[Editor’s note: Merry Christmas! This week, we’re taking time off to focus on our loved ones, so we are sharing some of our favorite stories from this year. Keep an eye out for our top features from the archives as we rest and get ready for a brilliant 2019! Cheers, from Candy and the entire staff at SecondShelters.com and Daltxrealestate.com!]
Bethany: I adore writing about these historical shelters every week, but I especially loved talking with the Warrens, who took this historic Waxahachie home and embraced its period charm while still keeping an eye on modernizing where appropriate, to create a perfectly darling home.
Whether you’re looking for that quiet weekend home for play after your workweek, or a great potential second home that has some income prospects as well via Airbnb, this week’s historical shelter in Waxahachie is an opportunity to get an adorable home at a great price point, with plenty of designer upgrades.
And we say designer, we mean it. Award-winning interior designer Courtney Warren and her husband Joel bought this home to create a homey, yet luxurious retreat with the comforts of big city living (restaurants, shopping, entertainment) but the quiet of the small town.
“It’s part of the Metroplex, but it feels so far removed,” Warren said about the town. “It’s so nice to get away to a slower pace.”
In recent vacation home surveys from the National Association of Realtors, buyers say the ideal vacation home is located within a two-hour drive of their primary residence. Waxahachie is roughly a 30 to 40-minute drive.
“Waxahachie is one of Dallas’ best-kept secrets,” Warren said. “It’s still so charming. We have a lot of growth, and it’s an easy commute.”
Warren said it took about three months to bring the home from drab and dated to updated and charming.
“In the beginning, you can’t even imagine what it could be, and when it’s finished, you can’t even remember how bad it was,” she said.
