Upwardly mobile homes

BENTON, Mo. -- The manager's office of Ferrell Mobile Homes could be a travel agency. The pulse of the building is paced by the ever-trickling water from the stone fountain beneath the orange and black mural of a tropical beach sunset in the adjoining lobby. Sedate, calm.

Upstairs, owner Glyn Ferrell's office is adorned with replicas of 350-pound blue marlin caught by Ferrell on deep-sea fishing voyages off the coast of Hawaii.

"He loves Hawaii," manager Dave Selvig says of his boss, his four-wheel-drive sport utility vehicle turning onto Maui Drive just yards from the office. "He goes there at least twice a year."

The drive is flanked by twin walls embedded in the Benton sand and made out of transplanted, real red and black lava rock. The SUV moves down Maui, past the wooden playground modeled after a park in Kona, Hawaii, and into Keolani Court. The Keolani name -- which means "tranquility" in Hawaiian -- and the corresponding Hawaiian motif were introduced by Ferrell in 1999. Many of the same features might be found in an upscale housing development. Ferrell put them in a trailer court.

"You can call it Ferrell Trailer Park if you like," says Selvig, waiting for the large black iron gate at the entrance to the mobile home park to swing open. "Whatever you call it, it's different."

The difference is embodied in the "luxury" mobile homes therein, especially in the newest part of the park. Double-wides, triple-wides, Cavaliers, Fleetwoods and Southerns with Keolani's signature stone-pattern fiberglass skirting around the base are everywhere. Many have garages and carports built on, making them look less than mobile. It's different because of the street lights based in lava rock that scroll by as Selvig's SUV cruises down paved Mauna Loa Drive. But most of all, it's different because the entire 80-acre property is guarded by twin black iron gates at every entrance. Only residents and staff have access.

"Putting in the gates wasn't really in response to a problem," Selvig says. "It was just taking care of a problem before it ever got out of hand. Now you know who's driving down the street."

Keolani resident Jim Taylor, a 64-year-old retired railroad worker, agrees.

"Nobody driving through, blasting their music," he said. "When it's bedtime, it's bedtime."

Park's evolution

When Ferrell's parents, Marvin and Florence Ferrell, opened Ferrell Mobile Home Park about 25 years ago, it looked very much like a typical trailer park. A faded aerial photograph in the lobby of the main office taken early in the park's life shows a handful of single-wides packed onto a relatively small piece of land. It had narrow gravel drives and yards that could be clipped efficiently with a pair of scissors. Beyond that park stood the Ferrells' standard brick house as it stands today. But that house now has been enveloped by a community that has expanded to 70 homes housing more than 200 people dispersed over 40 acres of developed property.

"Our lagoon and sewer system are bigger than Benton's," Selvig says as his SUV bounds through the weeds and sand of the undeveloped 40 acres that separates Keolani from its three-tier lagoon system. As the demand for lots continues to rise, this property may not remain undeveloped for long. Many people just can't afford regular homes, Selvig says.

"With mobile homes, they can get all the same stuff for a third of the price," he says.

But economics alone haven't brought the young couples and the retirees to Keolani. Just ask resident Jerry Hixson, who moved here with his wife, Fay, after the couple retired from jobs at Southeast Missouri State University over two years ago.

"We got out of that rat race in Cape Girardeau," Hixson said, rubbing his hands together as Fay worked in the flower beds in front of their Mauna Kea Drive home. "We looked at other trailer parks, but we liked the security of the gated community. We like the piece and quiet."

trehagen@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137