Big is Apparently Very Back: Re-Visiting The Stephenson Compound on Walnut Hill Lane

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5404 Walnut Hill Lane

Champ d’Or is sold and Richard Malouf is getting 30,000-plus square feet, so mega square footage must be back in style. More proof that big is back when it comes to the uber rich building homes in Dallas real estate. And if you cannot find a lot big enough for your dream mansion, you just buy several and tear down whatever the hec is on them. Voila, dream compound!Readers have been emailing me, asking me who is building what appears to be a compound of homes on Walnut Hill Lane, Old Preston Hollow, south side between Hollow Way and Meadowbrook.

“Is it a bunch of Arabs?” wrote one reader.

5322 daughter's home

“Has Mitt Romney inspired polygamy already?” wrote another

At times, I’m told 50 to 60 trucks have been jamming Walnut Hill on construction.

Here’s the dirt: It’s Randall Stephenson, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of AT&T, Inc. He bought the home in the middle, a spec home built by Mehrdad Moayedi’s Cresent Estates — Mehrdad is the guy who bought the Stoneleigh Residences, recall. Stephenson bought 5404 Walnut Hill, a 12,000 square foot residence from Crescent in 2009, and has been fixing it up a bit. Then he bought 5322, next door, in November of 2010, and built a 5,000 square foot home for his daughter and her young family, then bought 5414 last April and is building a small guest house there with two bedrooms and an exercise pavilion. Both end lots are a little under one acre, and Mr. Stephenson is a shrewd businessman: they all get a tax break for being on Walnut Hill Lane. But he’s constructing that beautiful stone wall to fence the whole compound in and muffle the noise from Walnut Hill, make it safe for kids and dogs to play.

Best of all: the cell phone reception is damn good right there on Walnut Hill!

Candy Evans, founder and publisher of CandysDirt.com, is one of the nation’s leading real estate reporters.

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  1. […] in the city. The Dallas North Tollway is handy there, as is Northwest Highway and Walnut Hill Lane. Why do you think Randall Stephenson chose to plop his family compound on Walnut Hill Lane? Go north, south, or west or even take a mile long stroll (round trip) down to Preston […]

  2. […] in the city. The Dallas North Tollway is handy there, as is Northwest Highway and Walnut Hill Lane. Why do you think Randall Stephenson chose to plop his family compound on Walnut Hill Lane? Go north, south, or west or even take a mile long stroll (round trip) down to Preston […]

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