Tessa Carla Blog's: Kansas’ Most Expensive Home Is a $10.9M Mansion With a Wild Water Park

Wednesday, 16 September 2020

Kansas’ Most Expensive Home Is a $10.9M Mansion With a Wild Water Park

A mansion with its own artificial spot to scuba dive and cliff dive is the most expensive listing in the state of Kansas.

Listed for $10.9 million, a house known as the Spirit of Avalon, on Renner Road in Lake Quivira, KS, sits on almost 15 acres.

“You truly feel like you’re stepping onto the grounds of a resort. It really takes your breath away,” says the listing agent, Katie Casey.

“The house is so far from the road, you can’t see it at all. It’s a gorgeous setting and so secluded. No one knows you’re back there.”

Miles of paved trails run throughout the property and are lined with statues and water features, like fountains and koi ponds.

Some of those trails lead to the pool. And it’s an understatement to simply call it a pool. This is a high-end water park.

“They’ve got a grotto that has an indoor pool. There’s a waterfall that’s 30 feet high that you can actually kind of cliff dive off, into an outside pond,” Casey explains. “Then there’s also a scuba-diving tunnel with shells and artwork in the concrete walls, so that while you’re scuba diving, you can see that.”

The grotto also features a hot tub, a cold tub, steam showers, sauna rooms, and a bar area for entertaining.

Exterior of house in Lake Quivira, KS
The Perfect Spot

The pool also maintains an intriguing connection to the main residence.

“A part of the home has clear glass tiles, so you can actually see one of the water features and one of the little creeks running underneath the home,” Casey explains.

“All of the water is running underneath that glass tile, and then down to the big grotto, so it’s a pretty neat viewpoint.”

Once you’re done gawking at the possibility of cliff diving in Kansas, there’s the enormous house, all 17,755 square feet of it.

“The house itself is pretty spectacular,” Casey says. “Within the home, they’re featuring lots of antiques, artwork, mosaics, stained glass, and a really spectacular two-story library area.”

Mosaic ceiling in the library
The Perfect Spot

The mansion was originally built in 1993, and the current owner remodeled the entire home and added the pool and the library in the early 2000s.

“It’s spectacular. All the books are set up with the Dewey Decimal System, and they used to check out books to family and friends, so it’s a true library,” Casey says.

The books and other furnishings in the house are included in the sale price.

The library boasts stained-glass windows, an elaborate, hand-laid, domed mosaic ceiling surrounded by painted clouds, lots of wood carvings, patterned floors, metal railings, and stone sculptures.

“They employed different artisans from around the world to create the space,” Casey explains.

Inside, the house features an interesting mix of styles.

“[The owners] are very eclectic and just appreciate a lot of different styles and art. There is truly a wide range of art in the house. It’s almost like going to a museum,” Casey says.

Another standout feature? There are several kitchens throughout the house.

“There are seven bedrooms, and two of those bedrooms have kitchens inside of them, little mini-kitchenettes in the suite,” Casey explains.

Bonus: You’re never very far from a snack.

“There are a total of four kitchens in the main home, and then a kitchen in the carriage house, so five kitchens on the property and several wet bars.”

In what could be considered the main kitchen, there are high-end appliances and an enormous, V-shaped kitchen island.

This kitchen ceiling features geometric designs and is connected to a living area that also has a patterned ceiling, as well as huge windows looking out on to one of the many large outdoor patios.

In addition to the main house, there’s a nearly 3,000-square-foot carriage house with a bedroom and living space above a four-car garage.

The main house also has a three-car garage, a huge wine cellar, a billiard-room, a media room, and other living and entertaining spaces. There are also seven full bathrooms and seven half-bathrooms.

The owners ran a business out of the home, so there are several exterior entrances and office spaces.

“It’s set up to be a great work-from-home space, because it’s got built-in conference rooms with drop-down screens and projectors—and even outside spaces are set up on the internet network,” Casey explains. “Wherever you go in the house, it’s very connected.”

It’s also private. The entrance is gated and the home is surrounded by trees.

“The owner’s goal was to plant every type of tree that could possibly grow in Kansas, so there are many different species of trees, flowers, and plants. So when you’re driving up the driveway, it’s pretty breathtaking,” Casey explains.

You can look out over those trees and see for miles to the Kansas River and Lake Quivira, from a castle turret on top of the library. The home sits on the southwest edge of the suburbs of Kansas City, MO, about 25 minutes from downtown.

“The tower is actually considered the highest point in Johnson County,” Casey jokes.

In case you’re wondering, the second most expensive listing in Kansas is also in the Kansas City area. That home, about 30 minutes away, is listed for $10.5 million. It boasts its own nine-hole golf course—but it doesn’t have a scuba-diving pool.