When an all-star cast of design professionals team up with thoughtful, engaged homeowners to imagine a home, magic happens.

Amanda Hehmeyer doesn’t describe herself as a midcentury modern aficionado. At least, she didn’t used to. Amanda, her husband Rob, their two daughters and beloved Weimaraner, Greta, lived in a traditional two-story brick typical of the architecture found in their St. Louis Hills community. Although the family had outgrown the 3-bedroom, 2-bath home, they were sailing along until the pandemic hit, shuttering Amanda’s business as a corporate event planner. 

The owners of this spectacular new home in Ladue are all about family. As the parents of five adult children and grandparents of six, the couple wanted a home with more room for everyone to spread out.

Most in-demand designers will attribute their popularity to two factors: listening carefully to clients’ objectives, then fulfilling—better yet, surpassing!— their expectations. St. Louis-based Youtopia Designs would certainly agree, but this full-service design firm takes the process a step further.

It was the setting that sold them. Two busy surgeons who found each other later in life were looking for a home to start their lives together. The large Creve Coeur lot featured a creek at the front of the property, a large pool in back and mature trees surrounding a 1950s ranch. “We loved it,” the wife recalls. “Other lots just didn’t compare.”