Peek Inside Fred Funk’s Home

words by Virginia Chamlee • photos by Agnes Lopez

It was 2005 when Fred Funk won THE PLAYERS Championship, earning a purse that included some $1.44 million and a hefty Waterford Crystal trophy. And despite the many accolades and media interviews that followed, his home life was decidedly unglamorous. “We had no furniture and we were drinking out of the trophy on fold-up chairs,” laughs his wife, Sharon. The couple had just completed the buildout of their Marsh Landing home three months prior and, due to the rigors and travel required of the job, hadn’t yet completed their move.

Fast forward some 15 years later and the house— which was designed by Sharon’s brother, an architect with Overland Partners in San Antonio, Texas—has become a home, albeit one the couple will soon be leaving, in favor of slightly smaller digs. Their kids—now ages 20 and 24—grew up in the home, which sits on a sprawling, waterfront lot and encompasses three properties: a main house, a guest house, and a game house, which doubles as a museum of sorts to house Funk’s many trophies. The main house is a three-bedroom with a media room and dining room and the guest house also includes three bedrooms and a small kitchenette. The game house includes a gym, trophy room, pool table, pingpong table and an oversized television.

“We’ve used this house big-time,” muses Fred. “It’s been a place for family reunions and for our kids to bring their friends—as many as 25 kids would be here at once. We had a boat and we water-skied just about every day out back. It was a great gathering house.”

It’s also served as something of a revolving door for many of the families who the Funks have helped over the years. When golfer Justin Leonard told Funk about a friend in need of a liver transplant, the Funks moved him in their home for three months. “He lived in Texas but Mayo was the best treatment option for him, so he and his whole family moved in to the guest house.” Another couple moved in after adopting a child from Uganda, ultimately living in the home for two-and-a-half years and helping look after the property while the Funks were on the road.

The design of the house is ideal for hosting guests, offering views of the Intracoastal from nearly every room, and allowing plenty of space for entertaining. “Everybody has their space,” notes Fred.

The prairie-style home makes great use of the surrounding landscape, highlighting the outdoors and offering a quiet escape from the couple’s busy life. “I just love the activity on the water,” says Fred. “Huge barges go by, boats—and you see dolphins quite a lot. The way the sun rises in the east and lights up the trees outside…it’s just beautiful.”

Many of the furnishings in the home—including the coffee table pictured on page 45—came from overseas in a container, after Sharon sourced them while antiquing in Belgium. mm

mm Though she doesn’t often get attached to her finds, this pair of vintage alabaster candlesticks are two of her favorite pieces. “I found them at [local discount furniture store] Shep’s,” says Sharon. “There were all sorts of antiques scattered around and I picked these up and asked a woman working there, ‘What are these?’ She said, ‘Oh, I don’t know, they were in a fire; they’re from the Civil War.” They wound up being 25 bucks each.”

mm Funk, who joined the PGA Tour in 1989, houses most of his trophies in the game room. Here, he poses in front of a painting of his 2005 PLAYERS win.

mm A pair of lived-in leather armchairs offer a prime location to catch up on Netflix— or, more likely, the Golf Channel—in the couple’s home theater room.

mm “We’re not too precious with our things. If some - thing breaks, it’s fine. We want everything to be livable,” says Sharon. “Dansel [the couple’s very friendly Labrador retriever] is always right next to us, even on the couch.”

mm A mix of vintage and modern accessories sits in the hallway leading to the master bedroom. “The decor has changed two or three times,” says Sharon. “I painted all the darker wood and made it lighter, so it became a little more transitional.”

mm The oversized portrait of Jesus was painted by an artist using only one tool—his own hands—during a PGA Tour Bible study hosted at the Funk’s home. “It’s one of the only things I’m taking with me when we move,” says Sharon. “Everything else can stay.”