By Katie Pollock
“I can entertain 75 people out here,” says Bill Killian, of The Killian Group. His Springfield-based construction company built Branson Landing and has clients all over the country. And when he says he has outdoor space for more than six dozen people, he’s not talking about a backyard. He’s talking about a balcony. It’s a giant space with lots of sunshine, table seating for 13, plenty of upholstered wicker lounging furniture, a shade-making wooden overhang and a view of both the Branson Landing promenade and Lake Taneycomo. It’s bigger than the decks on most houses, yet it’s attached to a three-bedroom condo. We’re not gonna lie: It’s pretty sweet.
Bill and his wife, Lisa (who did all of the decorating in the home herself), don’t live in this condo all the time. Instead they use it as a weekend getaway for the family or as a space for clients to stay and enjoy Branson or see The Killian Company’s work on the Landing. Lisa admits that she can’t spend a weekend there without also taking advantage of the shopping that’s just steps away.
There is no clutter here in the Killian condo, no toys that Bill and Lisa’s 11-year-old son, Nick, might have left lying around. Their 13-year-old daughter, Christina’s, bedroom is spotlessly clean around her as she lounges on her four-poster canopy bed, fiddling with her cell phone. The closets are mostly empty and feel almost hotel-like. (Lisa insisted that if clients would be staying in the condo, they should be given some little comforts, such as the luxe bathrobes embroidered with The Killian Group’s logo that are the sole items hanging in the master bedroom’s walk-in closet.)
But there are still homey accents and important touches of the Killians’ personalities. In the entry, the walls are decorated with framed odes to musical greats. A black and white picture of Frank Sinatra is accompanied by his autograph. Jimmy Buffett’s guitar is framed a little farther down the hall. A picture of the Beatles follows that. It’s a shout-out to Branson’s musical history and Bill’s music fandom. (He’s a friend of Louise Harrison, George Harrison’s sister and the mastermind behind Branson’s Liverpool Legends show. She has graced their party deck before, and Lisa says her stories of the Beatles’ heyday are fascinating.)
A distinctly delicious-looking splash of color in the chic, mostly black living room is a modern glass bowl filled with M&Ms. It’s surrounded by sleek, very un-M&M-ish décor. The Italian tile floor is black with warm washes of patinaed silvery coloring. The sofa is black with a zebra-skin throw tossed over it, and soft pillows in zebra patterns and fluffy white fabric. On the floor is a soft white shag rug that sits between the see-through fireplace (which is covered in the same tile as the floor, and whose other side faces the giant balcony).
There is interesting art scattered here and there on the walls of the condo, and Lisa says she and Bill bought most of it at the CASA art auction last spring. She says they flew home from the Bahamas a day early, so they wouldn’t miss the auction. And then they essentially wiped out all their home decorating needs in one evening by snagging the auction items. A particularly interesting Picasso portrait hangs in the master bedroom. A Michael Godard print of humanoid strawberries seizing a bottle of champagne sits in the dining room.
The dining room, with its extendable table to seat six or more and its modern frosted glass chandelier, has its own exit out onto the balcony. The mirrored back wall gives the small space a bigger feel. Next to the dining room and sharing an open space with the living room is the kitchen. It’s not huge, but like the living room, it’s dark and chic. The almost-black cabinets have frosted glass panels on the front. The glass tile backsplash is mostly squares of deep, rich reds and purples, but every so often there is one bright silvery tile. Lisa says those are white gold. Their metallic tones are brought out by the stainless steel bar stools. Nearby is a bar area with a wine rack, sink and similar frosted glass cabinets. They are etched with a “K” for Bill’s company.
That “K” logo is repeated on the glass shower door in the master bathroom. It’s a large and luxurious steam shower with tumbled marble on the floor an a glass tile accent in iridescent shades of violet, teal and blue. Across the bathroom is a jet tub that butts up against shutters that, when opened, look out into the master bedroom and out toward Lake Taneycomo. A benefit of condo life: There’s almost always a view.
