Many weeks, I have to rifle through dozens, betimes even hundreds of listings, to find something that will inspire me to write. This week I lucked out with this brand new house which has been on the market for all of two days.
New construction can be thrilling when it is design-directed, and the design-savvy team of Kelly and Stephen Bowen-Wilson have come up trumps with this 4,325-square-foot listing in beautiful Crestwood.
Staying Power
I caught up with the energetic Kelly Bowen-Wilson, who is also the listing agent, on her way to a showing at the property. Kelly wears a lot of hats. Her Instagram account describes her as a Realtor, interior designer, and builder. The husband-and-wife duo have built on spec or taken on remodeling projects in many Fort Worth neighborhoods including Montserrat, Idlewild, Eagle Mountain, South Lake, and Tanglewood.
The Crestwood lot formerly accommodated a modest three-bedroom, one-bath cottage.
“We took special care to build around the trees,” Kelly Bowen-Wilson proudly tells me. “And Crestwood is tricky. You can’t just pour a slab with all of the tree roots,” she adds. To shore up the foundation, 97 piers were imbedded to underpin the slab.
High Design
The high standards of style and quality quite literally begin at the front door.
Behind a beautiful Moorish arched vestibule is a grand white oak door of Kelly Bowen-Wilson’s own design. A light stain preserves the beauty of the white oak’s grain.
Flooring on the ground floor is a delicious cream-colored limestone that contributes to a unity of flow in the open-plan layout.
The quality of the Marvin windows and doors even persuades me to love sliding glass doors. The living room is of the great room type with the kitchen at one end, both capped by a cathedral ceiling. Skylights pull additional light into the space.
Stained white oak makes a reappearance in the kitchen cabinetry. The kitchen countertops are soapstone. The kitchen contains the full array of high end appliances including two dishwashers, a double oven gas range, and built in microwave ice-maker. The kitchen directly connects to the dining room.
The house has four bedrooms and four-and-one-half baths. Two of the bedrooms are on the first floor with an en ensuite bath, connected by a lovely corridor at the front of the house. The master bedroom is off an arched vestibule.
Everything in the house is custom and carefully selected, including the three vintage lanterns in the corridor. The residence benefits from Kelly’s inventory of furniture. The vibe is understatedly elegant, yet relaxed.
I love this sexy black marble bath, which serves the guest bedroom. The console sink with solid marble basin and over mirror sconce give the room a retro feel.
The corridor running from the front to the living room has access to the stairs to the second floor and a media room with a full bar. Media room paper is by Schumacher. The bar backsplash is a curvaceous solid marble slab.
The outdoor living is as elegant as the indoor space, with the limestone paving carried out to the covered sitting area with a fireplace in the center. There is an attached grill and fire pit as well.
Three covered parking spaces are accessed from the drive at the house’s right.
If I could summarize in one sentence this Crestwood modern’s main strength it is that it is the least ‘spec like’ house I have encountered and that I can imagine, with pleasure, living here.
Kelly Bowen-Wilson is marketing 205 Crestwood Drive for $2,300,000 through Christie’s International Real Estate.
