But the move wasn’t quite that easy. They initially looked for a house that was already built. They wanted a library. They wanted a trophy room. They wanted a theater. Becky wanted a large kitchen. And they wanted enough space so that their grandchildren could play and be kids in a home where it was okay to just be... kids. The answer to their question would be found with Del and Lorraine Huit of Cardel Homes.
“Del had this piece of property,” Bill Holmes says of the prize 3.5 acre parcel of land that accommodates first-rate views of El Paso, Southern New Mexico in the distance and neighboring Juarez. “It was a stipulation that he build the house, which was fine with us, but his company had never built a house of this scale before.” The original plans were, in fact, large scale - 17,000 square feet to be exact - and needed to be downsized to fit the lot and still afford the exterior luxuries of a sizeable yard, quaint gardens and a pool reminiscent of a resort. The entryway was immediately scaled down. “We had a doorway into the trophy room and a doorway into the library,” Bill explains of the first two rooms that flank the entryway after you walk through the front door. “We didn’t need a lot of entryway space.” The finished entryway is still grand and elegant, and doesn’t give away the secret that it was originally larger than what you see.
The focal point of the entryway is the staircase, which hides another secret to the original plans. “When the staircase was being framed, it was coming down the wall and ended up in the middle of the foyer. That version was four feet wide top to bottom. It ended up starting at five feet wide at the top, curved around, and flared out to about twelve feet at the bottom.
Del brought Becky and me a picture to show us how the columns were going to be done. In the photo was the staircase just as I wanted our staircase to look.” What happened next was a mammoth task: the staircase was cut loose from the wall, leaving the entire staircase freestanding. “We then positioned this free-floating staircase back into the corner of the trophy room to where we wanted the staircase to be,” says Bill. To the staircase story, Bill adds kudos to the Huit’s carpenter John Goodlive. “He was very skilled, and spent about six months in this house getting things perfect.” Including that staircase.
Beyond the introduction of the staircase, the house is a harmonious blend of warm colors and traditional style carefully planned and conceptualized by Lorraine Huit and designer Anne Steele, to whom Becky gives great credit, “It wouldn’t be fair to say we had all the ideas ourselves. We had a lot of good help.” Of the home’s design, both Bill and Becky knew they wanted “A traditional look,” says Bill. “Kind of Tuscan,” Becky clarifies, “But I wanted it to be warm, not rough; some of the Tuscan looks can be kind of rough. I didn’t want the walls too dark, and we wanted higher ceilings.” They also knew they wanted limestone floors, after seeing it in a showcase home in Houston. Their house would command a total of 3,500 square feet of the pristine stone, all quarried out of France.
Together with Anne, the Holmes’ then selected the perfect shades of color for the walls and just the right finishes for the ceilings, the brick veneer in the kitchen and the mural on the wall, created by Karla Perry. “I think Anne Steele is one of the finest designers in the area,” Becky says of the creative genius behind Anne’s work. “You have to think through how colors ought to look, and all the different little touches that go into making a house special. You don’t just want a larger tract house. Anne and Lorraine were very helpful in that department.”
Another challenge in the design that was a priority for Becky was a tasteful, artistic tribute to her African heritage (her parents were missionaries for forty-five years in Africa, and Becky was also born there) and her husband’s love of African wildlife. The trophy room, according to Becky, “Needed to have a sense of an old gentleman’s club that Ernest Hemingway might have frequented, not just rows and rows of heads, but an elegant place in which to also display art.” It is also a symbol of Bill’s pride and dedication to ethical, fair chase hunts, and boasts over three dozen trophies, an impressive collection of artwork and some of Becky’s father’s trophies as well. A large rhinoceros stands guard over the room, which is actually a fiberglass replica of a rhinoceros that Bill darted and micro-chipped to prevent poaching. Bill, a member of Safari Club International, is passionate about the ethical treatment of animals and has a great admiration and respect for each of the animals that hang on his walls in the interest of sportsmanship. “The revenue from trophy fees go to wildlife conservation and habitat conservation,” he explains. “Overpopulation of elephants can destroy an entire food chain for hundreds of species of animals, and threatens many African villages.” In addition to the trophies, the room is situated on natural, finished but unstained African Shedua wood floors, imported from West Africa. A handsome gun cabinet lines an entire wall, and a pool table adds a finishing touch.
The final tribute this house offers is that the Holmes’ are generous in sharing it with others, especially for non-profit and/or charitable causes. “There was a lot of curiosity behind this house,” says Becky. Before they moved in, the home was used by the El Paso Symphony as a fundraiser Showcase house, where five different designers sectioned the house and created their own designs under one roof. It was a good way to “test drive” furniture, Becky says, and some of the pieces brought in she actually kept. The house was also the site of an El Paso Pro-Musica Soiree. “That was supposed to be this elegant evening outside, but we ended up moving everything, including the 150-some guests, inside due to one of our typical El Paso windstorms.” In September this year, they also incorporated their love of Africa for their duty to public service by hosting a dinner for those interested in helping a woman whom Bill met while on safari in Africa. “Her name is Cecilia Lachat, and she has such a heart for children that she established an orphanage, the Kalahari Children’s Home for children whose parents have died of AIDS, still a huge epidemic in Africa.” Through her own resources, Cecilia has built dormitories and a medical center in the Kalahari Desert.
And what about the Holmes’ children? After flying the nest, do they feel at home in the new, expanded space their parents have created? “They enjoy it,” Becky smiles. “The grandkids can play in their room, or enjoy the theater; the adults can visit and the kids can play. At first I wondered if I was going to like wandering around in all this space, but trust me - you can get used to space.”
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