When this Lake Park Estates Midcentury Modern was spotted by our executive editor Joanna England, on Instagram, we clamored over writing about it like ladies fighting over the last pair of Louboutins at Neiman’s Last Call. Well, maybe not that bad, but hey, this is a terrific house.
Jim Pasant owns this completely renovated Lake Park Estates home. You may well have met Pasant. If you are of a certain era and danced through Deep Ellum and the Stark Club in the 1980s, he was probably the DJ keeping you on the floor.
Pasant is a Renaissance man. He’s been a DJ, an art director, and a photographer, and a producer of the Stark Club documentary. The list goes on, but suffice it to say he has excellent taste.
Twenty-one years ago, Pasant fell in love with Lake Park Estates the moment he drove through it.
“My son had just been born, and I’d been living in an apartment, so I thought it’s time for a house,” Pasant said. “I drove down Lake Gardens one day, saw that canopy of trees on the street, and knew I wanted to be in this neighborhood. Then the house popped up, and I snagged it.
The Lake Gardens home had been on the market only 27 hours when Pasant put in his offer. The lot is almost a third of an acre, and it backs up to Dixon Branch Creek, so it’s very private.
But remember, the inside of every 1957 house is not exactly what we love to live in today. “The cabinetry was original, and not great original,” Pasant said. “The carpet was horrible, the tile was not cool, the layout was worse, and it was dark.”
“My mom was always nagging me to get the house done,” Pasant said. When she passed away, Pasant and his siblings received an unexpected inheritance. Pasant knew exactly what he’d do. “I renovated the house as a tribute to her. Now every time I walk through it, I’m reminded of her.”
When he decided to remodel the home in 2011 (I know it looks like it was done yesterday!), he turned to his good friend, interior designer Murray Woodall.
“I’m blessed to have a friendship with Murray,” Pasant said. “He’s one of the best designers in the state, if not the country. He brought me ideas I would never have imagined. It was a dream working with him.”
The interior was completely reconfigured to create the open floor plan Pasant wanted. That required re-engineering the front of this Lake Park Estates home to get the required support for the roof.
“You must know how you will use the space,” Woodall said. “So much of my job is finding out information about how someone lives, so I can create the right space for them that functions well. It’s almost like building a boat. Everything must have its place.”
Making the home durable, bright, easy to keep clean, and low maintenance were all critical elements. A few other details were essential to Pasant. He has an extensive art collection (most of which has already been removed from the house). White was the obvious paint choice. And remember his DJ roots. An addition was created off the kitchen bringing the square footage up to 2,274. Double insulation and recording studio sheetrock created a proper DJ room.
“I was the neighbor everyone hated before the remodel,” Pasant said. That room is now staged as a home office and secondary living space, but if you love to DJ or want to record music, you’re in luck!
They decided on two bedrooms because the large living area was important. The old bathrooms were gutted, and yes, that’s Italian porcelain from Walker Zanger in the master bathroom.
The landscaping was designed by Man Ray Silva to create some privacy and mimic the look of Palm Springs. Lynn Lenau did the installation. There is a sizable back deck, perfect for dancing, and of course, all that land backing up to the creek means you can party like it’s 1989 and not bother anyone.
“This is a great house,” Pasant said. “There is nothing now that anyone needs to fix. I’m going to miss the neighborhood, but I bought a house in Austin three months ago. I’ve been going back and forth and had enough time to detach from the Dallas house emotionally. It’s time for someone else to love it as much as I did.”
If you’d like to have a look before the first open house, David Griffin & Company listing agent David Collier has 917 Tipperary Drive listed for $525,000.
Open House Sunday, October 27, 1-3 p.m.
Karen Eubank is the owner of Eubank Staging and Design. She has been an award-winning professional home stager and writer for over 25 years. Karen teaches the popular Staging to Sell class and is the creator of the online course, The Beginners Guide to Buying Wholesale. Her love of all dogs, international travel, good chocolate, great champagne, and historic homes knows no bounds. Her father was a spy, so she keeps secrets very well!
