Our Inwood Home of the Week at 4150 Shady Hill Drive is a breath of fresh air. Sleek, chic and unique, it’s a North Dallas contemporary that has been completely remodeled, sits on an enormous 125 by 130 lot, and could not be in a better location.
Some things stay hip, like this North Dallas Contemporary. It just took a little TLC, and a smart architect to bring it back to its former glory. Ernesto Miranda, principal with Magellan Architects, remodeled this two-story contemporary in 2014 and did, what we consider to be, a spectacular job.
“Doing that kind of transformation is frankly a lot of fun,” Miranda said. “I wanted to be true to the original design aspect of the house. It was built for entertaining so I wanted to keep that feel. We opened it up with an unobstructed window wall and a panoramic view of the pool. It came out exactly the way we thought it was going to. It was just a great project.”
The house was originally a custom build for Ed and Betty MacArthur. Ed was a Braniff pilot. Betty was a flight attendant for American and also worked at Neiman’s. They wanted to build a home for entertaining and did they entertain!
The present owners, Kelly and Andi Conley, gave us the back story.
“Everyone used to come and play darts and spend the night here. In fact, we still let the neighbor next door come and swim when she wants to. Apparently, the big thing to do was to go to a bar around Bachman Lake, play darts, and then come back here and swim and continue the party. The guest room downstairs was for sleepovers,” Kelly said.
“There was a huge fully stocked bar where our island now stands. There was an atrium right at the front door where Betty used to keep tropical plants. This house gets great eastern sunlight. Andi and I have often contemplated calling this house orchid because the east sunlight allows our orchids to grow so well.”
The couple also had quite the menagerie and used to walk not only their dog but also their cat and blue jay down the alley.
“The bird would hop down the fence line of the alley following Ed as he walked the pets,” Kelly said.
This North Dallas contemporary has the cool core elements everyone wanted in 1977. Note that groovy open staircase, long considered the cornerstone of any modern home. It’s easy to see why they have regained popularity today. The home also has the much-coveted original sunroom. Of course, it has been updated enormously but these rooms were another hallmark of 1970s contemporary construction.
“They built that sunroom to watch the purple martins fly about in the evening,” Kelly said. “They were fascinated by the way they soared and kept many bird baths and houses in the backyard.”
The sunroom is also an excellent way to keep the party going as it’s been turned into a dining area. You can still keep an eye out through those huge floor-to-ceiling windows to ensure every guest that has wandered out to enjoy the pool has a cocktail in hand in that gorgeous backyard, which has only gotten better with time.
The sellers previously owned a landscape company and added a Palm Desert feel to the landscaping. Those are river birch trees in front of the home and blue agaves as you near the entrance. The distinctive landscape lighting was also installed by the seller. They created the show-stopping metal sculpture to display the house number in stellar style.
This is not your ordinary North Dallas contemporary home. Not by a long shot. It’s not just cool, it’s über cool. With three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a powder bath, it’s the perfect size for family and plenty of friends. Maribeth Peters, with Allie Beth Allman, has this North Dallas contemporary listed for $845,000.
Open House: Sunday, June 10, 2018, from 1 p.m —2:30 p.m.
Karen Eubank is the owner of Eubank Staging and Design. She has been an award-winning professional home stager for more than 25 years and a professional writer for 20 years. Karen is the mother of a son who’s studying music at The University of Miami. An ardent animal lover, she doesn’t mind one bit if your fur baby jumps right into her lap. Find Karen at www.eubankstaging.com
