Have you ever taken a child with you when touring homes? It can get old. Fast. However, there’s no truer test to see if a home is right for your family than to take them to showings with you. Luckily, if you stop at this Forest Hills contemporary, your home search will be over fast and your kids will be just as happy as you.
How can a home make a family happy? Let’s start with the one thing you can’t change about it — the location.
This particular home is located inside the East Dallas neighborhood of Forest Hills, which has large lots, shaded streets, and tons of families. You’re a short jaunt off of Lakeland, which dead-ends into the Dallas Arboretum — a favorite spot for folks all over Dallas. Just beyond the Arboretum is White Rock Lake, where you can enjoy a day with the whole family and your fuzzy friend either walking or running, cycling, or even paddling on the lake itself. Want to enjoy a day with just the adults? The Fraternal Order of Eagles is just around the corner. You’re also close to Casa Linda Plaza, Arboretum Village, and if you need a place to have a beer and let the kids run wild, the Lot is just down Garland Road.
Of course, it would be neglectful of me to ignore the excellent Dallas ISD public schools that serve this neighborhood, one of which is practically around the corner — the award winning Alex Sanger Preparatory school. This dual-language campus has earned several distinctions and will soon expand for even more programming at the Pre-K through eighth grade campus.
Yes, there’s all of that around you, and we haven’t even begun talking about how great our Inwood Home of the Week is! This listing from Jeff Jacobs with Keller Williams Frisco Stars will seal the deal for you and your family.
As Jacobs pointed out to me, the home has a terrific, completely open first floor. We love how there’s no awkward, unusable space underneath the industrial-chic staircase. Have little ones? You can see clean through from the kitchen to the fireplace as they trod over the hard-wearing polished concrete floors. A wall of floor-to-ceiling windows looks onto the backyard, complete with pool — more on that later!
In all, there are three bedrooms, two full and one half baths, a downstairs study that could be a fourth bedroom, a bonus room with bar, fireplaces in both the living room and master suite, and 3,047 square feet of efficient, streamlined space in this Forest Hills contemporary.
To me, there’s nothing more perfect than a sleek, polished kitchen, and for a lot of families, the kitchen is the place where family business happens. Homework covers the expansive granite island on weekdays, but on weekends it turns into a buffet for snacks and drinks as everyone moves inside and out. The double ovens, six-burner gas cooktop, butlers pantry with wine fridge, enormous walk-in pantry all make this kitchen perfect for entertaining crowds no matter the average age.
Head upstairs to check out the bonus game room, complete with wet bar and access to a huge balcony area that overlooks that pool. This is where sleepovers, video game marathons, and lego-building championships happen. Hardwood floors add warmth to the area, and ceiling fans add an economical way to cool down.
The private master suite is spectacular, too. An immense double vanity, huge seamless mirror, oversized frameless glass shower, and jetted tub make the master bath feel like a real retreat. Meanwhile, the master bedroom is no slouch, complete with a gas fireplace and tons of natural light. For a home built in 2013, it looks like the previous owners barely kicked the tires on this Forest Hills contemporary.
When you tour this home with your kids, the main attraction will inevitably be the backyard. The two-story home has a two-story porch and balcony for easy outdoor living, a pool and spa with tanning ledge, and a spacious, grassy lawn that maintains its privacy thanks to the board-on-board fence. It’s pure family friendly perfection.
Jeff Jacobs and Keller Williams Frisco Stars has listed 1718 Whittier Ave. for $795,000.