Business As Usual
After stepping out of the elevator in the Branson Landing condos, Jeremy Carter can’t help himself. He reaches out and, with the effortless precision of a perfectionist fixing a flaw that only he can see, straightens the lamp on a coffee table. “I did all of this, too,” he says with a flourish of his hand in the air, gesturing toward the contemporary tables, lamps, mirrors and chairs that add warmth to the serene and dimly lit hallway. He’s leading the way to the HCW business condo, occupied off-and-on by the owners of the development company that made Branson Landing happen. It’s used for entertaining, as a place for out-of-town business associates to stay and as an on-the-Landing getaway for the owners themselves, Rick Huffman, Marc Williams and Santo Catanese. Carter is a design consultant who works out of Tri Lakes Interiors in Hollister. He has added his touch to 11 of the new condos at Branson Landing, including the HCW business condo. And although he’s known for French country style, luxurious custom draperies and bedding and obscure, foreign, antique books, he has taken more of a contemporary tack with this space.
In one of the guest bedrooms, there is an elegant Asian theme. Simultaneously warm and clean-lined, the bedding consists of a red and black cherry blossom comforter folded at the foot of the bed, and a red quilted bed cover under that. Accent pillows are tailored in red and black fabric, or covered in a black and white Asian-inspired box design. Behind that is a custom-made cream fabric headboard. Across from the bed is a chest of drawers that is covered in black leather for a sleek look and a masculine touch that complements the floral bedding.
A standard in the condo, there is a jet tub in each of the three bathrooms. Carter says he went for spa-inspired décor in the bathrooms, with thick and soft chenille loop rugs and a serene atmosphere. He even picked out the towels, which are monogrammed with the HCW logo.
There is an abundance of light in the other guest bedroom whose balcony overlooks the fountain at the heart of Branson Landing. (The condo is directly above Cantina Laredo.) The bedding in this room was custom-made (as was all the bedding in the condo), in rich green, red and purple chenille. Above the bed is a large contemporary brushstroke painting by Forsyth artist Christina Schanda. Simple and charming botanical prints of flowers in a field and two tall yellow and brown glass vases accent the space.
In the condo’s kitchen, a custom backsplash is made of stainless steel but has a brick pattern. The Asian theme continues here, with clean lines and simply elegant but not over-the-top dishes, linens, flatware and stemware. A black cornice accents the cherry cabinets that came standard with the condo. On the counter, ordinary items create clean and simple accents: A stack of cookbooks, perfectly aligned, is topped with salt and pepper grinders. The centerpiece, though, is a stunning single orchid in a round stone vase.
Next to the kitchen in the small dining room is a surprisingly large table with a glass top and stainless steel legs, chocolate-colored chairs with cream piping and a series of multi-sized round mirrors (as wall art). The mirrors continue one of the condo’s themes: circles.
Carter says the living room (which shares a wide-open space with the kitchen) was a challenge, as the room is long in two directions but shallow in the other two. To make a little more room, he removed the hearth from the see-through fireplace (which looks out onto one of the condo’s four balconies). The goal in this room, Carter says, was texture. The sofa is ultra suede. The drapes are an “eyelash” fabric that has teeny, tiny, delicate fringe details, which are truly as soft as eyelashes. In keeping with one of his trademarks, Carter lined a shelf with antique books. They sit right next to more modern touches, such as a contemporary glass bowl and a metal sculpture of coral.
The master bedroom is a lesson in fabric combinations. The headboard is custom-made with green quilted fabric. The pillows are striped with orange, brown and green. Others are solid orange. Still others are made of a brown fringed chenille. That fringe look is repeated on two square leather rawhide stools at the foot of the bed. Combining classic and contemporary, prints of antique-looking urns are framed with wide mattes.
The master bathroom has shutters that can be opened or closed to the master bedroom. Tall glass vases sit by the tub and tall metal vases sit on the sink. Adding just a touch of whimsy, the abode has a painting of two chubby ladies wading in a beach.
Easier to notice on the way out than on the way in, the centerpiece of the entry hall is an oversized mirror in a thick, black, classic frame. Beneath it, again combining a classic look with a modern touch—Carter’s modus operandi in this condo design—are two black leather quilted cube-shaped stools.
