We were having this discussion this morning on the way to Legacy Title: what style of home holds value better longterm, contemporary or classics?
All the builders tell me that transitional-style moderns are in huge demand right now — kind of the style du jour, just as French chateaux were hot at the end of the ’90s. But I still hold forth on a great traditional with red brick, and a Georgian home has always been one of my dreams. That’s why this Old Preston Hollow classic kind of grabs at my heart. It looks like a senator’s house. I recall when it was built by a dear friend, and we photographed it for D Home Magazine. I had the best psychic reading in that study, too, from a local intuitive who mapped my Zodiac signs and nailed it. I’m a Leo! This is a Leo’s kind of house!
5138 Deloache is a true estate — it comes with 1.4 acres of those huge, stunning trees that are such a hallmark of the honeypot of Sunnybrook Estates. The home was built in 1999 but totally renovated in 2008. The elegance is evident in every room, from the pristine gourmet kitchen that has two of everything and then some, to the new master bath. Even the guest house was updated and is nothing short of perfection. You get a whopping 11,685 square feet, six bedrooms, seven full baths and two half/powder rooms. That means each bedroom has a private bath and one is dedicated for the uniquely-shaped pool. 
The layout is your classic foyer with sweeping staircase, formals to either side, and library, study, an enchanting room just for breakfast, a home theater, game room, exercise room, wine cellar, and the best storage south of the Mason-Dixon line. Look at the pool area with the guest house cascading down — could you not just live here forever? I have always loved the secondary staircase as architectural interest in the family room — that room was painted a soothing aqua when D Home photographed it, back when brighter wall colors were haute. I’m so happy with the cream. You just cannot get enough class out of rich, creamy-colored walls and woodwork. And those hardwoods — watch out, I’m going to use the “O” word here in about two seconds.
Maybe there’s a new saying: you can never be too thin, too rich, have too many closets or have enough cream in your decor. If so, 5138 DeLoache fits right in!
A fresh listing from Elly Holder and Gretchen Brasch of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s on agent tour tomorrow a.m. priced at $7,249,000. The home was listed sometime last year for a high of $8,295,000… looks like almost a million was shaved off.
