When architect William (Bill) Cover and builder Matt Markway talk about this Huntleigh home, the two design professionals repeatedly use the word “chic.”
But they also use the word “rustic” in describing the home’s design style. “A lot of people say you can’t bring ‘rustic’ and ‘chic’ together, and I’d argue this house brings them together perfectly,” says Matt, who owns Markway Construction with his brother, Nathan.
Combining extensive use of wood and stone with luxurious marble, velvet and polished brass, the home lives large yet feels cozy and intimate. Architect and builder achieved those seemingly disparate qualities by executing the homeowner’s vision for a home with multiple places and ample spaces for frequent entertaining. And in talking about the homeowner and his vision, the two design pros both use the word “genius.”
“He had a lot of great ideas,” says William, founder of William D. Cover, Architect LLC. “We worked together for quite a while in the discussion stage on how to make his ideas happen. The house has an open feel, yet it’s not where you see everything in the house all it once.”
“And it doesn’t feel like you’re living in a large house,” Matt adds. “Bill Cover had a big role in that. There are a lot of smaller, nook-type of rooms, which is kind of old-school to achieve that coziness.”
The home’s 13 fireplaces also lend a cozy feel. “Every fireplace in that house is different,” Matt says. “Between Bill’s designs for them and the homeowner and I hand-selecting stones for some of them at rough-stone quarries, each fireplace is different and they are all one-of-a-kind.”
One of the fireplaces is a 2-story, see-through beauty dividing the great room from the dining room. “This is one of my favorites in the house,” says William. Above the marble surround and mantel, reclaimed wood leads the eye to the vaulted ceiling.
Most of the reclaimed wood in the home was salvaged from 19th-century buildings in St. Louis, Matt says. Some of the beams are particularly noteworthy. “Some of the beams in the house we harvested from one of The Hill’s original theaters built in 1901,” Matt says. “To use about 30 of those in the house also pays homage to the owner’s Italian heritage, which was pretty special.”
William says windows on both sides of the great room and dining room are among the home’s distinctive features. “I call this a ‘skinny house’ because there is no formal hallway,” William says. His design configuration provides easy flow for entertaining and allows more windows in the rooms, letting natural light flood the spaces.
Just off the great room is an area both design professionals call the ‘club room.’ This main-level bar and conversation area is “one of the most unique features of the house and one I don’t normally do,” William says. Matt says this space is the ultimate combination of rustic and chic, with rough-hewn timbers and textural alligator-skin panels surrounding the fireplace. Luxurious velvets, brass and a lighted quartzite panel behind the bar add oh-so-chic elements to the space, which includes a cigar humidor.
“The homeowner and I are both cigar fanatics, so I designed it as if I was going to be smoking a lot of cigars in that house,” Matt says. “The room is completely ventilated, so the cigar smoke won’t travel anywhere else in the house. I’ve been there at parties, and it definitely works.”
The hidden gem of the home, in Matt’s opinion, is a speakeasy located in the basement. “When the owner first started talking about his idea, I imagined walking down an alley somewhere in Italy and turning to a little door that leads to a speakeasy that’s small and feels confined, which is what makes it so cool,” Matt says. Richly detailed with Venetian plaster walls, stained glass windows and religious iconography, the room was entirely the owner’s inspiration. “That’s why I call him a genius,” William says. “It’s his thinking throughout.” The room is also fully ventilated for enjoying cigars, Matt notes. “Every house we do has unique elements, but this speakeasy room is just insane.”
Thoughtfully designed and equally detailed outdoor spaces were important to the homeowner. “The property sits on a hill,” William says. “We spent a lot of time siting the home to obtain a big front yard and a large back yard. Views were very important from the outdoor areas as we sited the house, which overlooks a horse pasture and hills. Berms in the landscaping also lend privacy.”
A key feature of resort-style outdoor living is an Argentine grill, an apparatus with cranks to raise and lower the grates. “The owner already owned the stainless-steel grill, but we had to build a chimney around it,” Matt says. “You won’t see many Argentine grills like that, and his is about as special as it gets.”
Bringing this and hundreds of other ideas from a dream to a reality resulted in a joyous project for the design professionals. “This was so much fun because the client had so many great ideas,” William says. “When you walk into this house, it kind of rewards the curious. No matter where you go, you see something interesting. And everyone involved was invested in the process.”
And for Matt, the job became personal. “I feel like some things are just meant to be,” he says. “The owner and I knew of each other all the way back to high school, playing football against each other but had never met before he started thinking about this house and a mutual friend introduced us. Our ideas just jived together. Any issues that came up, we were able to solve immediately. I knew this was his dream house and that makes it a little extra special. Add that to how the owner and I have become good friends, it feels like it was just meant to be, and the house flowed from an idea in his head into a masterpiece.”
