‘It’s a castle’: Dan and Ada Rice’s legacy lives on in revamped Danada House

Part of Kentucky Derby lore, Dan and Ada Rice had their Wheaton-area estate equipped for both horses and their social life.

The grounds included a brick home with a lower-level bar, a swimming pool and — for the estate’s four-legged residents — a long barn and a training track with a starting gate.

The pool is long gone, but the house with the charming green shutters is a beehive of activity again. Trophies won by Pucker Up and the couple’s other racehorses are displayed in the library and foyer. Pink peonies are in bloom in the front garden. And this weekend, the house hosted its first wedding since reopening its doors after extensive upgrades.

“I think Dan and Ada would be thrilled just knowing that we’re carrying on some of the social things. They were big philanthropists,” says Deborah Brooks, the Friends of Danada executive director.

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County owns much of the couple’s original estate and has completed a roughly $6.5 million project to improve the main Rice residence and a more modern atrium.

“The forest preserve has been so helpful with putting everything back together. And they did a great job on the refreshing of the whole place,” said Connie Devendorf, the house liaison to the Friends of Danada board.

For years, the Friends, a support group for the forest preserve, has run it as an event venue called the Danada House. Its guardians lean into the equestrian history when welcoming visitors or brides-to-be, and they in turn embrace it, too.

Wedding parties can mosey up to one of the barns. Groomsmen have gathered for a photo op in a circular space inspired by a “saddle-up area.” In the pavement are Ada Lucille Rice’s initials within a diamond. Her jockeys wore the logo on their racing silks.

“I think part of the ambience is that we’re related to a farm, that we also have connections to the Kentucky Derby, which is always really special,” Devendorf said.

Preserving history

The house’s reopening comes 60 years after Dan and Ada Rice made their mark with Lucky Debonair, the 1965 Derby winner.

As part of the building renewal project, the forest preserve district replaced nearly all the windows in the house, said Chris La Marca, the agency’s construction project manager.

Crews removed old paint from the exterior and applied a more breathable, permeable paint — still with a white finish — on the masonry. The district also put in an elevator to the second floor and made other accessibility improvements.

“It’s fabulous. It really is,” Friends of Danada board President Bruce Roskens said of the newly refurbished home. “It preserves the history very well with the architecture, what they’ve done … as far as freshening the floors and the walls and everything. It’s a castle.”

Brooks added her touches: a new chandelier in an upstairs suite where brides and their bridesmaids get ready. Groomsmen even have a room with a more masculine tufted couch.

“They get it all to themselves. We don’t double-book. So when they’re here, this is their mansion for the day,” Brooks said.

An Ada Rice seagull painting and local artists also are featured in the home. A collection of memorabilia and trophies won by the couple’s racehorses over the years are in display cases. “Lucky Debonair Wins 91st Derby” reads a newspaper headline on a commemorative plate.

‘I see trees of green’

The district in the early 2000s added an atrium with floor-to-ceiling windows and views of the preserve. The atrium, La Marca said, has a new roof, flooring, lighting, energy-efficient HVAC system, acoustic ceiling tiles and audiovisual system.

Kat Chex, client relations specialist, played “What a Wonderful World” on a recent morning. She helps a bride-to-be picture how her wedding day will unfold at Danada House.

When they realize how Danada got its name — the combination of Dan and Ada — “their eyes light up,” Chex said.

As for their social life, Dan and Ada Rice were known to hobnob with comedian Jimmy Durante, “Heaven Can Wait” actor Don Ameche and Willie Shoemaker, the jockey who steered Lucky Debonair across the Derby finish line.

“Knowing that the forest preserve did so much work to make it right everywhere, this is going to last for years and years,” Brooks said, “and we’re very happy about that.”