I know it’s January, but this stunning home (and our much, much improved weather) reminds me that our lawns will be green once again. That, plus I happen to be in California, where all the homes look like 4442 Manning Drive Lane.
Also 65 and sunny!
For the life of me, I am trying to analyze just how you obtain this Santa Barbara sophistication — the warmth, the sleekness, the all around sophistication and good taste that seems so effortless.
Just like the women out here.
This home has an added plus: Dallas landscape architect Robert Bellamy landscaped the entire .41 acre acre lot for complete and pristine privacy.
Built in 1996, the home is really timeless. I think that’s due to the clean lines and wide window spans that bring in so much light. The entry is a two-story tribute to a grand entrance, the light flowing in through arched doorways to the adjoining rooms.
Let’s dissect this California sensibility, shall we? Though the home was built in 1996 — the thought of what hair style I was wearing, and the shoulder pads du jour, just makes me cringe — the architect went easy on the moldings. Smooth, rounded corners, gentle archways, sensible moldings and a toned-down cast stone fireplace that doesn’t jump out at you and pout, like a screaming child, I AM A FIREPLACE PAY SOME ATTENTION TO ME!
That is what some of these columns and ornate gooblies do, don’t they?
Couple that with dark hardwood floors, and I am feeling a California state of mind coming on. In fact, this home reminds me of the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, one of the finest spas I have ever enjoyed, in Sonoma, California.
I’m here to tell you this is a nicely-sized home, too. What is with this 8,000 square foot trend? Try 5925 square feet that accommodates formals, four bedrooms, five full and one-half bath, including a downstairs master with one of the bigger master spa baths in Texas. I mean, it’s not “Deion Sanders’ sized”, but then who needs a master bath that a family of seven can live in?
Lets talk about another aspect of this home that makes it so timeless: the jewelry. I mean, the fixtures. Look at the lights: clean and clear, like the foyer, or a series of pendulums, or a simple chandelier embedded into a line of beams, like in the family room.
How do they do it? Make a whole dang house look as effortless as a sweater set? I see this house resonating big time with a Cali transplant to Texas. And believe me, they are coming.
Speaking of effortless, I know a local Dallas bank that makes the entire mortgage process as effortless as a sweater set: Inwood Mortgage, from the folks at Inwood Bank. 4442 Manning is listed with Susie and Pete Ryan at Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s who have it listed for $1,995,000. That’s right, under two million.
Don’t touch that dial — but do give the good folks at Inwood a call. Because you never know when interest rates will be back in style.
Just like sweater sets. 
