Massey Home on Neely Henry a design marvel
Story by Scottie Vickery
Photos by Mackenzie Free
When Katie and Trey Massey were building their beautiful lakefront home in Southside about three years ago, they kept a couple of things in mind throughout the process.
They knew they wanted to use natural materials so the house would blend in with its surroundings, and they also wanted it to be comfortable as well as aesthetically pleasing. Their main goal, however, was to build a place that would be inviting and welcoming for their family and friends.
Check, check, and check.
“We built this house for people,” Katie said. “Everywhere we’ve lived, we’ve tried to keep a guest room or pool house so people can stay for a while. I feel like we built this house more for our kids and their friends.”
Situated on 19 acres, the home has plenty for the Masseys and their guests to enjoy, whether it’s swimming, fishing or boating on Neely Henry Lake, taking a dip in the infinity pool, enjoying the putting green or combination tennis and pickleball court, or ziplining through the trees and over a creek. “This is our little pocket of privacy,” Katie said. “Anywhere we move, I want property, I want space.”
That’s not surprising, considering that she grew up in California. “We just don’t have the trees and the space there,” she said, adding that when she moved to Alabama, “I just couldn’t get over all the green. I really love the wildlife.”
Trey, who was born and raised in Springville, is quick to point out that Katie’s move wasn’t a total culture shock. “She grew up on a farm; she wasn’t a California Valley Girl,” he said. “She drove a pickup truck.”
He’s not wrong. “I’m more country than he is,” Katie said. “I feel like I’ve acclimated pretty well. I can handle the humidity, but I don’t love the bugs. I do love it here, though, and I’m glad we get to raise our kids here.”
That’s why having a home that could accommodate crowds was important to them. They wanted Annie, 15, and 13-year-old Gunner to be able to invite their friends over whenever they wanted. The Masseys have hosted small groups from church, football players at the kids’ school, large gatherings for the Fourth of July, and even a wedding rehearsal dinner.
“We’ve had people everywhere,” Trey said. “The more the merrier.”
Whenever there’s a crowd, Katie pulls out some favorite recipes that are great for feeding the masses. Her spaghetti is always a hit with the football team, and dishes like Italian Tortellini Soup are especially popular in the fall. “It’s my go-to soup, and it’s an easy Crock Pot meal,” she said. The holidays wouldn’t be the same without decorating Christmas cookies, and her sugar cookie and frosting recipes that were handed down from family members ensure that they taste as good as they look.
When it’s just the family, Trey mans the grill or griddle on the downstairs porch, which can be fully enclosed or fully open to the outdoors, depending on the positioning of the glass doors. Philly cheesesteaks, steak fajitas and smashburgers are among some of their favorites.
Bringing the outside in
Lake life has been a new experience for Trey and Katie – neither grew up on the water. “Before we moved here, I’d never even driven a boat,” Trey said.
They weren’t strangers to building, however. They’d built one house in Springville that they designed themselves and used the same process when building on the lake. “We’d just sketch stuff out on computer paper,” Katie said. Although they had a rough set of house plans drawn up, they tweaked, added and took away throughout the process. “We work well together,” she said.
While the Masseys planned all along to bring some outdoor elements, such as log walls and stone, inside the house, they got a lot more intentional about it when they stumbled across the huge elk antler chandelier in the great room.
Trey and Katie were in Waynesville, North Carolina with friends when they happened to see the light fixture through a storefront window. “We fell in love with it,” Katie said. They learned the chandelier was made by a man who owned an elk farm. “They’re all shed antlers,” she said. “We weren’t planning to go quite so lodge-y at first, but it changed the whole look of what we were going to do in here.”
The next happy discovery was an enormous moose head that hangs above the stone fireplace. The chandelier and Maynard the Moose are the first things you notice when you walk into the house.
“You can say I wrestled it like Sasquatch if you want,” Trey said with a laugh. In reality, the Masseys found Maynard in a store in Cullman. “He’s a conversation starter for sure,” Katie said. “He’s got a lot of different hats, and I hang ornaments from his antlers at Christmas.”
Once Maynard was on the scene, everything else fell into place. Katie had always loved log cabins, and they knew they wanted log walls, but they decided to go darker once they had the chandelier and moose.
“Everything was going to be lighter in that whole kitchen, but it shifted from there,” Katie said. “We’d planned on lighter wood, fixtures, granite – everything was going to be more soft. Then we found this granite, and Trey really loved it. It looks like it has slash marks in it or something. It’s got a lot more character.”
Trey wanted to make sure they didn’t go too far into the lodge theme, though. “I told Katie we were going for chic fish camp,” he said. Katie wasn’t sure how mixing the two decorating schemes would go at first. She wasn’t sure about the light fixture when it was first hung in the bedroom, for instance, so she took all the crystals off to see if she liked it better that way. “Trey made me put them back on,” she said. “He was right.”
They both agreed on the log walls in the great room, however. Trey wanted to use as little sheetrock in the house as possible, preferring the look of log or stone walls throughout the home. Katie knew she wanted the walls to be flat instead of the rounded logs in many cabins, and she said she’s thrilled with the result.
