Builder Stephan Sardone recently put his Lake Highlands home up for sale. The 3,700-square-foot home at 10219 Linkwood Drive features five bedrooms, four baths, and countless unique amenities.
“As builders, we tend to go overboard on our own homes,” Sardone said. “I don’t think there’s much like it anywhere else in Lake Highlands.”
A 14-foot island dominates the kitchen. State-of-the-art appliances include dual dishwashers built without traditional heating elements that can release toxins from plastics. There’s also a large appliance garage in which Sardone stores his coffee maker, hot-water kettle, toaster, and numerous other gadgets.
“I was able to fit everything on the counter so that it’s a functional thing, but I could also close the doors and not have too look at everything since that’s not aesthetically pleasing.”
The living room features a 23-foot fireplace flanked by twin, two-story windows. When Sardone moved into the home, had had one child and another one on the way. Since he likes to entertain and have people over, he had the upstairs bedrooms sealed off so that they are practically soundproof.
“We could still have all of our friends over and literally be as loud as we wanted without ever waking up the girls,” he said.
The master suite includes his-and-hers closets. Sardone built one of them as a safe room with reinforced walls, ceilings, floors and an inside door latch. The door inconspicuously blends into the wall, making it hard to even tell that there is a closet there. And as if that’s wasn’t safe enough, the safe room itself also contains a safe.
Outside there are patios in both the front and back. The oversized backyard patio includes two built-in kegerators, a single burner, and space for a grill. The yard has been landscaped in an Austin/ Hill Country style, with many herbs for cooking and cocktail-making planted throughout.
The home was also built with energy efficiency in mind. Everything has been spray foamed, and the HVAC units are energy-certified. One tankless water heater easily serves the entire home, and LED lights abound.
“We did all of the lighting as if we were art collectors, but we’re not,” Sardone said. “We thought we would start collecting art, but instead we started spending money on furniture.”
The home is currently listed by the Wrighthouse Realty Group of Gilcrist & Company Real Estate for $879,000.
