All of their seven children were born in El Paso and most of them still live in El Paso and are raising their own families. Dan Jr. is the owner of Asset Appraisals; John owns AB Appraisals and Randy and Kelly work together running Desert View Homes. You may have seen them on television recently as they were the underwriting building company for the El Paso edition of “Extreme Makeover Home Edition.”

Dan O’Leary has been a land developer since the early 1950s. He, along with brother-in-law, Cliff Anthes, shared an insurance and land development business. For the last 60 years Dan has been developing parcels of land, building homes and selling them to El Paso residents. The areas known as East Glen, Scottsdale Gardens, Ridgeview Estates and Tuscany at Ridgeview are his projects.

For those of you who are familiar with the Westside of El Paso, the geographic layout offers many different views. Tuscany Ridge is the “crème de la crème” of hillside view locations. From Tuscany Ridge you can enjoy views of sunrise over the Franklin Mountains, spectacular sunsets from the west mesa and enchanting city light vistas to include downtown Juarez and Mount Cristo Rey. All of the lots in Tuscany at Ridgeview Estates offer their owners these special views.

In selecting the lot for their home Dan and Tommie studied the terrain and chose a site that had sweeping vistas. George Halloul and Ramon Martinez of SLI engineered the site and implanted a geo grid interlocking system to ensure site stability. This system also enlarged the site footprint and increased the buildable space. Dan also engineered a site for friends Jack and Joy Winton who now live next door to the O’Leary’s, sharing views and wine and cheese at sunset.

The house is 8800 square feet inside and a total of 10,000 plus square feet under cover. The large expansive rear patios, on two levels, provide the centerpiece for family gatherings. The large family room has two sliding glass walls that fully open to extend the gathering space outdoors. The children and grandchildren can choose from swimming, lawn sports and games upstairs on the balcony or the expansive theatre room. Tommie’s favorite room, the kitchen, is gorgeous and is the apex for observing all family areas. Tommie loves to cook and makes sure Dan and family are never wanting for great home-cooked meals.

There are several guest bedrooms on the westside of the house and a very comfortable area for family and friends to enjoy when visiting and staying overnight. Just off the family room is the staircase, and also an elevator. Dan was thinking ahead, knowing this home at Tuscany was their last residential mountain.

As you enter into the home, the front door offers a European feel while opening into the living room and dining room which is framed by large stone columns and a 32-foot-high ceiling. The floor to ceiling stone fireplace offers a true Tuscan feel along with the large glass window in the living room. The travertine floors finish the feel of a large chateau. Each bathroom and the bar area present a different counter of either marble, onyx or granite.

The east side of the home is Tommie and Dan’s private space with a beautiful master bedroom and bath area. The sitting area in the master bedroom is a good place to read a book while looking out over the spa, pool and spectacular views.

Dan and Tommie started planning for this special home in 2006 and collaborated with friends, Jack and Joy Winton, taking trips to Scottsdale for design ideas. Joy helped with the design, especially the tile mosaic. Lynda Power assisted Tommie with the accessorizing.

With the outside living areas being so important to the mission of the house, Dan and Tommie called in Mark Nash to create matching grounds to compliment the interior of the house. One special element was added – a hillside vegetable garden for Dan. He just needs to make sure unwanted animals don’t join the family.

It’s clear that not only did the O’Leary’s make their latest development Tuscany at Ridgeview Estates special, they also set the standard for building a home that maximizes spectacular views and family living.