Once every few months, I ask Lisa Peters, the venerable Dallas mortgage broker at Cardinal Financial, if I can borrow a million dollars. It’s to purchase a new favorite home that she’s sent me as the Highlight Home of the Week she sponsors on daltxrealestate.com. Apparently, text messages don’t constitute mortgage applications.
However, my loss is your gain. Here’s a 1981 soft contemporary located in North Dallas’ JanMar neighborhood. Shed-style roof lines and a sunlit glass atrium. A towering stone fireplace and Spanish tile floors. It’s just perfection for a fan of this era of home architecture. Phillip Murrell of Compass RE Texas has this listing at 7826 Mason Dells Drive for $1.8 million. (Come on Lisa, I’m good for it.)
From the get-go, this home shines as an ’80s gem that’s been well taken care of and sensitively updated to perfection. Nestled on a massive interior corner lot, Mason Dells has 4,589 square feet with four bedrooms, four baths, and one half-bath, plus a backyard you won’t believe the size of.
It’s located within the cherished JanMar neighborhood, the Midcentury Modern-filled subdivision of homes located near Forest and Hillcrest, particularly known for its hills and dales, serpentine streets, and creeks. JanMar is home to the famous Dallas Round House, the 1962 architectural masterpiece that took six years to complete, and many more stunning 1960s creations. But we said this home was built in 1981, right? Yes, this section of JanMar is called JanMar Circle and is home to other gorgeous 1980s soft contemporaries that back to White Rock Creek. As far as I’m concerned (and please don’t @ me), that’s the best kind of MCM home — the one that’s 20 years younger and a little easier to take care of.
Inside, large windows invite an abundance of natural light, while soaring ceilings add an air of grandeur that permeates every room. A custom stone fireplace serves as the heart of this abode, an amazing, earthy anchor that really makes a statement. It’s all ceilings, windows, and sharp angles here.
“This floor plan and design is phenomenal,” Murrell says. “I think it’s a perfect combination of practical openness but with a flow that’s optimized for those who enjoy privacy and a sense of contemporary cozy.”
“Plus, it’s the only listing I’ve ever had with a basement,” he says.
Surprising is the 550-square-foot basement this home has. Yes, a basement in Texas, though I think it’s more of the split-level variety than the deep hole-in-the-ground kind here.
Refinished hardwoods grace its floors, while museum walls provide an exquisite backdrop for your treasured art — or kids’ drawings, your call. Recessed and designer lighting illuminates the space, creating an ambiance that blends modernity with timeless elegance.
Then there’s the highlight of the home, quite literally — the central glass atrium that’s sunlit and cedar-lined. Framed by a wall of windows, this temperature-controlled atrium has a retractable shade awning to optimize sunlight and cool things off in direct sun. By the looks of that sharply-leaning rubber plant by the kitchen wall of windows, she spent many years reaching for the sunrays before she found her happy spot.
The home boasts a resort-style pool with a spa, accompanied by an oversized, 1,000-square-foot custom deck. This vast backyard ranks among the largest in JanMar. For nature enthusiasts, the expansive deck transforms into an inviting sanctuary, like a whole park in your backyard.
Murrell has a magnificent listing here, just like the mortgage broker Lisa Peters promised. Again, no progress on that cool million between friends. Apparently, that’s not how it works.
This listing is sponsored by Dallas mortgage broker Lisa Peters at Cardinal Financial. Get started on your home loan for 7826 Mason Dells Drive by reaching out to her at [email protected].
