w Spaces | Discerning Design
Well before their stunning home materialized on their 50acre estate in Arcadia, Tom and Lisa Price had already begun inviting friends over. Granted, there was no house and the wooded acreage hadn’t yet been transformed, but friends didn’t seem to mind. From the beginning, the Prices wanted to build a home that reflected the beauty of the property to serve primarily as a gathering place for friends. The name they chose for their home, Anam Cara, or “friend of the soul,” is a fitting appellation for this hidden sanctuary whose abundance of natural beauty effortlessly transforms its guests. Understandably, countless friends make frequent appearances at the home, gracefully cresting a hill amid the pin oaks and the lush, native landscape of Arcadia and occupying an impeccably landscaped four-acre lot that overlooks three ponds among the remaining acres. However, the view wasn’t always as breathtaking as it is today. For at least 20 years, the property was a rich source of dirt for homebuilders who eventually mined it to bedrock. “A lot of Edmond homes were built on that dirt,” Lisa says. Replenishing the property required thousands of loads of dirt and thousands of tons of boulders. The Prices then restored the topography with native grasses and wildflowers.
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slice | november 2010