French Mansion

Inspired by a framed picture they’d had for years, Patti and Mike Bridgeforth built their dream home between Springfield and Rogersville.

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If you travel a few miles northeast of Highway 60 on Farm Road 172, you will come across an amazing French chateau on the east side of the road. It is a spacious edifice on the top of a hill overlooking the estate grounds and the surrounding properties. For a moment you might think you are traveling through the Loire Valley—not driving near the border of Springfield and Rogersville.

The 10,000-square-foot castle belongs to Patti and Mike Bridgeforth and their five dogs. “This is my dream home,” explains Patti, a decorator and the former owner of London Crest Interiors, which closed and whose staff was recently hired at James Décor. Anyone who knows her can see that the decorating and design of this French villa allowed Patti to exercise all the knowledge and creativity that she has mastered during the past nine years. “I’ve always loved interior design,” says Patti. “I’ve been designing for other people for years, and now I had the opportunity to use my experience for my own dream home. It was so exciting!”

A little more than a year ago, Patti and Mike lived just down the road from the grand manor they now call home. They would walk down the farm roads nearly every day as part of their exercise routine. One evening, as they passed the vacant lot that is now their estate, Patti pointed out how the rise at the back of the 20-acre parcel would be perfect for a home. Sharing her vision, Mike knew that he’d have to find a way to purchase the plot of land. Within just a few days, Mike had researched the property, contacted the owner and offered to purchase the land for their dream home.

It seemed to be fate when they were able to purchase the land and then contract with Matt Bailey of the Bailey Company to build the home that Patti had been imagining. “Matt built our last three homes and really knows us,” she says. “We were so happy that he agreed to work with us on this home because we knew that it would be very challenging,” says Patti. But, neither Patti nor Mike could have known that this would be the most challenging project of their 14 year marriage.

It didn’t take Patti long to sketch out the floor plan of the home that they would build on that hill. From her own experience as well as ideas from homes that they have seen and toured, Patti had a pretty good picture of what they wanted and what would fit into their lifestyle. She also knew that they wanted three bedrooms and several fireplaces. They got their three bedrooms and also ended up with five fireplaces and eight bathrooms!

But designing the exterior proved a little more difficult. “I wanted something stately,” she says “I knew that I wanted the style inside to be very old, formal French with a Rococo look, but I couldn’t find the right look for the outside,” she added. The inspiration finally came one day when she was going through some things that she had in storage.

“There was this picture, Villa Suburbaine, that Mike and I had in our first home,” Patti says. “It was a print—the elevation of a French chateau—and we just loved it. We didn’t have the right place for it in our last home, but we just couldn’t part with it. So, we put it in storage and pretty much forgot about it. But as soon as I saw it, I knew that it would be the perfect elevation for our new home. So, I packaged up the picture, frame and all, and sent it to our architect.” Steve Bush, an architect who works out of Tulsa, was the Bridgeforths’ choice to design the elevation of their new home. He followed the beloved picture perfectly, and when you see the print now, you might think that it is the original sketched design for the exterior of the Bridgeforth home.

“The roof system was the most challenging part of building this house,” says Bailey, the builder. “It is basically flat, but because of the sloped sides, it took us six months to complete.” The crew could not walk on the roof, so they had to do the work from platforms. The custom slate (mined in Asia) was very heavy, and they could only nail a few tiles at a time because of the weight limits on the lifts. Only after all the slate was complete could the copper top of the roof be put on. The mansard roof also has a hidden gutter. “They wanted to keep the clean look of the design and didn’t want the gutters to show on the outside of the house,” added Matt.

ALL PHOTOS BY EDWARD BIAMONTE. Top: Patti Bridgeforth helped design this staircase in the home's front lobby. Bottom: The Bridgeforth mansion on a hill.