Chief Perfection

Many things in the Boyce home, because they had to be just right, took an act of Congress to complete-or so Jeremy Carter likes to put it. Carter is the interior designer who took the blueprints Tracy and Tom Boyce purchased from a book of residential plans and moved about 50 percent of the interior walls to make it just right.

The Boyce's gave Carter full reign and, for the most part, an open budget. When they moved in more than a year and a half ago, the home was fully furnished with hand-picked Carter pieces. The custom curtains, the custom alligator-covered poker chairs, the copper guttering-all were carefully planned by this Branson designer. Builder Scott Bockman of Cornerstone Builders made the plans for the 8,300-square-foot Branson home a reality. Bockman, who primarily builds commercial property and is a long-time friend of Tom, did the house as a special favor to the couple.

For the most part, Tom let Tracy and Carter make the decisions, but he had two requirements. First, he asked for a barrel-vaulted inlet that led from the entry to the hearth room. Okay. This fit Carter's style. Second, Tom wanted a Kansas City Chiefs basement with a bar. This was a little different. The Chiefs' primary color combination didn't seem to be anywhere on Carter's French-country-mixed-with-traditional color palette. Football didn't seem to fit his general theme.

Born and raised in Kansas City, Tom, who owns an excavating company in Branson, is a full-blown Chiefs fanatic. He, Tracy and 12 to 14 friends take a motor home to every game at Arrowhead Stadium. For away games, they host Chiefs parties with 25 to 30 friends, and Tom and friends fly to one Chiefs game a year. Last year was Dallas; this year they made their way to Pittsburgh. Traditionally the center of a home is not the basement, but after all of Carter's meticulous planning, including overseeing the construction of re-created Italian panels painted by Sheila Renfro in the formal living room, this bottom-floor, football-inspired room is generally the most impressive to guests. The basement didn't exist in the original plans, but Tom created it when Carter came on board. It is lined with windows on one side and leads out to the pool.

[image - {kc_bath.tif} - Photo By Edward Biamonte]
There are two bathrooms. The first is a women's with the traditional Carter fare, and the second a men's Kansas City shrine. The mirror is custom chipped and chiseled to the shape of an arrowhead. Curry's Hot Rods & Hot Bikes, which does specialty painting, airbrushed Chiefs logos onto the sink, the urinal and the top of the toilet lid. (The back of the toilet lid presents an opportunity for guests to relieve themselves on the Raiders.) There is a flat screen TV above the urinal to make sure no one misses a play. "Kinda my pride and joy is this bathroom," Tom says. In a close second to the copper detailing on the exterior of the house, the Chiefs bathroom is also Bockman's favorite detail of the house.

In an attempt to keep the bathroom stylized, Carter used vintage-esque white, red and yellow tiles. The Boyce's full bar seats 12, and the micro-suede bar stools have imprinted Chiefs emblems. The bar, solid oak with a stamped-concrete top, has a beer tap, drawer dishwasher, custom drawers to hold bar glasses and a dual-climate controlled wine fridge. There are three plasma screen TVs in the main area. The two 60-inch TVs are the largest Tom could get his hands on at the time, and the third is a smaller 24-inch. The smaller TV, much to Carter's dismay, is hung above his custom curtains. The neon Chiefs light that was a gift from Tom's brother went up, as did the Kansas City helmets, jerseys signed by Dante Hall and Priest Holmes and other Chiefs memorabilia. But despite these non-French country items, Carter worked toward the look of a high-end gentlemen's lounge rather than a sports bar.

The basement also has a workout room and a room with a 12-by-12 combination steam shower, sauna and cold-water plunge. Of the 27 flat screens in the whole house, one can be found in each of these rooms.

In the rest of the house, Carter was no longer obliged to work around a sports theme, so he went all-out. Tracy didn't want more than three or four options when it came to choosing details such as fabric and fixtures. Carter had no trouble catering to that. He triumphantly says he got his way on most things they had varying opinions on. Tracy light-heartedly agrees and says even when they were most in conflict, such as with the kitchen cabinetry, she is now happy Jeremy got his way. In the high-stress process of home building, Tracy, Tom and Carter say there wasn't one argument, and as they describe details of the home, the three genuinely seem to be friends. "[Carter and Bockman] were amazing," Tracy says. "You could not have asked for a better working relationship. And I knew Jeremy would keep Tom in check with his Kansas City stuff."

Originally the Boyces had a much different vision for the kitchen. They were planning to get gray cabinets, but Carter insisted on the antique white that was eventually installed with a brick basksplash. The Boyces dine out more than they cook, so though Carter got to pick out the stainless-steel appliances, he did not get the Viking range he wanted. The Boyces said it was a no-go. That was way beyond necessity.

One of Carter's favorite rooms is the office. It has an oval leather-topped desk and leather-covered ceiling. If you're not seeing a theme, there are also custom curtains in this room. All told, it took more than 300 yards of silk to make the house's drapes-all of which were designed by Carter. The fabrics and color schemes in each room on the main floor are completely interchangeable. There are plenty of high-end designs and fabrics, but it was also important to Tracy that the house be livable. She wanted her 17- and 9-year-old sons to be able to sit anywhere, and they can-with the exception of the silk covered chaise lounge in the master bedroom, which was the final custom piece of furniture to make it into the house. The master bedroom has a private screened-in balcony where the Boyces sit to enjoy the view of the 11 acres of land they own behind their house. The master bathroom was another wonder that practically took an act of Congress to get right. The tiled wrap-around shower was twice torn out and retiled because Carter was very specific about the design, and he wasn't settling for less than perfection. The antique white cabinetry continues in the bathroom, and the counters and tub basin are both a light travertine.

Carter was just as hard on those constructing the exterior of the house, which is mostly brick with stone accents and cedar shutters. "The masons hate me," Carter says. "I made them re-do it. There is detailing around every window. I wanted it right."   The back of the house needed to be as attractive as the front, so eyebrow arched windows accented with copper were added to liven it up.

"We're really happy with the house," Tracy says. "It's a relaxing house. They did a great job. Sometimes you look back and wish you'd done something different, but there's not one thing I'd change."

The second level has three bedrooms-one for each boy and a guest bedroom-and a media room with a storage area that could also be a maid's quarters. Carter didn't leave out the details for the Boyce's boys. Both of the children are involved in sports, and all athletes need a whirlpool bathtub, so one was installed in their shared bathroom.

Although, the house is large, Carter worked toward making each of the rooms intimate. Carter-esque details are everywhere: Swarovski crystal chandeliers, maple wood floors, a hand-painted travertine backsplash in the kitchen, arched doorways and double doors in the front entry. But that Chiefs basement certainly leaves an impression.