Drive for Perfection

Blythe Thimsen

The 1968 GT350 Cobra Shelby Ford Mustang glints in the morning sun as it sits idling outside of Bob and Renee Beal’s home. The driveway looks like it was custom built for the car, with its perfectly paved ribbon of asphalt curling to the top of the hill, and ending at a large brick ??? in front of the house. The truth is the car is fairly new – won in a raffle three years ago – while the house was built 11 years ago. But then again, everything looks brand new and pristine in the Beal’s home; a reflection of the hard work and precise nature of these two hard working business owners.

The raffle in which Bob and Renee won the car had 4,100 tickets sold to hopeful winners. Ten tickets were drawn and their owners picked envelopes with keys inside that they hoped would start the car. When Bob’s ticket was pulled, he selected the third of the ten envelopes. Pulling out his key, he slid it into the ignition, turned it gently…and the car roared to life, erupting with its trademark, classic car eruption of power from the engine.

Though they won the car, don’t think things always fall in their laps or come so easy to Bob and Renee. They have spent the last 35 years working non-stop owning, building and growing their own business, all while they raised four children and built a home for their family. Hard work and attention to detail and a drive for perfection have been their motto and it has paid off.

That Bob and Renee even have this house, on this property is unlikely. It is located in an area of town where they rarely traveled. One weekend, driving home from the lake they decided to take a different route just for a change of scenery. When they turned down a road they had never driven on before, they saw someone setting up a for sale sign. They had talked about finding property on which to build, and on a whim asked the owner who was putting up the sign to let them see the property. They followed him up the road and were struck by the breathtaking views awaiting them. Scrounging in their pockets, purse and in the car, they came up with $200 cash, which they gave to the owner as a retainer to hold the property for them. “It was fate,” says Renee of their finding the land that is centrally located and allows them to get to several of their business locations around town in a matter of minutes.

“We had been looking for property that would work for the convenience of location, and we liked the fact that they still delivered pizza,” says Bob, joking about what made them decide to purchase the land.

The land was purchased in 1994; they built it in nine months in 1996, and moved in later that year. Bob and Renee served as their own general contractors and overseeing all of the sub-contractors themselves. During those nine months, they came up to the house four times a day, in between their work appointments, to oversee the progress and to pitch in with the work. “It was fun for me to work with the tile guys and stone guys and all the contractors,” says Renee.

Entering through the front double doors with etched glass you find a pristine and elegant white world that relies on the exquisite décor for the color. Clean diverse sized white tiles line the entry foyer, and double doors open immediately to the left, where Bob has a home office, in which he spends a great deal of time managing his portion of their business. Renee’s office, where she also works from home and keeps their business running like clockwork, is located at the other end of the house. This allows them to work together, yet separately.

The foyer and the living room, which you step down into, have ceilings soaring 22 feet overhead. “We’re going to need to hire a monkey when the light bulbs burn out,” says Renee of the four recessed lights in the living room ceiling which have never yet burned out in the eleven years they have been in the house.

A wall that climbs from over the entryway the living room’s transition into the dining room, houses an eye-catching display of three pieces of artwork. “We knew we wanted to put three pieces there,” says Renee. “We knew three pieces would break up the space, and I wanted the colors they way they are; monochromatic colors that fit the mood.”

Above the travertine fireplace in the living room, three huge mirrored panels cover the wall. They deflect the light that pours in from the tall windows and illuminate the room, all while drawing the eye upward.

Renee knew the living room was meant for a grand piano, so she bought one as a surprise for Bob on his birthday. While they both would like to learn to play, they haven’t yet found time to tickle the ivories. There is still music in the house though, as Renee had the foresight to buy a player piano, ensuring that if they aren’t playing it, it is still sending its beautiful sounds throughout the room.

The tall ceilings of the living room provide the perfect setting for the 16 foot-tall Christmas tree that goes in the living room each year. This is one of six trees Renee decorates and displays throughout the house.

A grand, sweeping staircase catches your eye upon entering the house. It is so beautiful,, one of their nieces has already proclaimed that she wants to get married at their house so she can make an entrance walking down that staircase in her wedding dress. “The artistry on that was the most amazing part of the [construction of the] house,” says Renee of the staircase. As a floating staircase, it was hand built, with only the top and bottom steps touching anything. The craftsman who built it carved three nule posts. Ever the cleaner, Renee was cleaning up after some of the workers, and asked if she could take the scraps to the burn pile. One of the completed posts had gotten mixed into the pile and was accidentally burned. The relaxed craftsman calmly said, “We’ll just have to care another one.” And that he did.

