For Kay L. Cox, the move from Mount Vernon, Indiana, to Evansville following a divorce presented the opportunity to build her dream house twice. She briefly resided Downtown, then in 2017 settled on 54-acres on Darmstadt Road. The North Side property once belonged to baseball legend Don Mattingly and included a 35-stall horse barn, storage barn, small house — which later was torn down — an outdoor riding arena, and paddocks. Cox mapped out her design plan with Greg Mullen, vice president and principal designer of H.G. McCullough Designers, Inc. She felt it was like building on perfection — a Southeastern, coastal-style home with high ceilings, large windows, and interior archways built to remind Cox of the South Carolina vacations she’s loved.
“We had looked for property for a little while and just really hadn’t found anything. And this came on the market, so we went to look at it, and I said, ‘This is beautiful. … It is perfect for this house that we want to rebuild,’” Cox says. She brought in designer Madonna Niemeier of Gallagher Niemeier Interiors, who also worked on her Mount Vernon home. The pair relied on more than two decades of experience and friendship. “Kay loved that home,” Niemeier says of Cox’s previous residence. “She made a few changes to this one; it’s a little bigger and more updated.”
Two and a half years were spent completing the 11,024-square-foot structure. During that time, work went into incorporating Cox’s vision of eye-catching artwork, antiques, and china, along with stylish furniture, into her new space. Cox put a lot of thought into the drapes for each room, which defined the color schemes, having the fabrics sourced from Italy and Germany. Cox, her husband Wade McNeill — a Kentucky native and former Director of Slot Operations at Tropicana Evansville — their 12-year-old Yorkiepoo, Harley, and a 30-year-old former 4-H horse, Freckles, moved in by late 2019; the four-car garage with a furnished apartment was completed in 2020.
“I’ve worked with Kay for so many years. There’re no ‘ifs.’ She has a certain look that she loves, and she knows what she wants. We were searching for that elegant southern look, but still comfortable,” Niemeier says.
A 15,000-pound fountain stands at the end of the driveway, offering a taste of grander elements that await inside. Stained hickory wood flooring covers the first floor, and introducing each room are cross-section archways, nine in total, relying on hundreds of wooden pieces. The cream-colored foyer has 19-foot ceilings perfect for displaying an eight-foot-tall painting of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat by Atlanta, Georgia-based artist Michael Dines. An award won by racehorse Man o’ War is flanked by Murano glass lamps atop a desk. Off the foyer is the dining room, which evokes coastal living with a massive 18-foot-by-8-foot landscape painting also by Dines. “When we went to Atlanta to meet (Dines) and see his work in person, that set the foundation for the tone and color of the house,” Niemeier says. “The painting reflects so much of the South and South Carolina that I absolutely just love,” Cox adds.
Beyond the foyer is the sea foam blue formal living room with a fireplace and, above it, a painting of a scene from Kiawah Island, South Carolina; Cox calls it “one of my favorite things in the house.” She handpicked all the antiques and knickknacks displayed — “all my little treasures,” Cox calls them — which came from her mother, Jenni Nix, as well as American & European Antiques boutique owner Kenny Drew and Eddie Erickson, owner of now-closed E. Erickson Design & Antiques.
The kitchen is a foodie’s dream with a 12-foot island, warming drawer, and ice machine. An adjacent pantry includes a collection of blue china under arches crafted by Wood Specialties by Fehrenbacher. “I love her butler’s pantry. It’s a beautiful, small area of the kitchen, but very functional,” Niemeier says. “When we started to design the spaces, we had our eye on the kitchen first to set the tone of elegance, and we followed through with the rest of the rooms.”
Now married for a decade, Cox and McNeill spend most of their time in the living room, relaxing on comfortable furniture while watching sports; of course, Harley has his own spot on the couch. At night, they retreat to the primary suite with a horseshoe-shaped walk-in closet that includes 270-degree mirrors and a bathroom. The primary bedroom ties gray-blue walls with coral decor, a matching sitting area, and custom bedding. The remaining three bedrooms upstairs are replicas of her daughters’ rooms — Celeste, Alexa, and Grace — from the Mount Vernon house, and are ready to welcome the sisters as well as Cox’s son, Seth, when they visit. Above the garage is an apartment with a kitchen area, living room, and two bedrooms, plus a full gym.
