A GOOD TOWERHOUSE IS HARD TO FIND

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Once a Bible salesman straight out of a Flannery O' Connor short story, architecture professor Marlon Blackwell is now putting Arkansas on the map — or rather, on television. Last month, his Keenan TowerHouse appeared on Fine Living network and next year will appear on Home and Garden Television.

During a nine-minute episode called "Breathing Spaces," Host Amanda Pays interviews owners Stacy and James Keenan and architect Blackwell about how the space serves as a sanctuary.

"It has given me, and Stacy as well, an opportunity to come up here, reflect and think about how blessed we are," says James Keenan.

The Keenan TowerHouse is an 80-foot-tall steel structure similar to a fire tower on Old Wire Road in Fayetteville. The tower was built using white oak, creek and river stones, pecan shells and locally fabricated steel.

"The structure is very attentive to the experience," says Blackwell. "As the sun tracks across the sky over the course of the day, it's in a constant state of change."

Blackwell was born in Germany, grew up in Florida and the Philippines and worked as a bible salesman while he earned his bachelor's degree in architecture at Auburn. Since coming to the University in 1992, he has received numerous accolades for the Keenan TowerHouse, including a cover story in the February 2001 issue of Architectural Record magazine and a 2001 Gulf States Regional American Institute of Architects Design Honor Award.

The tower appeared on the cover of "Private Towers" (HarperCollins 2002) and was featured in "House: American Houses for the New Century" (Universe/Rizzoli 2001) and in the Russian magazine Interior Digest.

"I think only one other Arkansas building has received as much attention as the Keenan TowerHouse and that is E. Fay Jones’ Thorncrown Chapel," says UA School of Architecture Dean Jeff Shannon.

Viewers who missed Fine Living can still see Blackwell's tower on Home and Garden Television. The crew will be coming in January to film "Dreambuilders," which will air next spring.

"The tower has captured the imagination of the people," Blackwell says. "They see what can be done that isn't so outlandish it can only happen once."