Small lights are built into the risers of the stairs, and illuminate at night. “It looks so beautiful at night,” says Renee.

At the top of the sweeping staircase an open hallway leads under an archway and double doors into the master suite. In addition to the bedroom area, the suite has a sitting room with cherry wood bookshelves, and a corner gas log fireplace around which chairs are clustered. A door leads out onto a private deck that overlooks their property.

“It is simple and elegant,” says Renee of their master bath. The eye is immediately drawn to the green marble on the back walls of the grand walk-in shower. Those marble walls are solid slabs, rather than small pieces. “We wanted whole slabs because I didn’t want grout,” says Renee of the marble from Mario and Sons. Renee said that the day the marble was brought up to the house and installed they asked her to leave because they were sure it would drop and break and they didn’t want her to hear their reaction. They installed it successfully, though.

A glass walkway leads into the double showerhead shower because, “we didn’t’ want a door,” says Renee. Not to be outdone by the impressive shower, a deep-jetted tub is nestled between the shower and the window, providing the perfect spot to soak in a bubble bath and overlook to inspiring view from their property.

Downstairs, standing in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hand and surveying the photo shoot, Bob reflects on his favorite part of the house. “The kitchen and family room,” he says gesturing to the large room that serves as the heart of the home. “It doesn’t seem to matter if you have a 600 square foot house or a 6,000 square foot house, everyone gathers here in the kitchen.”

The kitchen has an island with a gas grill. All of the cupboards are on the back wall with glass. “To me it is distracting from the room when you com in and see toasters and blenders and cords,” says Renee. “That is why everything in the house is hidden.”

Renee’s attention to detail played into the décor of the home. She had done her research and knew exactly what she wanted in their home. She wanted to incorporate dark cherry wood along with white washed alder and use her favorite colors, purple and green. The interior designer she brought in told Renee she “couldn’t use those colors or woods together.” After one day spent together, they parted ways with the designer, and took over, again doing the work themselves. “I love purple in case you can’t tell,” says Renee, gesturing toward the color which she incorporated into her house – right alongside dark green and the two different woods. And it looks great!

“We had the foresight to look ahead and go out on a limb and look ahead for exterior and interior designs,” says Renee of some of the design choices they made that were not heard of at the time, but became popular over the years.

One example is the under-cupboard lighting that sends a glow down upon the countertops, as well as onto the floor from the lighting that is installed under the rim of the lower cabinets. The room is infused with lights, but the source of them is hidden. Most of the lights in the house are on photocell, meaning they automatically come on when you walk by. This allows light when necessary, but lights or lamps do not need to be left on, burning while no one is around.

Fourteen recessed lights tuck into the kitchen ceiling, hiding the source of the light, but spreading it evenly throughout the room. “The lighting guy had never put so many lights in one spot in a house,” says Renee. The kitchen area is already well lit via the many windows that line that back wall of the house, along with two sets of French doors that open out onto the generous sized deck overlooking a beautifully designed yard.

The landscape design for the yard was created by Renee and Bob, along with the help of one of their friends, rather than using a professional. Pine trees are peppered throughout the property and create a screen of privacy even though there are few neighbors nearby in this secluded setting. Aspens and poplars fill in the spaces, along with low-lying shrubbery. Seventeen feet of the hillside had to be cleared in order to situate the house where it is. On part of the removed hillside is is where a hot tub and waterfall are now located.

“We wanted it to look like it was going into two ponds,” says Bob, describing the waterfall which is nestled into the side of the hill in the back yard, cascading over rocks and splitting in two, with half the water going into a pond where birds bathe, and the other half going into a hot tub. In reality, the water from the hot tub comes from a pump which pours it back into the tub, but looks like it is from the top of the hill. The hot tub has a rock rim around the edge. It looks like you are stepping into pond – or a geyser when the water is bubbling. ‘We use it almost everyday,” says Renee. “It is nice to come home, get a glass of wine or a cocktail and sit in the hot tub and mull over the day.”
The waterfall that descends the hill was originally created with faux rock, but it has since been replaced with natural rock from the property. “We utilized rock from the hill,” says Renee, pointing to the hill in which the waterfall is situated.

