Keith and Kaye Todd opened the arched mahogany doors that face Searcy’s Brittany Lane and welcomed me into their dream home. Keith, a native of Forrest City, and his wife Kaye (from North Little Rock) decided years ago to make Searcy their home. For more than 20 years, they raised their family in an 1100 square foot house on Spruce Street. From there, Keith walked to work every day and watched his two little girls grow up.

For years they thought about moving, but double-digit interest rates and other factors kept them in their little cottage. Still, there was always that distant dream of what they would build, someday. Now that someday has arrived.

They bought the lot six years ago, but didn’t begin building immediately. It was only a matter of time – and planning. The Todd’s knew they didn’t want to build their dream home and then have to worry about how to occupy the space. So they took their time, in their words, “furnishing the house before we built it.” Their travels carried them to Northwest Arkansas, Dallas, and California’s Napa Valley, and they carried a piece of each place home with them. And although they’ve never been there (yet), the style of Tuscany also makes its presence felt in the home. The home is their interpretation of Tuscany and French country, and the theme is arches and gateways.

To put their ideas on paper, the Todd’s worked with Mitchell Johnson, who custom designed the home over a period of eight months. When it came time to bring those blueprints to life, they brought in William Gross who constructed the home. Two years ago, the construction was ?nished, but there was still a lot of work to be done. Keith, a barber/stylist for the past 29 years in Searcy and currently employed at Salon 501, was actively involved in the process. He would come home from work every day and go to work in the yard.

Keith and Kaye even skipped a family vacation, got a tractor and did the dirt work for the landscaping themselves. Throughout the entire building process, Keith’s motto was, “Do it right the ?rst time.” He believes this approach, even if it takes longer and costs more money on the front end, will save both time and money in the long run.

They love entertaining, and this passion was central in the home’s design. Last year, Kaye hosted her coworkers for Searcy McRae Elementary’s Christmas party in their home, with some 60 people in attendance. They also love cooking, so the kitchen was a major focus of their planning. Ricky Barlow of Rose Bud is the “artist” who did the cabinet work in the kitchen and throughout the entire home. Frequent BBQ’s and cookouts put their patio to use.

Keith and Kaye were Christians when they met, and raised their daughters in church. Now that the daughters are all grown up and living in Western Arkansas, Keith and Kaye love for them to come home to Brittany Lane, especially for the holidays. Daughter Kristy lives in Mena with husband Jamie and 16-month-old Rebecca. Daughter Tiffany lives in Fayetteville with husband Nathan and 2-year-old Madison.

It seems like everything in the home has significance. Those mahogany front doors were specially ordered from Memphis, and were a trick to install, but it paid off. Kaye calls them “the heart of our home.” And the French doors leading into their master bedroom are literally French. They are approximately 200 years old, and really did come from France.

After all the hours of hard work, years of planning and saving, Keith says it was all worth it. He pulls into his driveway after a long day’s work and says to himself, “Man, I can’t believe I live here. God’s really been good to us.”