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TK Kimbrell has always loved the sprawling chateau that sits just off Belle Meade Boulevard. The successful music manager and owner of TKO Artist Management (his clients include Toby Keith, Mac McAnally, Chris Janson, and Ashley Campbell) watched as it was being built in the early '90s, admiring its stone façade. Ten years after the home was finished, there was an opportunity to purchase it, and Kimbrell didn't hesitate.
He lived there for four years before moving into a West End condo; he held onto his Belle Meade estate, though, and in 2013 decided to move back in. Kimbrell's first order of business was installing a poolbut the city of Belle Meade has strict regulations when it comes to making alterations to a piece of property.
'I went to the architect, builder, and interior designer and asked, ‘What have I got to do to put in a pool?'” he says.
The answer involved a two-year renovationwhich proved to be fortuitous since Kimbrell wanted input from his soon-to-be bride, Laura Covington Kimbrell. The process allowed them to make changes to the home's exterior while also re-envisioning the interior.
Structurally, adding a pool meant having to move the garage, which in turn made way for a two-bedroom guest wing, a pool bathroom, and a screening theater that can easily seat up to 20 guests. (The newlyweds love to entertain.)
Once the work began, the Kimbrells decided to dive in and update the entire home. They chose a color scheme based on inspiration they found inside a hotel in Rome and updated their furnishings to better reflect their aesthetic as a couple. They also increased the size of the kitchen and added a custom-built wine cellar with tobacco barn shelves and glass walls in order to show off TK's growing wine collection. The high-ceilinged kitchen space is now a home cook's dream, with honed leather granite countertops, a bamboo chopping area that sits directly next to the sink, double ovens, and a spacious island.
And then, just as they were wrapping up the lengthy renovations, Mother Nature paid them a visit.
'We were outside putting the finishing touches on our exterior lighting and we heard a storm coming,” recalls Laura. 'TK insisted we head inside. Right when we got in, lighting struck the chimney.”
The results were catastrophic: cracked windowpanes, shattered mirrors, fried computers, melted copper pipes, and every single television was destroyed.
'We had just finished the renovation,” says Laura. 'I mean, you just have to laugh and say ‘Okay, let's do it again.' The good news was we still had [all of our vendors' numbers] in our phones.”
In the end, the couple's vision remained intact. The interiors and exteriors were all completed just in time for their intimate wedding last summer, which took place right beside their brand new pool. Now that their home is completeagainTK and Laura couldn't be happier with the results.
'It's unique to us,” says Laura. 'It's the same house, but it's completely different.”