One of today’s greatest challenges is facing stress. Too often folks take on way too many projects, resulting in none being done well. This is not the case for platinum, spiked-haired Barbara Daseke. Not only is she co-chair of the April Mad Hatters Tea Party at the Arboretum, she’s chairing the upcoming “Viva Las Vegas! Spotlight Gala benefiting the WaterTower Theatre.
Teak hallway
Oh, and she and husband Don just moved into their newly finished house of teak this past week. Three years in the making, it was a labor of love and joy for interior designer Barbara, who partnered up with architect David Droese to create a dramatic residence that could showcase her favorite pieces of furniture, serve as an entertaining center for the Dasekes’ numerous hosting duties and be a place to relax. Mission accomplished!
Back terrace and pool
Requiring a year and half to build, the 7,500-square-foot home was built on the site of their former home. According to Don, this is probably the only one of its kind in the U.S., with this much teak on the inside and outside. He must really believe in this hardwood because among his many business ventures is his ownership of East Teak Fine Hardwood, which is the largest importer of fine hardwoods in the U.S.
In addition to the wood being termite-proof, its fragrance is apparent from the moment you step in the front door and, Wednesday night, they opened that door for the sponsors of the WaterTower Theatre gala. While some might think the couple might have been pushing it a bit to have a party within 10 days of moving in, not so. They had already had a seated dinner for 25 members of Don’s World Presidents’ Organization.
Kitchen island counter of polished limestone
Luckily, Barbara, who admits that she “barely keeps a couple of cucumbers in [her] refrigerator,” followed the advice of chef Kent Rathbun, who admonished her to outfit her new kitchen “for the caterers,” and that she did with Wolf ovens, Sub-Zero refrigerators and an island counter that’s almost as big as an RV. It’s made of South American limestone, and Barbara admitted that the moment she spotted the massive slabs, she threw her body against them preventing access to anyone else.
Wall of calligraphy brushes
But then she was throwing her body into many similar situations from the looks of the home. In the dining room, her collection of Chinese calligraphy brushes that she used to have in “stands” were suspended from the ceiling by almost-invisible threads.
Statue
In the study a wall of statues, bowls and clay vases are beautifully displayed. The ceilings throughout the house are works of art, too, with Capiz shells covering the master bathroom and mammoth ceiling fans that double as artwork in the great rooms. In the two-story room overlooking the backgrounds is a wall of Jim Bowman glass sculptures.
Jim Bowman glass sculptures
The only thing missing is a television set. Seems upon moving in, the flat screens were not yet ready for delivery, so the Dasekes have been roughing it.
But with the crowd filling the place to the rafters Wednesday night for the WaterTower Theatre’s Spotlight Gala patrons party, there was no need for a boob tube. Everyone was talking about the benefit that will take place at the Addison Theatre Centre with Max Vontaine performing a la the Rat Packers on February 18. The WaterTower Theatre’s success has been amazing in comparison with other groups. Not long ago there were only 500 season-ticket holders; now, there are 3,500 and they sell out every performance.
You can expect the gala to be still another sell-out success.
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the home is As amazing as she .I just cannot wait to get a peek at it.. and doing all the community volunteer work.. I am truly in awe of her schedule and always looks like she stepped from the pages of Vogue… why she’s not on the best Dressed list year after year is amazing to me.. I am referring to the INTERNATIONAL BEST DRESSED LIST.. they’d be in good company.!