Back outside, a small, 60-year-old lake received a dash of elegance with a waterfall. When Cox wanted to add a pool house — a space for entertaining and comfort — in 2021, the landscapers again got to work. Aching Acres Landscaping won a 2024 Green Excellence Award from the Indiana Nursery and Landscape Association for a Residential Landscape Design Build Over $50,000 for the pool, hardscape, and planting design. To create a garden around the property, landscapers added boxwood hedges, hydrangeas, roses, abelia, deciduous holly, azaleas, coneflower, allium, and liriope, as well as crape myrtle, dogwoods, paperbark maples, columnar elms, and magnolias. Cox also brought in large champion’s cup planters from Louisville, Kentucky, that serve as a focal point for the gardens. The pool is popular with her six grandchildren, as is the outdoor sitting area with a grill and television.
The 2,804-square-foot pool house was designed by Mullen at H.G. McCullough Designers and completed in 2023. Cox designed the interior herself with help from Kip Farmer, owner of Kip Farmer Design, with artwork, layout and design of the cabinetry, lighting, furniture, and wallpaper. The goal was to reflect the elegance of the main house with a more relaxed, updated vibe and open concept plan.
“I love working with Kay because she has such a strong sense of style herself,” says Farmer, who wanted the space to feel grand but not intimidating. There is a 35-foot cream-colored ceiling topped by a cupola and anchored by crown molding throughout the multipurpose dining room, living room, and kitchen that often are used for family gatherings and holidays. Cox chose luxury vinyl tile flooring so the kids can come straight inside from swimming and warm up by the fireplace. Fehrenbacher Cabinets sourced the cabinets and quartz backsplash with hints of blue for the kitchen, and Cox found more accessories with Kim Coslett at Stella’s Finishing Touches, including a driftwood coffee table for the living area.
“Entering the pool house, you get this ‘wow’ moment, but it’s still very approachable,” Farmer says. The pool house also includes a washer, dryer, and full bathroom, but the fun begins down the hall with a full bar and Skee-Ball arcade game surrounded by palm tree wallpaper, which Farmer calls a “bold play of pattern.” In the next room sits a Full Swing Golf simulator that McNeill often uses during the off-season; it includes extra games for the grandkids, who can also head to the other end of the property and shoot some hoops on a basketball court inside the old storage barn.
The second time around, Cox found delight in recreating her dream home. “It’s great to take something you love and rebuild it, but get to tweak it,” she says. “It’s been a lot of fun designing this house.”
Design and Construction Vendors
Accessories, pool house: Kim Coslett, Stella’s Finishing Touches
Cabinetry: Fehrenbacher Cabinets, Inc.
Construction: Becher Brothers Construction, now part of GBE Construction Group, Inc.
Designer: Greg Mullen, H.G. McCullough Designers, Inc.
Drywall: Bart Hahn, Hahn Brothers Drywall
Fountain: sourced from Robinson Iron in Alexander City, Alabama
Furniture: Karges Furniture; Jonathan Charles; Leather Craft
Interior Design, main house: Madonna Niemeier, Gallagher Niemeier Interiors
Interior Design, pool house: Kip Farmer, Kip Farmer Design
Landscaping: Aching Acres Landscaping
Landscaping Maintenance: Landscapes by Dallas Foster, Inc.
Outdoor stonework: Wayne Glaser, Glaser Masonry
Outdoor concrete: Bill Egli Concrete Construction Co.
Rugs: The Rug Merchant
Bathroom tile work: Vertical Tile, Inc.
Woodwork: Wood Specialties by Fehrenbacher
Wood staining: the late Mike DeWitt, Mike’s Hardwood Floors, LLC
