Pensmore

Coordinates: 36°52′47″N 93°12′45″W / 36.8797°N 93.2125°W / 36.8797; -93.2125
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Pensmore
Map
General information
TypeInsulated concrete form
Architectural styleChâteauesque
Location2700 Woods Fork Road, Highlandville, Missouri
Coordinates36°52′47″N 93°12′45″W / 36.8797°N 93.2125°W / 36.8797; -93.2125
Construction started2008
Completed2016
Governing bodyPrivate
Technical details
Floor area72,215 square feet (6,709.0 m2)[1]

Pensmore is a 72,000 square feet (6,700 m2) home in the Ozark Mountains near Highlandville, Missouri. One of the largest homes in the United States, it has five stories, contains 14 baths, 13 bedrooms; has exterior walls 12 inches thick, and was designed to survive earthquakes, tornadoes, and bomb blasts. Its owner, Steven T. Huff, told The Kansas City Star in 2015 that "the house should stand for 2,000 years".[2]

Construction[edit]

In 2008, the Steven T. Huff Family LLC applied for a construction permit to begin construction of the Pensmore mansion—made unique because it is an insulated concrete form structure designed to showcase sustainable construction techniques on a large scale, with it being designed to be earthquake resistant, bullet proof, blast proof, capable of withstanding an EF5 tornado, bug resistant, and fire resistant. Its construction was completed in 2016.[3]

The home's large size and its location in the Ozarks (which experiences both high and low temperatures, as well as tornadoes) were chosen so that Huff could explore how these concepts work on a commercial scale and under a broad range of climate conditions—with it, also, being noted that it was built in an area where it was not subject to government building inspections or regulations.[4][5][6]

2016 lawsuit and 2017 settlement[edit]

On July 3, 2016, the Associated Press reported that lawyers for Huff filed a lawsuit against Monarch Cement Company, of Humboldt, Kansas, and its Springfield subsidiary, City Wide Construction Products, seeking $63 million in damages and alleging that Pensmore was shorted more than 70,000 pounds of a crucial steel fiber, named Helix (invented in a laboratory at the University of Michigan, Helix is an alternative to rebar and was developed for the United States Army Corps of Engineers)—but a settlement being reached on 21 July 2017 with no terms about it being publicly revealed. [7][8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Huge Highlandville Home Spans 72,215 Square Feet – Larger than White House – KSPR 33". Articles.kspr.com. January 13, 2011. Archived from the original on March 13, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  2. ^ Montgomery, Rick (July 31, 2017). "Terms reached in $63 million suit over Missouri's uber-mansion". The Kansas City Star. kansascity.com. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  3. ^ Montgomery, Rick (July 31, 2017). "Terms reached in $63 million suit over Missouri's uber-mansion". kansascity.
  4. ^ "New name, website for Overwatch Manor". CCHeadliner.com. June 29, 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  5. ^ "Can A 72,000 Sq. Ft. Home Really Go Green?". EarthTechling. July 12, 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  6. ^ Sulzberger, A.G. (July 18, 2011). "A Behemoth Vacation Home Rises in the Ozarks and So Does the Wild Speculation". The New York Times. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  7. ^ "Lawsuit: Missouri mansion was shorted steel fiber". Associated Press. July 3, 2016.
  8. ^ Gounley, Thomas (July 31, 2017). "Lawsuit over Chateau Pensmore building materials settled". Springfield News-Leader. news-leader.com. Retrieved August 16, 2017.