Sliding Into Home
When Kim and Randall Glass built their current home, their oldest son, James, was merely a toddler, and they were anxiously awaiting the arrival of their youngest son, Will. They knew planning for the future would be important for their growing family, so they designed a house that could grow and change over the years as the needs of their boys changed.
Situated on a ridge overlooking farmland, the Glass’ Tuscan home is both grand and welcoming. “We wanted to be in the city limits, and after looking at lots, the ridge’s view sold it,” Kim said. “It’s so beautiful looking out over the pasture lands.” The warm stucco exterior and Spanish tile roof set the home apart from the others in the neighborhood while the well-manicured yard and two-story stone entryway invite you in. “I had always had this Tuscan style in my mind and then we also love the beach, so the rest of the house has a little bit of a beach vibe,” she elaborated. The Glasses hired an architect to design the floor plan and Kim worked with Kyle Barrett inside to create a subtle color palette that allows the architectural features to stand out. Large dark wood beams, hand-scraped wood flooring, and arched doorways lead you from one room to the next while custom draperies, wrought iron light fixtures, and handmade tiles add the texture and warmth often associated with the Tuscan style. Walls throughout most of the house are painted a warm, soft white and then to add a hint of a coastal feel, there are accents of blue.
Downstairs, there is an office adjacent to the master bedroom that was once Will’s nursery. There is also an exercise room in the works that was originally used as the boys’ playroom. Now that the boys are bigger, they have a hangout space upstairs. The upstairs hangout is equipped with a place to watch TV and plenty of room to play more active games with cool features like an arcade style basketball set and a ping pong table. In both boys’ rooms, you get a glimpse of the family’s love for all things sports, especially baseball. Both boys have fun baseball inspired art and bedding. Rows of awards and memorabilia line the shelves of each room. Kim also cleverly hung a chain-link gate in each room for the boys to hang certificates, pictures, and team flags.
However, it’s the outdoor space that really highlights the family’s love of sports. In the fall of 2019, the Glass family gave their outdoor space an update that would match the energy of growing boys. The backyard makeover began with adding a pool, a large, covered seating area with an outdoor kitchen, and a detached garage complete with a man cave. This provides the family with plenty of space to hangout, relax, and entertain. Kim told me, “We have practically lived out here since we built it. It is the best value ever for family time. For the most part, we probably use it ten months out of the year. We even watched all the Michael Jordan series ‘The Last Dance’ out here as a family. Randall would grill dinner and we would just stay out here.”
Next to the pool house and the detached garage, the Glasses left plenty of room for two special areas for the boys, both of whom are very athletic and excel at many sports. Running behind the pool house they added a batting cage, and between the pool house and detached garage is a sport court. Randall played college baseball at Ouachita Baptist University, where he and Kim met, and is very hands on with the boys, especially baseball; you can typically find him coaching one or both James’ and Will’s teams. “They use the batting cage before every game to warm up and even come outside and use it just for fun,” Kim said. “And both the boys’ favorite sport is baseball.” The sport court is a beautiful, fun shade of blue and personalized with a “G” under each goal. While it is marked for basketball, and the boys love to get out there with their dad, it also gets used for wiffle ball, wiffle ball home run derby, dodgeball, and even a tic-tac-toe beanbag toss game. “They use the court literally every day for some sport or competition,” said Kim. “It was also nice during COVID. The boys didn’t feel confined because they had all this space. I really felt like we had P.E. covered.”
Between the well-appointed interior and family friendly backyard, this space will certainly serve the family over the years. I would say that Randall and Kim definitely met their goal of building a home that would grow with them and allow their family to make plenty of memories. This space, with lots of room for their growing athletes, is the perfect place for their boys to call home.
