Eddie Seal/Special to the Caller-Times

Marsha and her daughters often play spa in the master bath, soaking in the jet tub, doing facials, pedicures and manicures. ‘They think it’s just the coolest,’ she said.

By Diane S. Morales, Caller-Times

September 17, 2006

Eddie Seal/Special to the Caller-Times

Stepping through the front door, a row of arches to the left and right of the entrance breaks up the pathway to the guest bedroom on one end and a powder room on the other.

PHOTO GALLERY

A magazine photo of a house in Florida and some homes designed by the same architect inspired David and Marsha Burkett’s Padre Island villa in Cane Harbor.

David sent off for the builder’s brochure of the Florida house and soon learned architect David Musquiz of San Antonio had designed the eye-catching homes they saw in town and in Rockport.

“From the first drawing, we knew this was our guy,” said David, a local attorney. “The only change that was ever made was the total footage. He drew the woodwork, cabinets…I was totally impressed.”

In about a month, plans were drawn for the 4,735-square-foot home on a fingertip lot on Packery Channel. The Burketts wanted a modern Tuscan style home brimming with natural stone, a veranda and outdoor living spaces. Builder Gilbert Zapata made the plans come to life.

“We not only wanted a house we liked but something for friends. . . for our kids to enjoy as they grow up,” David said.

And for the past year, the Burkett family home has been the playground for their friends and their kids’ friends alike.

Earth vs. sky

Building a dream home was an exercise in compromise for David and Marsha Burkett. David likes the color blue and Marsha favors earth tones. With the help of Jean Marie Giegerich, a member of the American Society of Interior Designers, the home’s architectural features and its waterfront setting were frameworks to interior décor.

Eddie Seal/Special to the Caller-Times

An inviting swimming pool and Jacuzzi tempts a dip from practically every room in the house. Marsha Burkett said their daughters initially were overwhelmed with the home’s size when they moved in about a year ago. But the girls have adjusted. “It’s a great entertaining house and for the kids,” she said. “They can swim, go fishing, jet ski.”

“In all of my projects, I try to bring the outside and inside together,” Giegerich said.

From the outside, Giegerich said the home’s taupe tile roof shipped from Florida dictated the window frame colors, balcony rails and the earthy wall colors throughout the home.

The Mexican limestone columns accenting the exterior entrance, a veranda above the entrance and columns lining the arches outside the balcony and the covered patio complement the home’s ivory colored travertine tile also imported from Mexico.

Past the home’s entrance, muted gold walls warm the main living area, which includes the dining room and kitchen all overlooking the water. Arched window frames, doorways and niches soften the interior lines.

A cream-colored octagon ceiling divided with tan moulding accentuates the living room where butternut leather sofas and copper colored accent chairs share space in front of a limestone fireplace. The same ceiling treatment is repeated in the dining area.

Influences of David’s favorite color blue punctuate the rooms with colorful artwork, blue leatherback dining chairs, a frosted blue and yellow pendant light fixture above the dining table and blue contemporary drop lights hang above the granite top kitchen bar.

Eddie Seal/Special to the Caller-Times

The couple didn’t want plain ceilings so the architect added depth and interest with a series of boxed ceilings in the living and dining rooms and the master suite with crown moulding. The daughters’ rooms also feature pitched ceilings.

To keep the natural theme flowing, light wood kitchen cabinets blend with black and tan granite counters.

“I love to cook,” Marsha said. “And if I was going to be in there I wanted to have enough room for all my girlfriends to sit and drink wine and converse with me while I cook.”

Coves and retreats

Bright gold wall color leads up the travertine stairs to the master suite and the Burkett girls’ bedrooms and baths on the second floor. A guest bedroom downstairs includes a full bath. The home has two other half baths, one inside and one in the pool house.

To the left of the stairs, natural light filters from the veranda’s French doors into the landing. French doors directly across the veranda open to the master suite.

Eddie Seal/Special to the Caller-Times

Smooth and fossilized limestone accents the Burkett’s stucco home entrance for an impressive welcome. David Burkett said the limestone was imported from Mexico to Arte de Cantera in Edinburg.

Travertine tile transition to bamboo floors in the master suite. A limestone fireplace, a three-tiered ceiling and access to a breathtaking balcony highlight the calming gray and brown room.

In the master suite, Giegerich kept a natural stain to the cabinets to spotlight the travertine floors. Limestone columns accenting an arched wall around the jet tub frame a window view of the water.

Hideaway desk coves for 4-year-old Sidney and Parker, 7, are tucked in closets along the landing walkway to their bedrooms, a gameroom and an elevator.

But with a swimming pool, a dock for fishing, jet skis, hideaway desks somehow get overlooked.

“Every day she (Parker) asks ‘Mommy, who’s coming over our house to play?’,” Marsha said. “And that’s exactly what we wanted.”

Contact Diane S. Morales at 886-3758 or moralesd@caller.