A Legacy Residence: The Settlement

Renovation and Addition, Unbuilt, 2018

Construction on this Frank-Lloyd-Wright-inspired legacy residence, originally designed by E. Fay Jones, was well under way when work was abruptly halted in the early 1990’s. Since that time, countless tons (literally tons!) of Arkansas riverstone and the beginnings of a sweeping prairie-style house have been patiently waiting in the landscape to someday be completed. Acknowledging that the full Fay Jones design would likely never come to fruition, the current landowner asked DFDG to make use of the considerable structure already in place, and re-imagine the home for a modern, contemporary family.

The design team at DFDG kept faithful to the spirit of Jones’ original prairie-style roof lines and the sunken Great Room with its massive hearth. Nearly everything else in the plan has been reconsidered and reconfigured to reflect current trends in residential design. The team converted the lower level garage and motor court to a pool terrace and garden space. A new three-car garage, perpendicular to the main house, forms a motor court at the main level, so that a family arriving home has direct access to the mudroom, the kitchen, and primary living spaces.

Informal public living occurs in the wing to the east of the Great Room. A generous kitchen is set up to accommodate caterers when needed, but also functions well for daily family meals. A screened porch off the Living area overlooks the pool terrace below, and stairway leads down to a second kitchen and bar below which more directly serves swimmers and pool-side loungers.

The “private” wing of the house extends to the west of the formal Great Room. This wing contains an office, bedrooms – all with en suite baths – for the family, and an elegant master suite with two large walk-in closets, a coffee-bar, a private hot-tub terrace, and a private screened porch.

In addition to the pool-side kitchen and bar, the lower level contains guest suites, a wine cellar, an exercise room, a sauna, and a large informal recreation room.

In total, the proposed house has six bedrooms, eight full baths, and two half-baths, with 14,346 sq.ft of interior space, and 9,055 sq.ft. of exterior space, like screened porches, terraces, and patios.