“It works well in Vegas and that area, but not up here with the weather changes,” says Bob of the faux rock they initially used. It was replaced twice before they decided to redo it using the natural rock from the area.

Bob’s father built the Adirondack chairs that perch on the nearby deck. His own father had built some for him years back, so he took one apart and used it for a pattern, building four chairs and one loveseat bench for Bob and Renee. They sit on the back deck, clustered around a fire urn, looking out over the back yard and off over rolling hills and pine trees. “A lot of people say we put the house on the hill backwards, and should have had the front facing out, but who wants to sit on the front porch when the view is back here?,” says Bob, looking out at all the eye can take in from this vantage point.

Down below their back yard, the road from their gate at the base of the hill twists and turns upward, with the surrounding land covered in natural grasses and trees, replacing the pristine manicured landscaping near the deck. Renee’s eye for detail is seen in the house and the yard with their picture perfect appearance. She can see an out of place twig from across the yard and quickly tends to it.

Back on the deck, one of set of the doors leads inside into an eating area in the kitchen where chairs draped in green and purple hued fabric cluster around a table in a dining alcove. Dark green granite countertops pair with crisp white walls and cupboards for a gleaming and attractive kitchen.

The kitchen and family room are all in one large space, with a giant leather curved couch delineating the space between the two rooms. “We built it all one big room because as in all homes, when we have parties, everyone ends up here,” says Bob.

“I love to cook,” says Renee, “so I wanted to be able to cook and be part of the festivities. There is nothing worse than being off alone in the kitchen. I wanted everything roomy enough so I could work in the kitchen and have room to move.”

A built-in bar in the back corner of the family room signifies that amidst all of their hard work, Bob and Renee like to entertain and have a good time, bringing life, laughter and love to their home and their guests.

Purple upholstered bar stools with dark cherry wood trim sit at a tall luxurious dark cherry wood bar. Dark green granite drapes itself across the counters, creating the perfect surface on which to crafts drinks for friends. When it comes to drinks, there is one in particular that dominates the bar: tequila. One of Renee’s good friends is from Mexico. “She made me realize there is a difference between tequilas like there is with wine,” says Renee. After learning to appreciate good tequila, Renee began collecting it and now has over 171 different types. The bottles in which they come are as interesting as the contents and make for exotically interesting décor. From tall slender bottles to thick macho bottles that feel heavy in your hand, to the bottle shaped like a gun, it is a feast for the eyes.

Wine has a place in this house too, as seen in the wine tapestry covered stools at the counter in the kitchen, and the built-in cherry wood wine wrack off of the family room. Additionally, Bob and Renee just finished building a wine cellar in their basement – an unexpected oasis tucked far from the eye of visitors. It is a quite refuge. “This is my pride and joy, my little hidden treasure,” says Renee of the cellar. She and Bob enjoy wine from local winery Townsend.

The bar is the perfect place to showcase their Michael Goodard artwork, which has special meaning after they met him at an art show in Maui, and then again in Seattle. Goodard is known for his work featuring anthropomorphic martini olives.

A cherry wood big screen media center dominates the wall opposite of the bar. If you can peel your eyes from the picture on the big screen TV, looking outside the windows your eyes fall the lush foliage of many of the trees planted by Bob and Renee on the hill by the water fountain. Whether it is inside or out in the yard, evidence of Bob and Renee’s hard work is evident.

“We wanted people to walk into this home and be instantly comfortable and feel at home.
It’s a house we are totally comfortable in,” says Renee. “There isn’t a place we don’t go. It’s a big enough house that you can relax wherever you want. Let me tell you, in the summer, the first thing we do when we get home is mix a cocktail and sit out on that deck and relax. We have elk, moose, deer….”

 

Out front, 1968 GT350 Cobra Shelby Ford Mustang beckons them to hop in for a ride. “You can drive a new car around town and nothing,” says Bob, “but you drive in that thing and at every intersection you get people hanging out the widow, giving you thumbs up!” The car isn’t the only thing that is getting thumbs up, though. The house in front of which it sits is one that Bob and Renee, in a drive for perfection, created for their family, resulting in a home that is both comfortable and inviting. They have done a great job. We give them two thumbs up.