Don and Ellen Edmondson House

“Instead of living in a house, we live in a home. Instead of living in a house designed by an architect, we live in a work of art.” —Don Edmondson

Nestled on Crowley’s Ridge, on a 30.55 acre heavily wooded site in Forrest City, Arkansas, the 7,900 square foot Edmondson house is a masterpiece of midcentury modern design by E. Fay Jones.

Of his 129 built designs, the Edmondson house is considered to be Jones’s most completely realized residential project. He designed every detail of the home, including furnishings, lighting, textiles, dishes, sculptures, fountains, and gardens. Built over a ten year period, at the height of his career, the home embodies Jones’ most important thoughts of architecture, materials, forms, and light.

“The complex begins at the carport and parking area at the summit of the hilly site, and from there a brick path and small bridge lead to the four-level house that steps down the hill. Entrance to the house is at the second level, which contains the living and dining areas. The two upper floors accommodate the master bedroom suite and a study, and the lower floor has two bedrooms opening onto a shared sitting room. Some finishes are unusual for the architect and were requested by the clients, including the cream-colored stucco walls inside and out, the red tile roofs, and the red pavers for walks and patios and around the pools. Inside, the millwork is red oak, with darker redwood highlighting major beams. In the mid-1980s, Jones added a guest house, with an attached greenhouse, and at the bottom of a path that leads down to a lake is a pagoda-like wooden “fishing shack.”

— Society of Architectural Historians Archipedia | Cyrus A. Sutherland with Gregory Herman, Claudia Shannon, Jean Sizemore, Jeannie M. Whayne, and Contributors

Design of the main house and carport began in 1975 and took over a year to complete. Construction of the main buildings began in 1978 and took approximately two years to complete. After moving into the main house in 1980, Don and Ellen Edmondson would add new structures, elements, or details almost every year for the next decade. Of the many additions, there is a terraced rear patio with pool that includes an arbor believed to contain over a mile of redwood, a guest house that was expanded to include a greenhouse, a small fishing pagoda, and a lake bridge.

" It never ended. It went on from the mail box, all the way down to the house, through the house, out the back, to the hot tub, to the little house and down to the lake, where he built a little fish house type thing, then there's an architecturally beautiful little bridge going across the lake. Fay was able to blend it all in seamlessly.”

— Don Edmondson

Throughout the numerous additions, the Jones’ and Edmondsons became the best of friends and Fay would often joke about Don’s desire for constant improvements:

“I’d never had a client like that. I called this guy the endless hotdog. You know you just need one or two clients like that and they’ll see you through the rest of your life.”

—Fay Jones