At Home With Mick
The TCU Room in the Ferrari house is decorated with memorabilia and purple leather couches that match the wall.

Story by Alisha Brown
Photos by David Dunai

His favorite room in the four-bedroom, three-bathroom, 5,210-square-feet house is the kitchen. The all-purpose, two-oven, microwave and double refrigerator-freezer kitchen is a place where Chancellor Michael Ferrari can eat breakfast in the company of his wife, Jan, whip up a gourmet pizza for dinner or cater a party for 200 guests.

The chancellor’s university-owned residence, at 3861 Bellaire Cir., serves as a home as well as an intimate entertainment atmosphere for distinguished guests of the university and the Ferraris.

“It is really like any other university building,” Ferrari said. “It provides a venue for campus functions and community events, but it does so in a more personal way than that found in a campus building setting.”

For example, Ferrari said that when Nobel Laureate Elie Weisel spoke on campus in the fall, a reception and dinner was held for 150 people at the house.

Jeannie Chaffee, special event coordinator for the chancellor, said two tents were set up in the back yard for dinner guests, and the first floor of the home was open for conversation space.

The first floor of the home is mainly used for public use.

A view from the piano inside the Ferrari house.

“One downstairs room is dedicated to TCU memorabilia, called the TCU Room, which is enjoyed greatly by alumni,” Ferrari said.
The purple leather couch and armchair match the walls, which are decorated with old yearbook photos of TCU athletics, clubs and buildings.

In the past, the chancellor has hosted a dinner for Intercom, a student leadership group, various alumni functions and a Christmas dinner for Cook Children’s Medical Center Women’s Board, Chaffee said.

Jan Ferrari hosted a tea Thursday at the home for the TCU Women’s Exes, a group of alumnae who meet monthly.

The industrial kitchen and three living areas provide adequate room for entertaining guests, a Steinway piano donated by Steinway Hall of Dallas is in the sun room. The TCU Room and sun room open into the back yard, which has a fountain, pool, barbecue area and guest house.

“The house flows well,” Jan Ferrari said.

Joe Lasater, director of facility services, said It is cleaned once a week and maintained by university personnel. Most of the catering for special events is done by Marriott Food Service.

“Some colleges or universities have permanent full-time staff assigned to the chancellor’s or president’s residence,” Ferrari said. “We did not see a need for that and did not choose to do so.”

The Ferraris are the first family to live in the home. Chancellors William E. Tucker and James M. Moudy lived at 2900 Simondale Dr..
Sandy Record, internal communications manager, said the new home was purchased to be more efficient for entertaining guests through a pre-planned sale of the Simondale house by the Board of Trustees.

“Perennial changes kept the former university-owned house from functioning well for entertaining,” Record said. “(There was) very limited parking, a busy street and a split-level room arrangement that proved somewhat hazardous at large gatherings.”

The future of the new house rests with the university and the Board of Trustees.

“It’s not really our house,” Ferrari said. “It is the university’s. We are simply privileged to be its custodians during our period of service here.”

Alisha Brown
a.k.brown@student.tcu.edu