom with a full bathroom and a walk-in closet. Completed in a Western cowboy theme, it has a leather shag area rug and a Dutch door. The children’s game room in the main house also incorporates similar design motifs.
The homeowners celebrate their French heritage in the mud bathroom, which carries a colorful full-wall mural of a French street-cafe scene.
The basement and craft room celebrates the family's love of horses by means of Western and English riding décor. The home theater has large motorized seats with custom branding on leather backs, woven leather cord trim and light tan suede upholstery. The upholstered walls, with custom nail-head designs, cover acoustic panels. A motorized drapery wraps the movie screen. Large Cohiba wood beams and twisted columns with clavos details, made in Brazil, as well as a one-of-a-kind chandelier and wall sconces, complete the high-tech, highly regional space.
Most important, this home is designed for family: Gathering together and with close friends takes place on the large family room sectional sofa (a favorite for the family dog, too); in the gathering island in the craft room; and, just off the kitchen, around the large serving area with a raised bar counter and eight barstools.
"We built our home with the needs of our family first and foremost in our mind," says the wife. "We wanted our home to be a place where our children and their friends could come and have fun. We also planned for the future—as our family will someday expand to include grandchildren."
