Dream Italian villa in Bellaire brings travels under one grand yet homey roof
When Linda Penny met with her builder and interior designer about plans for her home, she took a PowerPoint presentation filled with the things she liked and wanted.
Most people gather magazine pages, snapshots and images on Pinterest. Or they write out a laundry list of desires.
The uber-organized Penny knew exactly what she wanted.
She and her husband, Jon, retired from ExxonMobil after years of living abroad in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Along the way, they’ve gathered friends and memories, art and artifacts and strong ideas about the home they wanted to live in when they finally could choose a permanent place.
A year ago, they moved into that home on a quiet street in Bellaire, not far from the hustle and bustle of Loop 610.
Their “wants” list was long.
Both wanted a big kitchen and space for entertaining, plus a guest bedroom for each of their three sons and daughtersin-law, as well as a bunk room for their seven grandchildren.
A wine room would help them showcase their love of great wine, and a media room would keep family members together for great movies.
She wanted a craft room and her own study. He wanted a putting green and a man cave. Room for vegetable gardening was another must.
The grandchildren had their own request: a secret room for playing hideand-seek.
The couple’s huge backyard is filled with so many things to do: a pool, pavilion, greenhouse and raised vegetable beds.
And it was a country that they visit often that inspired most of it: Italy.
Living all over the world may have allowed them to experience other cultures in a deep way, but it also provided a springboard for frequent European travel.
That’s when Linda Penny found her happy place: Florence, Italy. She loves its people and culture, its Renaissance art and architecture and, of course, its wine and food.
“Being overseas afforded us to travel to a lot of other places,” she said. “That’s when I started going to Europe. I’ve been back to Rome, to Florence, to Venice many, many times. There’s just something about it. I think I could make a home there.”
Their last work assignment was in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with Jon Penny traveling to Iraq for work. They arrived to sweltering summer temperatures and the Muslim observance of Ramadan. Linda Penny decided to go to Italy and rent a villa.
“In this home, you’ll see a lot of influences from a lot of places we’ve visited. But when we built, my idea was an Italian villa,” she said.
The palette there includes copper, gold and bronze, and the Pennys found a place for them all in the more than 9,800 square feet of their home and casita.
“We’ve talked about building this for 25 years,” Jon Penny said. “It’s the culmination of everything we’ve seen.”
Floors are a mix of dark walnut or Scabos travertine. Walls are painted aged gold and burnt orange, and ceilings get unique faux treatments in cathedral, vaulted and barrel styles.
The project started with clearing the property of a 1960s-era home, a small barn and so much brush the surveyors could barely get in. (The site’s big shade trees were kept.)
They worked with architect Don Purser and builder Tommy Cashiola Jr. Interior designer Marion O’Brien of Swags Classic Interior Designs served as an intermediary for the Pennys.
O’Brien measured important pieces of furniture and made sure the home was designed and built in a way that would accommodate them. She also helped narrow the many decisions that have to be made in a home this size. Instead of looking at warehouses full of granite and travertine, the Pennys looked at a handful of options O’Brien selected for them.
She did the same for cabinets and lighting, doors and appliances.
She also made sure there were plenty of places to display artwork the couple has collected over the past few decades.
In Malaysia, they bought an assortment of ornate, hand-carved furniture, including a sofa, hall table, dining-room table and an expansive, 11-foot bookcase.
They also purchased paintings and prints by Chang Fee Ming, a highly regarded Malaysian watercolorist.
In Africa, they bought paintings, wood carvings in ebony and imbondeiro and hand-made baskets.
In the Middle East, they found antiquities and pottery.
Though Linda Penny said she never imagined she’d need a formal living room, she asked for one at the front of the house to display their Malaysian sofa. Nearby, the dining room holds a massive table in front of a tall stone wall and underneath a faux-copper groin ceiling. Across the foyer is a walkdown, climate-controlled wine cellar, with stone floors, walls and ceiling. Their inventive builder custom-made a cabinet using wooden wine boxes as its drawers. And a small ceramic mural declares the room’s birth date: 2015.
The master suite has walnut floors covered in a gorgeous silk rug. Their carved Malaysian bed holds court, with a home gym off of one side and a bathroom, closets and utility room off the other.
In a home full of spectacular rooms and views, perhaps the true showstopper is its kitchen. Cabinets were designed with glass fronts to display Linda Penny’s collection of pottery and other antique pieces. Their dishes — the things you’d normally put in your kitchen cabinets — are all in a roomy butler’s pantry.
When they entertain, people often congregate in the kitchen, so they have two large islands, each with its own sink. One has a granite countertop, the other has a wood, chopping-block surface.
There are plenty of other places to entertain, too
There’s a pool, rimmed with travertine stone in the backyard, with a nearby pavilion that holds three TVs, an outdoor kitchen and a seating area. Bar stools tuck under the honed granite bar top.
A little farther back is Jon Penny’s casita, also known as his man cave or cigar room — even though he doesn’t smoke.
The 1,400-square-foot casita is a small home all on its own. A substantial bar area lines one end. “If you’re going to have a bar, you might as well have a
he said. An open fireplace faces the bar area as well as the seating area on the other side. There’s also a billiards area and a full bathroom.
The Pennys and their middle son built the 12-foot-by-16-foot greenhouse themselves, from a kit. Ringing it are brick, raised garden beds, where the couple grow veggies and herbs.
And, finally, the last item on their wish list: a putting green, where they can practice their short game under the shade of a sprawling oak tree.