Back Home with the D’Antonis
Back in 2014, NBA coach and West Virginia Basketball legend, Mike D’Antoni and his wife Laurel turned their sights on a lovely stone-façade home along Howard’s Creek at The Greenbrier Sporting Club. Shortly after, the home became their family getaway—a place to reconnect with the state that Mike had always called “home.”
On a cool, late summer day, just after leaving the NBA’s “Orlando Bubble,” Mike and Laurel D’Antoni relaxed on the back porch of their classic, stacked-stone farmhouse-style home at The Greenbrier Sporting Club. Surrounded by the peaceful chirping of morning birds and the soft fall of water over the stones in Howard’s Creek, they settled in beside the stone wood fireplace and Mike talked about growing up in West Virginia, and why he came back.
“Well, I grew up about an hour and half away in Mullens, a little coal mining town in southern West Virginia,” says Mike, a native of the Wyoming County town. “I had always heard about The Greenbrier growing up, but we could never afford to come here. Then a few years ago, Laurel and I were looking to have a place in West Virginia and I had spoken to Jerry West who told me he and Karen had a family home here. So, we came for a visit and fell immediately in love with it.”
The D’Antonis also wound up falling in love with a particular house along Howard’s Creek. Its tranquil setting along a soft bend in the creek attracts plenty of wildlife—from the occasional black bear to Appalachian Swallowtail butterflies.
“My father-in-law Lewis taught me to plant butterfly bushes and said they would come and boy did they,” notes Laurel, “You have to remember to always keep your binoculars and bird book on the kitchen table.”
Laurel, a southern California girl who found her way to West Virginia via Puerto Rico and Italy, first met Mike while living in Milan, where the standout Marshall basketball star was playing for Olimpia Milano, where he racked up enough points to become the team’s all-time leading scorer. Mike parlayed his offensive prowess into a stellar coaching career, where is fast-paced “seven seconds or less” offenses have dominated modern basketball and earned him NBA Coach of the Year twice. His head coaching stops have included Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles, and Houston.
“Life as an NBA coach is very transient,” notes Laurel. “The last I heard, the average length a coach stays with a team was somewhere in the 2.8 years on average range. For us, The Greenbrier is our place to get away from the stresses of work. The charm and hospitality of the West Virginian people continues to bring us back.”
In 2014, as Mike was finishing up his head coaching job for the Los Angeles Lakers, the two found the prefect home in the Old White Cottages neighborhood at The Greenbrier Sporting Club. The home’s beautiful stonework makes it seem like it was pulled straight out of 1800s Renick Valley. Upon entering the home, you find the décor to be light, with a focus on classical design elements and antique-style hardware and trim. The great room features a mantel reclaimed from an 1800s Virginia log cabin, while the stately dining room offers beautiful wainscoting and crown molding, along with a vintage chandelier.
“We were very lucky that my interior designer from New York, Christine Roughan Interiors, helped us put it all together,” says Laurel. “The crazy thing was she was one of the original designers of the Ralph Lauren shop at the hotel. She turned our home into a wonderful retreat in less than two months.”
The expansive kitchen is as wide as it is long, and boasts a large center island, along with custom cabinetry from Allegheny Woodworks and soapstone countertops. The distressed oak flooring throughout the kitchen, as well as the rest of the home, was sawn from salvaged wood beams from a former lumber mill in Ronceverte.
One of the great draws to this particular house is its oversized lot and the outdoor living spaces it offers to enjoy its setting. The lower outdoor screened-in patio features an outdoor kitchen area, complete with a Viking grill and a cozy wood-burning fireplace. Above is yet another porch, open to the scene below, a stone walkway leading directly down to the edge of Howard’s Creek.
“There is nothing better than making my way first thing in the morning to the back patio, where I can sit and feel the warmth of the crackling fireplace while I sip my fresh brew of Joe and watch the ospreys and blue heron snag their occasional trout in the creek,” says Laurel. “Or we have a lovely female deer that seems to have a couple of babies every year—their spotted backs and playfulness provides lots of entertainment. It really is divine relaxation and profound tranquility—this house just whispers serenity”
While Mike’s coaching schedule keeps him on the road most days, he always seems to find time to come back to the home.
“Well, when I don’t have a job I’m here a lot more!” he jokes. “But, we usually pop in and out at various times when there are breaks in the NBA season, or when one of our family members are here at the house. I’m now back in New York to work with the Brooklyn Nets, which is much closer than Houston so it’s a little easier to get back here.”
Mike says the golf at The Greenbrier is unmatched, and his love for the game gets him out on the links as much as he can.
“If you like golfing, you can’t find a better place. We also like to explore all of the great restaurants and antique shops, whether here at the resort or in nearby Lewisburg.”
In fact, the couple have become active in a number of local non-profits—High Rocks Girls Academy and the Greenbrier Humane Society to name a few.
The D’Antonis say they are excited about the recent new developments happening in downtown White Sulphur Springs, and continue to enjoy coming back to their Greenbrier County home to refresh and recharge.
