“The general feeling is ‘eclectic collector’,” says Beddingfield. He and Rosenbach collaborated to create the Art Deco-style quartzite fireplace. “I like that super-ornate, gold-gilded mirror in conjunction with the square fireplace. It’s a pretty mix and part of a big statement.”
The starburst designs of the gold chests on either side provide additional exclamation points.
The homeowners love plants, so Beddingfield worked with Joshua Gibson-Roark of Gibson-Roark Outdoors and Installs (click here) to add greenery throughout the home, including this towering fiddle-leaf fig. “I told him I’d like to create something large here in the living room,” says Beddingfield. “These are all his creations and were part of the design from the beginning.”
The fiddle-leaf fig is a notoriously finicky indoor plant, but it’s thriving in the well-lit space. “It loves it there.”
Amarillo designer Reese Beddingfield loves developing lasting, trusted relationships with his clients. When a local couple he’d known for 25 years decided they were ready for a new home, they brought Beddingfield into the process even before they’d decided to move—or knew where they’d be moving. “I was lucky to be part of the buying process with these clients,” he says. After electing not to build new, Beddingfield joined them as they toured existing homes on the market. They wanted to remodel, and knew he’d take the lead on that process.
They found the perfect house in a quiet, scenic neighborhood in northwest Amarillo. “It was a nice house with generous space and good bones,” says Beddingfield. The two-story home had been built in the 1980s. “But it was too closed in. It had too many little rooms. It was time for a facelift.”
Beddingfield envisioned a large, open entry and living area separated from the kitchen only by a glass wall. He consulted with Kline Rosenbach of Rosenbach Contractors and determined that the statement wall would be structurally possible.
“Once I came up with that glass wall, everything started there. We designed around the glass to make the spaces apparent to each other,” Beddingfield says. Designing room by room with that kind of visibility can be tricky because “everything talks to each other.”
Beddingfield and Rosenbach went to work. The result is a stunning texture- and technology-rich environment the designer describes as “a warmer, traditional style” with Art Deco accents. “Their previous home was all light colors and creams and white,” he says. “This one, they wanted something a little warmer and cozier, neutrals with greens. This is a client who lets me play.”
“The chandelier is one of the stars of the show,” the designer says. Both Beddingfield and the homeowners fell in love with the Allan Knight piece during
a design trip to Dallas. “It set the course for how that dining room was ultimately going to look.”
Immediately visible from the entry, the dining room also features a commissioned triptych by a New York artist, created specifically for that wall. The centerpiece is from Reserve, an Amarillo design shop Beddingfield owns. It was designed specifically for the space by Ann Beddingfield, Reese’s mother, who created custom arrangements throughout the home.
Set apart from the entrance and living area by the glass wall, the kitchen makes its own statement. “The homeowner had zero interest in upper kitchen cabinets and wanted it to be more gallery-like,” Beddingfield says. He designed the bulk of the storage to exist in a wrap-around butler’s pantry and below the quartzite countertops, which sit atop custom burlwood cabinetry, crafted by Reinbold Inc.’s cabinet shop. The quartzite is the same style and color as the living room fireplace.
“She loves black-and-white photography and loves figural art,” he says, which led to the decision to use the dramatic faces as a backdrop. “The soft neutrals provide a pretty background so the art pops.”
The floor—which covers all of the downstairs—is an exotic, greenish-gray limestone. “It’s earthy and organic,” says Beddingfield.
The transparency begins with the home’s entrance. The custom door and windows are made of electro transparent glass. Also known as “smart glass,” it allows the homeowners to switch between clear glass during the day and frosted privacy glass at night, all controlled by the home’s automation system, provided by Sound Systems Ltd. “It’s on a certain schedule. The door frosts when the sun goes down and unfrosts in the morning,” Beddingfield says.
Guests are greeted by a dramatic arrangement of art pieces, including an enormous art book featuring the work of photographer Annie Liebowitz. Set on a stand, the book is filled with celebrity portraits and, when open, takes up nearly four feet of space. “The design concept is having a fantastic first impression, but also a way to live with different art pieces according to your mood, or what you want guests to experience,” says Beddingfield. The art changes every time the homeowners turn one of the 40-inch tall pages to reveal a new portrait.
The large owners’ suite provided an opportunity for Beddingfield to combine warm, neutral tones with bright pops of color, including pieces by Amarillo artist Nancy Walker.
One of the homeowners’ most beloved elements isn’t visible in our photos: a hidden, pop-up television at the foot of the bed. “I had seen something like it and had Kline build it,” explains Beddingfield. The home is fully automated, so when the homeowners turn on the TV, it rises out of the cabinet as the bedroom lights dim.
“It’s awesome. They weren’t sure about it at first, but now they say they can’t live without it.”
Most of the furniture and decor is new in this home, but not the large-scale Nancy Walker painting, “Fair Warning,” that hangs over the free-standing tub. “It was commissioned several years ago,” Beddingfield says. “They’ve appreciated and loved her work for a long time.”
The space is a his-and-hers split bath, with dual shower entrances and a walk-through, wraparound closet. “It was really fun, spatially, to design,” he says.
“The over-the-top powder room was designed around the wallpaper,” Beddingfield says of this space right off the kitchen. “The homeowner fell in love with it and said, ‘This is it.’”
The colorful, Swedish-designed wallpaper provides a contrast with the eye-catching sink. This incredible piece was created by Rosenbach out of onyx, based on a photo of a similar feature but scaled to fit the room.
The study is cozier, more personal, and more colorful than most of the other rooms in the home. “She loves this room in the morning. It has beautiful light and a view of the outdoors,” Beddingfield says. Most of the design elements in this space are available at Reserve. “She’s an excellent Reserve customer,” he says, laughing.
Leading upstairs from the kitchen, this staircase secretly includes one of the most attention-getting design pieces in the home, sourced from Scout Design Studio in Dallas. “Yeah, the monkeys are a surprise,” Beddingfield says. He and the homeowner encountered the quirky sconces and fell in love with them. “I thought, ‘How fun would it be to have all three as you head up the stairs, with all of them heading to the banana as the prize?’ It’s a real statement piece and people get a kick out of it.”
The staircase itself, which features inset lighting, is made of hand-scraped wood stained the same color as the limestone. “Kline figured out how to get them textured enough to not require a runner for non-slip purposes,” Beddingfield says. “It’s a clean, organic feel that connects to the rest of the home.”
The stairs are visible as you enter the front door. “That’s why they are lighted and a focal point. It’s like a piece of sculpture at the end of the home,” he adds.
