So, what’s a Santa Barbara Modern you ask?
Take that typical Mediterranean style that comes to mind — you know, terra cotta tile roof, white stucco, etc. — but infuse it with a modern consciousness. The result is an architectural style that is not only gorgeous, but also appeals to a modern family. Our Inwood Home of the Week at 5344 Surrey Circle is a classic example of Santa Barbara Modern.
Meredith Ferrell and Brenda Ray of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International have the 6,996-square-foot, four-bedroom, six-bathroom home listed for $3.89 million.
It has everything. And we mean, everything.
“From the minute you walk in the front door, your jaw drops,” Ferrell said.
“You see the formal living room, with a full wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, that overlook the backyard,” Ferrell added. “That backyard is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in Dallas. We had one of the most respected landscape companies in the area come over and they told us it was one of the top five backyards in Dallas.”
It has an outstanding outdoor living area with a kitchen and fireplace, a negative-edge swimming pool overlooking the creek, and multiple areas for entertaining. It’s landscaped with native plants, so that means low maintenance and low water bills. And there is the “must-have” now more than ever, Jackson Mosquito Nix misting system.
The house was originally built in 1941 with a major remodel in 2009. Carolyn Isler, owner of Isler Homes, put her touches on the final additions and improvements in 2015. Isler, has one of the finest reputations in luxury home construction and renovation in Dallas, so you know this home has met her exacting standards!
The entire house was designed to capture views of the backyard from every room, so those amazing windows are everywhere. You’d be hard pressed to move from the living room oasis until someone announced dinner and you drift into what has to be the prettiest dining room in Dallas. It’s wrapped up like a beautiful present in exquisite Gracie wallpaper and topped with a vintage antique chandelier.
The light fixtures in this home are stunning, adding the perfect finishing touch to every room, including the kitchen, which features an elegant Baker chandelier hanging over the imported Brazilian butcher-block island. Carrara marble coats the island and countertops like a thick Italian buttercream icing.
We can tell you restaurant owners lived in this house at one time, and it’s tricked out. There’s a wood-burning pizza oven, a commercial-grade range, refrigerator, freezer and deep fryer for the best “Chips” in town … hint-hint!
One of the absolute coolest features of this house is the sculptural, floating Brazilian rosewood staircase that rises from the kitchen to the master suite. It really must be seen to be appreciated.
As you ascend to that master suite, it’s like entering designer heaven. Light, bright, white, and with, of course, another great view. The office is in this private wonderland as well as a custom coffee bar and the all-important his-and-hers bathrooms and closets. There is also an infrared sauna in “his” bathroom, with heated floors. “His” closet is remarkable.
“It looks like a Tom Ford showroom,” Ferrell said. There is Macassar Ebony woodwork, and it’s the prettiest wood I’ve ever seen. The entire closet is just rich and luscious.”
Of course “her” bathroom is equally beautiful with more white Carrara marble, Waterworks fixtures, and Schumacher wallpaper.
The house may look to be only two floors from the outside and is listed as three, but it’s actually four levels. A wine cellar occupies the lowest level. The fourth-floor space works equally well as a media room or gym.
There is a timeless quality to this home. It offers gracious style as well as an ambience of intimacy and comfort. You can just as easily see kids racing through, trailing a pack of friends, as you can see an elegant formal dinner party in that jewel box of a dining room or on the fantastic grounds.
So, a little Santa Barbara modern for you? Yes, please.
