Work and Play

Some of the big names in business who helped make Branson Landing happen have nabbed their own little corners of the new lakeside property.

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Lots of black creates a modern feel, while metallic details and Italian tile add funky touches to Bill and Lisa Killian's Branson Landing condo.

"I can entertain 75 people out here,” says Bill Killian, of The Killian Group. His Springfield-based construction company built Branson Landing and has clients all over the country. And when he says he has outdoor space for more than six dozen people, he’s not talking about a backyard. He’s talking about a balcony. It’s a giant space with lots of sunshine, table seating for 13, plenty of upholstered wicker lounging furniture, a shade-making wooden overhang and a view of both the Branson Landing promenade and Lake Taneycomo. It’s bigger than the decks on most houses, yet it’s attached to a three-bedroom condo. We’re not gonna lie: It’s pretty sweet.

Bill and his wife, Lisa (who did all of the decorating in the home herself), don’t live in this condo all the time. Instead they use it as a weekend getaway for the family or as a space for clients to stay and enjoy Branson or see The Killian Company’s work on the Landing. Lisa admits that she can’t spend a weekend there without also taking advantage of the shopping that’s just steps away.

There is no clutter here in the Killian condo, no toys that Bill and Lisa’s 11-year-old son, Nick, might have left lying around. Their 13-year-old daughter, Christina’s, bedroom is spotlessly clean around her as she lounges on her four-poster canopy bed, fiddling with her cell phone. The closets are mostly empty and feel almost hotel-like. (Lisa insisted that if clients would be staying in the condo, they should be given some little comforts, such as the luxe bathrobes embroidered with The Killian Group’s logo that are the sole items hanging in the master bedroom’s walk-in closet.)

But there are still homey accents and important touches of the Killians’ personalities. In the entry, the walls are decorated with framed odes to musical greats. A black and white picture of Frank Sinatra is accompanied by his autograph. Jimmy Buffett’s guitar is framed a little farther down the hall. A picture of the Beatles follows that. It’s a shout-out to Branson’s musical history and Bill’s music fandom. (He’s a friend of Louise Harrison, George Harrison’s sister and the mastermind behind Branson’s Liverpool Legends show. She has graced their party deck before, and Lisa says her stories of the Beatles’ heyday are fascinating.)

A distinctly delicious-looking splash of color in the chic, mostly black living room is a modern glass bowl filled with M&Ms. It’s surrounded by sleek, very un-M&M-ish décor. The Italian tile floor is black with warm washes of patinaed silvery coloring. The sofa is black with a zebra-skin throw tossed over it, and soft pillows in zebra patterns and fluffy white fabric. On the floor is a soft white shag rug that sits between the see-through fireplace (which is covered in the same tile as the floor, and whose other side faces the giant balcony).

There is interesting art scattered here and there on the walls of the condo, and Lisa says she and Bill bought most of it at the CASA art auction last spring. She says they flew home from the Bahamas a day early, so they wouldn’t miss the auction. And then they essentially wiped out all their home decorating needs in one evening by snagging the auction items. A particularly interesting Picasso portrait hangs in the master bedroom. A Michael Godard print of humanoid strawberries seizing a bottle of champagne sits in the dining room.

The dining room, with its extendable table to seat six or more and its modern frosted glass chandelier, has its own exit out onto the balcony. The mirrored back wall gives the small space a bigger feel. Next to the dining room and sharing an open space with the living room is the kitchen. It’s not huge, but like the living room, it’s dark and chic. The almost-black cabinets have frosted glass panels on the front. The glass tile backsplash is mostly squares of deep, rich reds and purples, but every so often there is one bright silvery tile. Lisa says those are white gold. Their metallic tones are brought out by the stainless steel bar stools. Nearby is a bar area with a wine rack, sink and similar frosted glass cabinets. They are etched with a “K” for Bill’s company.

That “K” logo is repeated on the glass shower door in the master bathroom. It’s a large and luxurious steam shower with tumbled marble on the floor an a glass tile accent in iridescent shades of violet, teal and blue. Across the bathroom is a jet tub that butts up against shutters that, when opened, look out into the master bedroom and out toward Lake Taneycomo. A benefit of condo life: There’s almost always a view.