I got a bit giddy when I came across this Highland Park Modernist masterpiece designed by the legendary Bud Oglesby. As I go in search of a home for our Monday Morning Millionaire each week, I try to find something that is not only in the ultra-luxury price range but also has a story to tell.
Dallas has some of the finest residential architecture in the world. That fact often makes me pause and wonder why buyers so often settle for the mundane white box when there are homes like this Modernist masterpiece for sale. Architect-designed homes are timeless. Sure, you may need to update a bathroom or a kitchen, but you should do that on any house over 10 years old.
An architect-designed house is going to last forever, if — and that is a big if — there is a buyer that understands and values that home. It takes a certain level of taste, experience, and intelligence to appreciate a marvelous Modernist masterpiece. Fortunately, this is Dallas, and we have a lot of tasteful, intelligent buyers.
This Modernist masterpiece at 3709 Lexington Avenue was built for the Deals, who were patrons of the Dallas Museum of Art. It is widely believed to be the last residence Oglesby designed. In the 1993 Dallas Morning News obituary for Oglesby, architecture critic, David Dillon wrote the following:
“Honesty in materials, simplicity of form, sensitivity to place, this was the Oglesby canon, and it changed very little over the years.”
One of Oglesby’s hallmarks was maximizing the use of light. The incorporation of the interior with the exterior is beautifully perfected in this 6,200-square-foot Modernist masterpiece. Instead of a formal space, Oglesby designed a comfortable, casual-yet-dramatic great room with majestic, soaring glass walls, concrete pillars, and a vaulted ceiling. Sitting in that room, you feel as if you are in the middle of a jungle, not minutes from the bustle of Knox Street. The home is incredibly secluded and private. You’ve probably driven by it and never given it a second look because it’s set into such lush grounds.
Remember, this home was designed for art patrons, so the second-floor, which is accessed by two staircases and an elevator, has a landing built like a gallery space. Two en-suite bedrooms are on this floor, including the master. There is also a large game room, an office, and a ton of storage space.
Let’s get back to that lush setting. Not only are you shielded from the outside world by thick vegetation, but there is also a fountain, an arbor-covered patio, an entertaining pavilion, and a pool. A real jaw-dropping moment comes when you see the attached, air-conditioned, glass-walled three-car garage, which of course can double as another party space.
Although this Modernist masterpiece would be an excellent option for empty nesters, as it’s located in the Highland Park school district, I can just as easily see a family being extremely happy here.
“It is truly an exceptional home,” Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s listing agent Faisal Halum said. “When you are on that patio, with the wisteria in bloom and the fountains running, it’s like you are someplace magical.”
I completely agree.
Halum has this Modernist masterpiece ay 3708 Lexington Ave. listed for $5.75 million.
Karen Eubank is the owner of Eubank Staging and Design. She has been an award-winning professional home stager and writer for over 25 years. Karen teaches the popular Staging to Sell class and is the creator of the online course, The Beginners Guide to Buying Wholesale. Her love of dogs, international travel, history, white paint, champagne, artificial turf, and Tudor and Midcentury Modern homes, and any house designed by Clifford Hutsell knows no bounds. Her father was a spy, so she keeps secrets very well! Find Karen at www.eubankstaging.com
