Monday Morning Millionaire, Late Edition: Lorraine Lovely Originally Built for Tim Headington Gets a Fabulous Cali Facelift
Really, improving this house is like improving Gwyneth Paltrow or George Clooney. 4304 Lorraine certainly didn’t need much, but when HP Estate Homes gets hold of a property, the sky is no limit to the time, care, attention and detail that will be poured in to create the finest of fine estates. First of all, the home was built for Tim Headington in 2000. You can all but guarantee perfection (as well as “price is no object” quality) when a gazillionaire builds a home. Then it was purchased by Carl Webb, Senior Partner at Ford Management, L.P. and Chief Executive Officer and Director of Pacific Capital Bancorp, among other things. Carl lived here the last ten years before HP Estate Homes got hold of this beauty who just needed a little Santa Barbara fluff. And fluff indeed: interior designer Elizabeth Robertson smoothed the interiors in every inch of the 6,574 square feet with traditional furnishings bearing a California clean edge and beautiful wood finishes, like the barnwood blue-white-washed kitchen, the handscraped deep oak floors, parquet and limestone, solid Honduras rift-cut mahogany doors, marble countertops EVERYWHERE!, Spanish tile roof, saltwater pool, 512 square foot cabana off the pool, full covered outdoor kitchen, prime corner lot with 167 foot depth. There are five bedrooms, five and two half baths which is now de rigeur, and a three car garage plus plenty of parking. The downstairs master suite had me screaming with not just one, but TWO closets the size of the Vince at Highland Park Village, his and her, complete with pull-down rods, built-ins and drawers, a cedar closet within the main closet, plus a huge spa bath with soaking tub, steam shower, coffee/wet bar and auxiliary luggage closet. There is also a private terrace off the master with quick access to the pool. Asking price: only $6.8 million.
Talk About a Sign of Friendly Neighbors: “No Trespassing: Violators Will Be Shot, Survivors Will Be Shot Again!”
I get the message: you are not welcome here! While perusing neighborhoods this weekend, I came across this very interesting “No Trespassing” sign in front of a home at 6626 Talmadge Lane, in-between Hillcrest and Preston, south of Churchill Way. The home is 15,629 square feet and was, I believe, the object of neighbor concern when it was built about three years ago, because it was large, and was built with a huge basement. But build it this homeowner did, as is his/her right. I hope these signs are not meant for the neighbors. You cannot read the last lines of the sigh here, but it says “violators will be shot, survivors will be shot again.”
Did Candice Romo’s Mothers Day Treat Include a New House From Tony?
My super-duper sources in the Irving community of Cottonwood Valley tell me there is no for sale sign out as of yet, but our fearless quarterback and his wife, Candice, also the mother of his little boy, Hawkins, who must be just over a year old now, may soon be departing their home on Dowlins Drive. Where are they going? Somewhere in North Dallas. Not sure exactly where yet, but sources tell me it’s either Bent Tree or Glen Abbey — somewhere gated. I’m putting my money on Glen Abbey. Gated, well of course! We sure hope they all had a great Mother’s Day today and very excited to see the second casa Romo!
Read more on Did Candice Romo’s Mothers Day Treat Include a New House From Tony?…
The Wall Street Journal Has Been Scrutinizing Dallas Real Estate: Dallas Big Shots, They Say, Flock to Highland Park
Highland Park is hot. Don’t you love how the rest of the world is suddenly paying attention to Dallas? Our economy is great, and our real estate market could not be better. We may have some quirky politicos, and some of us OD on the decorating with the three T’s: turrets, trophies and tusks. But we are Texas, the rough-tumbling, independent, do-it-your-way state. I had heard that the Wall Street Journal sent a reporter down to Dallas to check out our real estate a week or so ago. That reporter was Alyssa Abkowitz. We are friends on Twitter. I was told she originally came down to research the Oil baron’s story — how “the shale-oil boom in the Lone Star State has created a different kind of gusher: oil executives flush with cash looking to buy luxury real estate.”
Notices of Appraised Residential Real Estate Values Are Out, and Our Tax Doctor is IN
We welcome our new Tax Doctor on Candy’sDirt.com, Rob Wheelock of PropertyTaxManagers.com. (His ad is on this page, click on it and wander over to his website.) Rob is a tax fighting veteran with more than 10 years of experience who also works on special assignment for the Texas State Comptroller’s Office as an Arbitrator, settling property tax disputes between property owners and Appraisal Districts throughout the State. So he definitely has “an inside edge”. He will be here throughout the next couple crucial tax rendition weeks to help you whittle that tax bill down as much as humanely possible.
Read more on Notices of Appraised Residential Real Estate Values Are Out, and Our Tax Doctor is IN…
Want to See Some of The Hottest Modern Homes in Dallas? Win Tickets To The Spring Modern Home Tour Today!
You guys! Did you know that some of the most amazing homes designed by some of the hottest modern architects will be open for your viewing pleasure on May 11? Now you do!
How Hot Is the Dallas Real Estate Market? Hot Enough to Fry an Egg on the Sidewalk?
If you are a regular reader of this blog, which I hope you are, you know how hot our market is. I am afraid to postpone writing about a great property because it will be sold. I do not understand how you can write about homes now in print, especially magazine. It takes 30 days to publish a print book and in that time, a home could have flipped TWICE.
Read more on How Hot Is the Dallas Real Estate Market? Hot Enough to Fry an Egg on the Sidewalk?…
Dr. Richard Malouf Doing More Suing, Including National Real Estate Site Curbed.com
Not going to say anything here, obvi, except that I hope y’all have a nice day. And that James “Rusty” Tucker is the guy Dr. and Mrs. Malouf bought (what used to be) the home next door from. This is what it looked like in 2008. Let’s just let Claire St. Amant over at CultureMap tell you all about it…
Read more on Dr. Richard Malouf Doing More Suing, Including National Real Estate Site Curbed.com…
Uptown Look a Lot Cleaner This Week? Here’s Who Helped Get Uptown Spic N’ Span
Last Saturday, about this time, several Dallas Realtors and the Uptown Residents Council were springing from their beds because they had a busy, busy Saturday morning ahead of them, cleaning. Not just house cleaning, mind you, but dirty, gritty, wear your rubber gloves Uptown street cleaning. In conjunction with the annual “Celebrate Uptown” events of April 24th, 25 & 26th, and Earth Day, Council folks rolled out of bed, rolled up their sleeves and donned rubber gloves to pick up every piece of you-know-what (um, that too, literally) in between Woodall Rogers and 75, the Katy Trail and Cedar Springs focusing on Cityplace west, near the trolley turntable.
Read more on Uptown Look a Lot Cleaner This Week? Here’s Who Helped Get Uptown Spic N’ Span…
Case Shiller’s Great Housing News: Dallas Home Values Increased at Greatest Rate Since C-S Even Started Taking Surveys
David Woo The Dallas Morning News
I mean, dang! Dallas home prices are up 7.1% from last year overall. Is that not great to hear? Prices of pre-owned homes scooted up a whopping 7.1 percent in February from February 2012, a record increase. Like, the biggest increase since Case Shiller has been keeping records. Talk to the agents, they say North Texas home prices are up about 8 percent over the first three months of 2012, according to the MLS. And many sales are being made outside of the MLS.
































