Wichita Magazine's Homes of the Year 2008
Wichita magazine gives you a peek inside some of the area’s most beautiful abodes.
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A Flint Hills house with lofty ceilings, an overhauled home with an impressive wine cellar and a luxurious dwelling with a sky-themed ceiling make up our picks for Wichita magazine’s Homes of the Year. Each home varies in price and personality, and each is tailored to the owners’ specific desires. Everything old is new again as we saw in many of these houses. Technology brought impressive sound systems and the latest in energy efficiency. Many of these homeowners, builders and architects weren’t afraid to be innovative, and this creative freedom led to some inspiring ideas.
Besides these four fabulous homes, we found a backyard that would make anyone want to spend more time in the great outdoors. And we polled local experts for the latest in technology and home ideas. Now, we invite you to peruse the inner workings of these extraordinary houses, and look for ideas that you can adopt as your own.
The Sky’s the Limit
A Wichita couple’s $2 million home combines touches of Las Vegas, antiques and the great outdoors.
The sky is the limit at one spacious home in The Belmont at Wilson Estates. With a living room ceiling painted like a cloudy blue sky, a vast collection of antiques and a master garden in the backyard, the $2 million estate is filled with small surprises.
The homeowners built the elegant 4,800-square-foot home in 2000. Romanesque pillars and Italian gold stucco walls on the exterior offer a hint as to the Roman-inspired home’s interior. Inside, modern conveniences complement historic pieces, including a French tapestry and a total of 34 antique clocks. Neutral-colored walls allow the homeowners to mix different colors and styles. “Once you have a basic palate, you find things you can add to,” says the wife, who arranged the motifs by herself.
Las Vegas Livin’
The living room is almost as airy as the outdoors. A painter who worked at Caesar’s Palace and The Venetian in Las Vegas created an impressive mural of a cloudy sky on the entry’s cove ceiling. “Maxwell Parrish was the inspiration for what we wanted to do,” says the wife. “A lot of his paintings have very dramatic skies.”
A Roulette table and antique slot machines in the basement’s game room provide other Vegas-inspired additions. Nearby, a curved chenille sofa from Traditions faces a 40-inch TV. With a bar, pool table and shuffleboard rounding out the finished basement, the homeowners can entertain for hours.
Beyond the Norm
A spacious kitchen has granite countertops, a set of islands and distressed cream-colored cabinets that wrap along two walls. A green and yellow tile backsplash above a Thermador stove accents the light-colored room.
Nearby, the hearth room features an impressive Gothic-style fireplace with inlaid, distressed burl wood and tile. A nearby entertainment center holds a 50-inch plasma television, and overhead are surround-sound speakers and an intercom installed by Audio Visual Innovations that run throughout the house.
Inside the study, a self portrait by Anthony Quinn, entitled “Zorba the Greek,” hangs on black paneled walls. A coffered ceiling with three different shades of gold provides a light touch to the darkest room in the house.
A Grand Garden
At the back of the house, past three sets of French doors, is a large covered patio that looks out over the impressive backyard. Fish swim inside a 5,000-gallon koi pond surrounded by a rock walkway lined with beautiful flowers, trees and shrubs. A swimming pool, alfresco dining area and fully furnished pool house at the other side of the yard provide the homeowners and their guests with an ideal spot to enjoy the outdoors.
Whether resting in the backyard or reclining in the sky-painted living room, it’s apparent that these homeowners appreciate the finer things in life. —S.J.L.
