Like Neal, she’d been married once before — and she told him she had no intentions of remarrying. But Cupid worked his charm. Wedding bells rang in 1978. “We had nothing,” says Neal. “She drove an AMC Gremlin. I had a ’64 Plymouth Valiant with a hole in the floorboard.” “Our marriage was my salvation,” Neal writes in his book. And when Neal was presented with an opportunity to dive into another technological endeavor, Linda was the one who encouraged him to do so. In 1991, Neal founded wireless microchip maker RF Micro Devices with Bill Pratt and Powell Seymour. Less than a decade later, the company exploded into a world-leading, multi-billion-dollar business. With Forbes pegging his annual compensation at more than a million dollars, Neal and his bride could afford to establish the 400-acre Linbrook Heritage Estate, on which their house now stands as a 32,000-square-foot testament to the American Dream. He writes his success story in an earlier book called Fire in the Belly: Building a World-Leading High-Tech Company from Scratch in Tumultuous Times. For Jerry and Linda, Linbrook is a dream home — a house composed by cherry-picking their favorite elements of various architectural styles. Charleston architect Bill Huey helped the Neals blend Jeffersonian Classicism with high-style Greek Revivalism in a way that is both harmonious and, the Neals believe, complementary to the surrounding landscape. In all, Linbrook took nearly three years to design, and equally long to build. A one-mile driveway seems a fitting approach to this utterly arresting structure. Much of the house was modeled after the work of Venetian architect Andrea Palladio, particularly the grandiose proportions of the home’s exterior. Indeed, at first glance, Linbrook resembles a sprawling Palladian villa. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
The grand proportions of Linbrook Hall were modeled after the works of Venetian architect Andrea Palladio, who was influenced by both Roman and Greek architecture. A defining feature of the Palladian style: symmetry. Formal greeting room (top) and formal dining room (nearest above) flank the foyer. Details, such as wall color and antique chandeliers, were left to Linda Neal.
June/July 2012
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