We all need a retreat, don’t we? Maybe for a day, a week, a month, or however long, wouldn’t it be nice to get away and let nature relax and wash away all the stressors of everyday life?
What if there was a home that looked and felt like a retreat? Wouldn’t that be a find? Well, we found it and it’s in Tarrant County!
While it’s early in 2023, we might have found our Tarrant County Tuesday Favorite Home of the Year and it’s located in Fort Worth!
What Makes a Retreat?
Why do we have to venture to far-off lands to find peace and tranquility? Why can’t that be found just down the road? What exactly makes a place feel relaxing like a retreat?
Certainly peace and quiet are part of life at a retreat, as well as beautiful shade trees that rustle in the breeze. A calming brook or stream perhaps? Maybe even beautiful scenery brings peace.
Inside a retreat home, it could be the way the home flows or the materials used to build the home that brings us rest and relaxation. It is different for everyone but certainly the 6,034-square-foot home at 8216 Meadowbrook Drive in East Fort Worth, along with its surrounding features, will offer aspects of tranquility for all walks of life.
Frank Lloyd Wright-Inspired Design
We’ve discussed the great American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and his desire for homes to be in harmony with their surroundings.
Some aspects of Wright’s Usonian aesthetic include low-pitched roofs, wide eaves and broad sheltering overhangs, asymmetrical entryways, and the use of materials such as stone, glass, and rough timbers not only as exterior elements but inside the home as well.
Wright also was highly inspired by the time he spent in Japan and that is evident once again in his desire to create homes that not only are peaceful and in harmony with nature but have areas of the home that are open to the outside.
Inside-Outside Living
Another aspect that makes this four-bedroom, four-and-two-half-bathroom home so unique and retreat-like is that it is hidden from the street by a wall of large trees.
Once you drive through the electric privacy gate you wind through tall trees to arrive at your destination. While it’s not a long drive, it almost signifies that you are coming to a home where you can be at one with nature. Instead of the original builders tearing down all the trees, they built the drive around them.
Inside, the floor plan is open and flowing. The same limestone that is used on the exterior is frequently found as accent walls or columns.
Of course, glass is a huge element in this home as well. Composed largely of single fixed-glass panes, with sections opening to the outside, the spatial effect of the inside flowing out from a number of the rooms once again echoes the desire for harmony of the interior and exterior.
Bonus Areas
If the main home isn’t enough for you, enjoy the large space over the four-car garage. Complete with a full kitchen, the area is currently used as a comfortable media room but could be perfect for a home office or guest quarters.
Like the main part of the home, the bonus space also oozes elements of Contemporary architecture. A balcony stretches the length of the room with views of another bonus area — the pool and outdoor kitchen.
Didn’t I tell you that this home felt like a retreat? Grab your favorite book and find a spot to chillax indoors or outdoors. Let the trees give you shade as you nap in a hammock or splash in the pool and spa. The property is just over two-and-one-half acres so there is plenty of room to roam and explore.
Like so many homes, the photos do not do this home justice. You must enjoy this retreat for yourself.
Veronica Stimson and Caren Parten of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Real Estate have listed 8216 Meadowbrook Drive for $1.8 million.