“I love the look of the natural live edge,” she said. “The logs are persimmon, which is hard to find in pieces that large. We found it at a place in south Tennessee, and we bought every piece they had.” It almost wasn’t enough. “We used every bit of it,” Trey added. “I think we had half a board left.”
It was Katie’s idea to use chocolate chinking, the seal between the logs that resembles mortar, instead of the white or gray used most often. “I don’t remember where I saw it, but I love the look – it’s so seamless,” she said, pointing out that the color blends perfectly with the bark on the logs. “It’s like art. Each slice has a different character.”
The pine ceilings complete the look, and the result is a comfortable, family-friendly space that makes you feel like you’re out in nature. “I know the trend is bright and airy, and that’s a beautiful look, but it’s such a stark contrast from where we live,” Katie said, and she’s glad they made the switch. “We wanted the house to feel like it was part of the surroundings.”
Family first
Stumbling across the elk chandelier wasn’t the only chance occurrence that worked out well for the Masseys. Katie and Trey met at a wedding in California in 2006 when she was a bridesmaid and he was a groomsman. Katie had gone to school with the bride, and Trey and the groom were teammates at Tusculum University in Tennessee, where Trey played defensive end.
“One of the bridesmaids had to drop out about two weeks before the wedding, so we ended up walking together,” Katie said. They hit it off and visited Yosemite National Park the day after the wedding. “I missed my flight, but I didn’t care,” Trey said. The two dated long distance for two and a half years before marrying in 2009.
Since then, the focus has been on family life. Trey has lots of family nearby, and Katie’s parents, who still live in California, come to visit as often as they can. With great rooms and enclosed porches upstairs and downstairs, as well as an exercise room and movie room, there’s plenty of space for everyone to spread out.
The movie room, especially, is a favorite hangout for the kids, and not just for the entertainment value. It’s a perfect spot for hosting sleepovers because it accommodates lots of sleeping bags. It’s a pretty good place for grownups to catch an afternoon nap, as well.
As much as the interior of the house has to offer, Katie is more interested in looking out of the large picture windows or heading outdoors. “I never get tired of the scenery and watching the wildlife,” she said. “We have two bald eagles that fly around here, and we have lots of deer in the yard. We have a mom and two babies, and I’ve seen two bucks. I just love it, and we didn’t have this in California. I feel like a redneck Snow White when she goes out to see all the deer.”
At the water’s edge, she enjoys the otters and beavers, and all the varieties of fish. She especially likes seeing the hundreds of pelicans that sometimes congregate on an island just past their dock. “It’s amazing,” she said. “I just love to sit and watch them.”
The Masseys have a tiny cabin down by the dock that they’ve dubbed the Coosa Cabin. That’s where they keep the board games, some books, life jackets, fishing poles and beach towels. Since Katie won’t agree to having a television in the cabin, Trey had to find a way to improvise.
He’s discovered that the water is a great place to enjoy football and baseball games, so he’s got a television on the dock, and he sometimes brings one out by the pool. And just in case there’s a great game on while he’s out in the boat, he rigged a television stand and installed a smart TV on the pontoon boat and uses a hotspot on his phone to find the action.
“I was kind of shocked, but it works,” he said. “I like to just float around and watch a Braves game.” He’s also become a fan of taking one of the personal watercrafts out and exploring the nooks and crannies of the lake.
Three years into lake life, Katie said she is thrilled they made the move. “It’s been a huge blessing,” she said. “The views are fabulous, and there’s just something about water. It’s mesmerizing.”
Italian Tortellini Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 pound Jimmy Dean pork sausage
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup white wine
- 1 16-ounce can stewed tomatoes
- 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 8-ounce tomato sauce
- 1 8-ounce package of tortellini
- 2 zucchini, sliced
- 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
Directions:
Brown sausage, garlic and onion. Add remaining ingredients except zucchini, tortellini, and parsley. Simmer 30 minutes, then add the last three ingredients and simmer another 30 minutes. Add more chicken broth to thin, if necessary.
The soup is easy to make in the Crock Pot, as well. Let all the ingredients except zucchini, tortellini and parsley simmer on low all day. About 45 minutes before serving, add those ingredients to the pot and continue to cook.
Sugar Cookies
Ingredients for Cookies:
- 3 ½ cups flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup butter
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 8 teaspoons milk
Ingredients for Frosting:
- ½ stick butter
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon vanilla
- About 24 ounces of powdered sugar (3/4 of a 32-ounce bag)
Directions for cookies:
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Cream butter, adding sugar gradually. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Alternate flour mixture and milk. Chill overnight or at least a couple of hours, or you can freeze mixture at this point. Roll dough to ¼ inch thick or thinner if you prefer crunchier cookies. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Bake at 400 degrees for 9 minutes.
Directions for frosting:
Mix ingredients together, gradually adding the powdered sugar. Continue to mix for several minutes.
Katie’s Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork (mild)
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons onion, chopped
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 3 29-ounce cans tomato sauce
- 1-2 pinches baking soda
- ¾ cup sugar
- Dash of garlic salt
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Italian seasoning to taste
Directions:
Mix beef and pork together. Brown meat, onion and garlic, then drain. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer covered, stirring occasionally.
