Forget his expertise in period eclectic residential architecture and his graduate degree from Princeton, Richard Davis won the commission to design one of the ten largest residences in America thanks to his ability to shoot hoops! He was visiting the offices of the potential client in Springfield, Missouri.  The client took him on a tour of his corporate headquarters and showed him the full-size basketball court he had incorporated in the building. When tossed a basketball by the client, Davis proceeded to shoot three, 3-pointers in a row, spurring the client to tell him he was hired for the job.

Thus, the firm began on a multi-year project to design a 70,000 square foot house.
Yes–70,000 square feet. That’s not a typo!
Total air-conditioned floor space is 61,408 square feet. Total covered floor space is 70,640 square feet, which makes it the ninth largest house in America by floor space.

The house is under construction at the top of a hill on the owners’ 188-acre thoroughbred farm. They have been living in a house on property and have built three large horse barns.

RDDA has been drawing on this house for over three years.  In fact, you may recall our blog about this house in our March 2013 blog entry about the smallest and largest projects the firm has worked on. Although construction is well underway, the RDDA team is continuing to draw interior details, such as moldings, millwork, paneling, decorative ceilings, stair details, fireplace mantels, etc.  RDDA is very involved in the construction process, checking stone shop drawings, and answering construction questions.

The clients knew from the start that they wanted a classical American style house.
Richard Davis opted for the Federal style, which was popularized (and “Americanized), during the late 1700s and early 1800s by architects such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Latrobe, and Charles Bulfinch.

The Federal style utilized by RDDA in the design of this house is America’s version of English Regency and is the style of the White House.

The whole exterior of the house is cream-colored marble, quarried and fabricated in the mountains outside Sofia, Bulgaria.The grand front façade of the house features a projecting portico and two-story porch with 25-foot tall marble columns. Fitting for a house of this magnitude, the columns, when in place, will be the tallest single-shaft columns ever fabricated in the history of the world.

A large veranda spans the rear of the house, offering spectacular views of the estate’s acreage.
The pool and gardens were designed by Harold Leidner Landscape Architects of Dallas.

The pool area includes an open-air pavilion, designed by Leidner in collaboration with RDDA, with a bar and seating area.

Verandas and balconies extend across three levels on the rear of the house.
The exterior walls are poured-in-place concrete between rigid insulation panels.  The rest of the structure is steel.

The lower level of the house is designed as a walk-out basement, cut into the downward slope of the hill. This lower level opens onto the veranda, pool, bar pavilion, and gardens.  The lower level includes a display garage that can house up to twelve cars, and is designed to double as a ballroom. The space also contains a golf simulator and a race car simulator.

This level has a game room, designed to emulate a jockey club at a racetrack. Also on this floor is a movie theater, an indoor swimming pool, steam room, sauna, fitness center, locker rooms,a two-lane bowling alley, a gun room and gun range, and an all-seasons kitchen. The home has three stairways and two elevators, all of which serve all three floor levels. One elevator and one stairwell go all the way down to a wine cave below the walk-out basement.

The 6,000 square wine cave will house the making of the owners’ private label wines in French oak barrels. The space also includes a wine tasting room and dining room.
The exterior entrance to the wine cave is shown here on the left.

The wine cave is finished and operational. It was designed by Russ Noble of Slone Architects in collaboration with Bacchus Caves of Napa. The wine cave interiors are by Stephanie Slone-Snadon of Slone Architects and Brenda Van Eps of Studio V Design.

The Great Hall with its monumental fireplace and elliptical staircase will be the focal point of the main floor,

The second floor includes the master suite with “his” and “her” bathrooms, dressing areas, closets, and an adjoining laundry room. Also on the second floor are six guest suites, each complete with a bedroom, bathroom, and separate living and dining areas with kitchenettes.

Service quarters are on the third floor above the primary garage.

Construction on the house will continue for another eighteen months to two years.
In the ensuing months, we will continue to provide periodic updates on this exciting project.