Chris Mack's home with decked out basement was designed for his team
When Chris Mack got the gig as University of Louisville’s head basketball coach, it meant one very important thing for his family: They’d have to find a new home. “I didn’t know the area — I just liked the houses,” said wife Christi Mack of their Prospect abode. They’d considered nearly two dozen houses in the Louisville area before finding their current home, which wasn’t even on the market at the time.
A floor plan as open as the YUM Center
Finding the right home was quite a task for the Macks because they had a list of requirements — and none of the other houses they looked at fit the bill. For starters, they were looking for an unfinished basement so Chris could design it the way he wanted. Moreover, it had to be tall enough for his players to comfortably move about.
“In older homes,” Christi said, “basements just aren’t tall. We needed a taller basement.”
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The Prospect house, which was custom-built and lived in by Stonecroft Homes’ David Lutes, had their ideal basement — 10-foot-plus ceilings — as well as everything else they were looking for: rooms for their three children; a bedroom for Chris’ parents, who visit often; and an open floor plan, with the living room, hearth room and kitchen all connected. Christi said they were also adamant about having a limited amount of surrounding land, as they wouldn’t have time to care for it.
“And to be honest,” she added, “we probably wouldn’t be very good at it anyway!”
Laundry rooms an equipment manager could love
The Mack home also has a few fun "bonus" features — like two laundry rooms.
“I love doing laundry,” Christi said. “So a laundry room is really important to me.”
It’s especially convenient to have more than one since the master bedroom is downstairs and all the kids’ rooms are upstairs. Laundry never has to be lugged around from one floor to another; Christi simply does her and Chris’ laundry downstairs, and all the children’s upstairs.
“When I do their laundry,” Christi said of her kids’ clothes, “I fold it and it goes in a bin — it’s their responsibility to put it away.”
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The youngsters also have a craft room downstairs, which pulls triple duty, serving conjointly as the “puppy room,” — they have a 7-year-old dog named Charlies and a 4-month-old puppy named Bubba — as well as the girls’ homework space. Chris and Christi’s rule is that homework must be done there, on the first floor, before the kids are allowed to retreat to their bedrooms.
“Having the craft room there is nice,” she explained, “‘cause I feel like if I’m cooking dinner or doing something with the 4-year-old, I can keep my eye on them.”
She also tries to keep their screen time to a minimum; they have a designated charging station in the downstairs hall. “Our rule is, at 9 p.m., phones are on the charging station. I know my girls well enough to know they need sleep.”
Ceilings tall enough for seven-footers
When it isn’t bedtime, however, the kiddos enjoy the basement just as much as the entire U of L men's basketball team.
“The players come and take over this area,” Christi laughed. The 10-foot-plus ceilings give ample space for the guys to be comfortable and the player's "home away from home" has everything anyone would want for a night of fun and relaxation — including three TVs, a jukebox/karaoke machine, a bar, a pool table and several other games. It has become the ultimate go-to space for everything from basketball game after-parties to movie nights with the kids.
“We wanted a cellar bar kind of feel,” Christi said of the space that’s decked out in — what else? — black and red, and Cardinal decorations. But there’s more to the décor than the giant “L” that adorns the wall and the blown-up photos of shots taken at games. At the end of the room, the wallpaper is a collage of photos the family has taken with various celebrities.
“This is one of my husband’s favorite things,” said Christi of the wall that includes pictures of everyone from Cincinnati Red great Pete Rose and musician Kid Rock to basketball greats Kevin Durant and Shaq. Across from that is the autograph wall.
“Anyone that comes to the house gets to autograph the wall,” Christi said.
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And finally, at the very end of the room, is the “wall of experiences.” This collage isn’t about basketball or celebrities. Instead, it consists of various photos of the Mack family and close friends, taken during vacations, concerts and other special moments.
Taking in the entire space, from one end to the other, it’s obvious what the Macks hold dear to their heart: the love of their family, and of course, the love of the game.
Know a house that would make a great Home of the Week? Email writer Lennie Omalza at aloha@lennieomalza.com or Lifestyle Editor Kathryn Gregory at kgregory@gannett.com.
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nuts & bolts:
Owners: Chris and Christi Mack. Chris is the University of Louisville head basketball coach and Christi is a stay-at-home mom and director of the Mack Family Foundation. They share the home with daughters Lainee, 13, and Hailee, 12, son Brayden, 4, dog Charlie, 7, and 4-month-old puppy Bubba.
Home: This is a 6-bed, 9-bath, 12,500-square-foot Georgian-style home built in 2008.
Distinctive Elements: Trim work modeled after historic Georgian homes; geothermal heating and cooling; all-foam insulation; 2 x 6 exterior walls; 12-foot ceilings on the main floor; open floor plan, with the living room, hearth room, and kitchen all connected; craft room; two laundry rooms; second-floor architecturally decorative ceilings that utilize attic space; 10-foot ceilings in the basement, which also features three TV's, a jukebox/karaoke machine, a bar and pool table; basement wallpaper is a collage of photos the family has taken with various celebrities; autograph wall in the basement; massive "L" wall decoration in basement; University of Louisville Cardinal decorations and decor throughout.
Applause! Applause! Stonecroft Homes’ David Lutes, the home’s builder and previous owner, for finishing the Mack’s basement; Brock Rogers from Stonecroft Homes, who was the Mack’s onsite manager; Heritage Cabinetry’s Ray Stratton for his design and build skills; Century’s John Poynter for some of the furniture, all of the TVs, as well as the surround sound and smart home system in the basement; friends Tony and Chad for creating and printing the wallpaper murals and Louisville wall pieces.