I’m suspicious of motives behind phrases such as “highest and best use,” which are intended to offer a moral justification for razing older properties.
With its oversized lots and access to first-rate Tanglewood Elementary School, the many smaller 1960s ranch-style houses that average 2,500 square feet have proved tempting targets for teardown and redevelopment. Many of these ranch-style houses are fairly simple affairs, lacking many amenities now considered necessities.
Not to say it’s all good news, but many site-sensitive projects have been constructed here. What is emerging in Tanglewood, the first-ever development in Edwards Ranch, is an interesting mélange of the original ranch style houses, traditional styles, true Midcentury Modern houses, and new construction.
2924 Harlanwood Drive
I am mostly enthusiastic about this 4,400-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-and-two-half-bath modern home at 2924 Harlanwood Drive. The composition of stone, stucco, and glass merging into its large lot populated by old-growth trees will be comfortingly familiar to Texans, evoking the nature-conscious, site-sensitive style of architects like O’Neil Ford. Built in 2014, it looks brand new and thoroughly relevant.
Let’s begin the tour at the front.
Enter and discover the dining room to the right. The tray ceiling is not so much a ruse to gain a few inches of ceiling height as an architectonic means of defining the oblong space. Two Sputnik-style, glass chandeliers are suspended over the dining room table.
At right is a flex space logically fit for a library or home office. Floors in the downstairs living spaces are wide-plank oak.
The plan is quite obviously open. Once again, a ceiling tray defines the living space at back. The living area greedily grabs every opportunity to draw light into the space, using banks of French windows, clerestory windows, and large skylights to illuminate the large space.
Vexing for me, are the occasional odd asymmetrical design features here and there, like the slit of a gas fireplace located uncomfortably at the end of the room.
The eat-in kitchen has a clean ambiance with its scored, polished concrete floors, quartz surfaces, and white cabinets. The white cladding on the wide fridge/freezer makes a refreshing change from the now ubiquitous stainless fronts. Sadly, the cooktop is electric.
The principal bedroom is on ground level and is part of a spacious suite with a glamorous modern bath and super spacious closet system.
A House Within a House
The second floor is like a second house within a house. with a large living area at the landing. Again, another odd asymmetrical moment in the seemingly gratuitous arch at the end of the room.
The remaining two bedrooms are on the second floor both with ensuite baths and balconies.
The back garden is a dream, with a roofed outdoor living area, a large pool with a spa, and loads of room to spare. To the side and at back is the garage with three spaces.
Mike Garza of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty has priced 2924 Harlanwood Drive at $2.5 million.
