Monday Morning Millionaire: Ivy League New England Sensibility is Alive and Well in Dallas!

I am going to share an email from one of the producers of this weekend’s USA Film Festival (extraordinaire) :

“I really meant what I said about the quality of residential architecture in Dallas. Patty and I walked through Highland Park today, and then roamed the SMU campus. We were delighted to find such an array of truly beautiful properties. Having spent some time in Houston, I really underestimated what Dallas has to offer. No longer. Your city is a gem.”

No other home I can think of typifies this great compliment to our city like 11442 East Ricks Circle. OK, I’m a wee bit biased as this home is in my ‘hood and I walk by it’s glory every time I walk Bree on the Circle. This is a one-owner home, built brand spanking new and solid in 1990, and it has never been on the market. It is nestled in a grove of almost two acres on the creek side of Ricks, not too far from our other architectural gems. Hillcrest Estates, by the way, is one of the safest, quietest little nooks in Dallas. I know: I lived on Park Lane in the estate area and enjoyed the Dallas North Tollway as an urban waterfall for ten years. We call this the “quiet” estate area, both in terms of volume and culture. The noisiest thing here? The cicadas!  A cluster of about 112 homes off Northaven, we have the best Halloween parties, a serious police patrol and limited access. This beauty as designed by architect Paul Turney sports Early American and Federal, Colonial influences. Feel kind of like I’m at Harvard when I walk by. Or that cool Maryland house on the Potomac where they frolicked and played touch football in Wedding Crashers. It is light and bright from the dappled eastern sun exposure to the gentle western sunsets. There is exquisite panel woodwork, rare heart-of-pine and oak flooring, beautifully carved moldings and beams, marble, and a true European kitchen with rustic exposed brick, gourmet appliances, beautiful cabinetry and open patio areas. There are three living areas, a study, formals, crafts room, four bedrooms, four and a half baths, three-car garage and  huge pool with waterfall wall off the spa. The 1.950 hilly prime acres are heavily wooded, but a mosquito misting system keeps critters at bay.  Well, except for the raccoons and possum! The home is listed at $2,795,000 with Becky Frey at Briggs Freeman Sothebys. As producer Leonard Hill wrote me, we are so fortunate to have an array of truly beautiful properties in Dallas, and this one is a real gem! P.S: the home is 5822 square feet, sensibly sized for an estate property and does not swallow the lot. I think that’s the perfect size, don’t you?