Iconic PK Home: The Bond That Brought Two Families Together
Story by Steve Nussbaum | Photos by Erika Carter
Pictured above: The Gaines Bend Home of Michael and Garnett Holmes features a large sloping lot and an abundance of trees and natural stone. This sprawling Mediterranean estate blends in perfectly with the natural topography of the cliff and has one of the best views of Hell’s Gate on the lake.
Every issue of PK Magazine features on an iconic home on Possum Kingdom Lake. PK has many beautiful homes and mansions spread across the lake, but to be iconic it must be one of those houses people show their guests from the water and talk about. It’s not always the biggest house, but it has to have that combination of history and character that make PK living so great. In this issue, we feature the Gaines Bend home of Michael and Garnett Holmes.
The couple purchased their home several years ago from Michael Holmes’ parents, Bob and Beverly Holmes. Michael Holmes said his parents always loved lakes, and he can remember taking trips with the family to area lakes.
In the early 1980s, Michael Holmes’ parents began looking for lake property, mostly close to the Dallas area. Bob Holmes was familiar with PK, having grown up near Lubbock and later going to campouts with Michael at Camp Grady Spruce. His wife, however, was not sold on the idea of PK because of the longer drive from the Dallas area.
One day, though, Bob Holmes revealed to his wife that he had bought a lake house at PK. He showed her the small house built on wooden stilts, with old metal stairs down to the water, but she was skeptical.
But her husband was undaunted. He had been a farmer and was very handy, and he knew he and his wife could build their own lake oasis. He ended up designing what is now one of the most unique and spectacular properties on the lake. The home looks like it should be on a cliff in Santa Barbara, California, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Bob Holmes said he was drawn to the property because of the large sloping lot, with its abundance of trees and natural stone, and the fact that it boasts one of the best views of Hell’s Gate on the lake. The family turned that old house into a sprawling Mediterranean estate, with rock and clay tile that blend in perfectly with the natural topography of the cliff.
The custom stone “Tree of Life†is one of the more interesting architectural features built into the stone wall at the front of the home, which features a huge yard with beautiful St Augustine grass. In the early 1980s, not many homes at PK had plush grass surrounding the home, let alone one the size of the Holmes’ lot. The home is built on a steep sloping lot that is surrounded by natural stone walls and other rocks, and the mixture meshes seamlessly together. The entire estate is a shaded green oasis.
The back of the home has several decks with incredible views of the lake and Hell’s Gate. The greenery growing up the side of the rock deck add a character that newer homes don’t possess.
Michael Holmes was 12 years old when his parents built their PK home. As a boy, he loved the lake and was given the duty of mowing the entire yard – a chore that took him seven hours to complete because of the slope.
But it was the grass that connected the Holmes family to another PK clan, Ray and Judy Clymer, who were from Wichita Falls and owned another beautiful home with luscious St Augustine grass, located off of Park Road 36 by the entrance to the camps. The first name of the Clymers’ daughter was Garnett – and, as she noted, “it was green grass and retaining walls that originally connected the two families.â€
Both youngsters grew up loving Possum Kingdom, with many shared family memories of their early years together at PK, but they went their separate ways when they went off to college.
Years later, Garnett ran into Michael’s mom at a grocery store in Dallas, and rest of the story they say is history.
After marrying in the Clymers’ home in Wichita Falls, the couple spent their honeymoon with their newly blended family of six at Possum Kingdom Lake. Garnett Holmes described that honeymoon week at PK as “one of the most special weeks of my life.â€
Nowadays, the couple helps their children create their own lake memories in a house they both know very well.
The couple shares the home with their five children, who range in age from 9 to 22 years old. The family spends as much time as they can at PK and enjoy being at the lake during the quiet weekends as much as holiday weekends.
One memorable event was a 75th birthday party for Michael Homes’ parents. The family invited many of their parents’ friends who had spent so much time at the house in earlier years, and it was a special time for the extended family to celebrate together after all these years.
The home itself is a six-bedroom, six-bath Mediterranean ranch. Guests can walk through the front door into the main living space, with floor-to-ceiling windows maximizing the view. Michael Holmes described the house as “very efficient†and noted that it’s designed for entertaining.
Over the years, Michael and Garnett Holmes have gradually put their stamp on the home’s interior. They preferred a more modern, clean look, and as such they have transitioned most of the rooms to reflect their style. One of those transitions is the “bunk room,†whose custom metal bunks are not only fashionable but appear to float from the ceiling.
The outdoor spaces are the star of the show, though. A balcony runs across the entire back of the house, leading to two separate patio spaces with fireplaces, and it’s on those patios that visitors can get a front-row view of the Hell’s Gate Fireworks show. Also up at the top of the property is a newly built putting green. It’s set among the beautiful trees and the park-like setting, and it’s turned into a popular spot for this sports-loving family.
On the lakeside of the property is a rock path that leads visitors down the cliff to one of the nicest boat houses on the lake. The boat house opens up for more entertainment space, and it houses two boats and Sea-Doo personal watercraft.
One of the more interesting features of the dock is the drawbridge that leads from the dock’s catwalk to the shoreline. It’s designed to keep onlookers from accessing the property by water.
Michael Holmes is a trial attorney, and he described himself as “pretty much of an extrovert at work,†but he added that when he comes to the lake, he can relax and become more of an introvert.
He and his wife said they are excited to see the expansion of businesses and restaurant at the lake. They said they love to unwind and cook at their lake house, but they also enjoy all the new restaurant and entertainment options now available, too.
Everyone has their own PK story, and for the Holmes family it includes a lifetime of enjoying the ultimate PK lifestyle, a whole bunch of green grass – and love rekindled.
Guests walk through the front door into the main living space, with floor to ceiling windows maximizing the view.
Michael Holmes describes the home as “very efficient†and noted that it’s designed for entertaining.
Over the years, Michael and Garnett Holmes have gradually put their stamp on the home’s interior. One of those transitions is the “bunk room†whose custom metal bunks are not only fashionable but appear to float from the ceiling.
The outdoor spaces are the star of the show for this iconic home. A balcony runs across the entire back of the house, leading to two separate patio spaces with fireplaces, and it’s on those patios that visitors can get a front-row view of the Hell’s Gate Fireworks show.
Also up at the top of the property is a newly built putting green. It’s set among the beautiful trees and the park-like setting and it’s turned into a popular spot for this sports-loving family.
On the lakeside of the property is a rock path that leads visitors down the cliff to one of the nicest boat houses on the lake. The boat house opens up for more entertainment space, and it houses two boats and Sea-Doo personal watercraft.
