The luxury of family

By AMY JONES

When visitors turn off Helena’s Morgan Road and through the black iron gates onto Dennis O’Brien’s estate, the first thing they see is a beautiful country landscape, dotted with a bright red barn and the occasional goose.

Follow the winding driveway, and it’s not long before a stately brick three-story mansion comes into view. Inside live Dennis and Jeannene O’Brien and their three daughters, Jacquelyn, Jennifer and Jenny.

The O’Briens built the residence seven years ago, after buying their 70 acres of land at auction. They found the plans for the house while searching the Internet and enlisted a local architect to help turn it into their dream dwelling.

The house, with its six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and guest wing, is perfect for entertaining friends and family, Jeannene said.

The mansion has five fireplaces, which Jeannene said help make it homey.

“We really wanted that feature,” she said. “We do a lot of entertaining, and it gives it a homey family feeling.”

However, entertaining is just as easy in the summer months, with a beautiful patio adorned with several comfortable chairs and cushions, a pool and a hot tub. For fans of fishing, the O’Briens have a lake stocked with fish, along with a pier, paddleboat and canoes. Friends and family also ride four-wheelers across the countryside.

In fact, the family hosted a party for Helena native Bo Bice after he competed on American Idol.

“I love the back of the house,” Jeannene said. “In the spring and summer, we can sit out back and relax.”

When the family wants to stay inside for fun, the downstairs boasts a theater room with comfortable leather chairs and a screen nearly the size of the wall. Close by is the football room, decorated (as is the entire house) in University of Alabama memorabilia – some of it signed by such luminaries as Joe Namath and Nick Saban.

The house is built for functionality, too. The guest wing, which features a small kitchen, a sitting area, bathroom and bedroom, sits above a separate two-car garage so guests can come and go at their leisure.

There is a laundry room on every floor for convenience, and the largest laundry room, on the main floor, has extra counter space for potting plants, folding clothes and storage.

The master bedroom has a small kitchenette area for brewing coffee in the morning so Dennis and Jeannene can have their coffee without going into the kitchen to make it.

The house also has an elevator to travel from floor to floor if needed.

For the O’Briens, family is an important part of the luxury. Photos and paintings of the whole family abound on the walls, and the guest wing is connected to the house through a hallway decorated with shelves of cheerleading and softball trophies the girls won while growing up.

Dennis said a big reason he and Jeannene put so much time and effort into the house was to make it perfect for their daughters. When Jennifer went to her high school prom, she and her friends had their prom dinner by the pool outside.

“I think the girls always liked to have friends over to ride four-wheelers and hang out,” he said. “That was one reason we did all this. We wanted them at our house.”

[cincopa AAPA8hqQQSHI]

Share on Facebook