When we think of Waxahachie, the first thing that comes to mind is certainly not a dramatic Texas Modern Regional. We generally think of the Gingerbread Trail and its historic homes. This house is about as far as you can get from a Queen Anne Victorian, and it’s spectacular.
Architect Forrest Upshaw Jr. built this contemporary home for his family in 1988. Just think about that for a moment. The man was seriously ahead of his time for 1988! His firm, Forest Upshaw, Jr. & Associates AIA, was in business for 31 years. Although not widely known for residential work, he designed many Waxahachie municipal buildings and received several awards for his school designs from the Texas Society of Architects. We found another of his ultra-cool homes in Dallas’ Wynnewood North neighborhood in 2016.
A Texas Modern Regional Home on the Range
When longtime restaurateurs Jim and Cindy Hughes decided to scout for a forever home, they searched in a 50-mile radius, looking at everything, even a Christmas tree farm. Nothing resonated, so they extended the search five miles further and found their Texas Modern Regional home on the range.
It did not look quite like it does today, but if anyone has the skill set to undertake a transformation, it’s a couple of restaurant pros. When they first laid eyes on the property with the agent, you couldn’t even see the reservoir. There was even a wrecked double-wide trailer being used as a chicken coop. The Hughes saw only potential and got to work.
The dramatic Texas Regional Modern facade was cleaned, and landscaping was installed to complement the architecture. Every part of the interior was touched, bathrooms updated, and a new kitchen was designed with a restaurant-inspired flip-up window to serve people in the backyard easily.
The 3,678-square-foot, four-bedroom, four-bathroom Texas Modern Regional dream home is complete now and even the chickens have a resort-style coop.
“We have loved the wild, wide open space,” Jim said. “I always wanted to have a tractor and all the boy toys, and with 33 acres, this property offered a manageable ranch experience. It’s been a great place for family gatherings and the perfect place to host Thanksgiving dinners.”
The Hughes have five grandkids who have loved the trails, riding four-wheel drives around, and fishing on the reservoir maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“When we moved in, our Realtor, Angela Downes, gave us a fainting goat,” Jim said. “It would freeze and fall over when excited. I didn’t know I wanted a goat until I got one. Then it grew on me, so we got more. They are like big Labradors and would go on walks with us and wander up and look in the windows when we were watching TV.”
I had to ask Downes about her inspired and unusual closing gift of a miniature fainting goat.
“The moment we stepped foot on the property, I knew what I’d get for a closing gift. I had a client whose donkey ranch I sold in Sunnyvale. When we sold the donkey farm, we got a smaller parcel, and she kept a few donkeys but decided to raise and sell miniature fainting goats. So, I told Jim and Cindy they had to come and pick out their goat. We went to the farm, and they said, ‘You have to be kidding!’ I said no, take your pick. They picked it out and then went back for more. The fainting goats are hysterical. They faint when they get excited because of a hormone in their body. They are like a Weeble Wobble. They boink down and come right back up. They jump on bales of hay and get excited. Then they do it again.”
Although the Hughes have moved on to the next chapter, and the goats and chickens have a new home, I’m sure Angela can get you the goat hook-up if this Texas Regional Modern becomes your new home on the range!
Compass Real Estate’s Angela Downes has this Texas Regional Modern at 2451 Marshall Rd. in Waxahachie listed at $2.95 million.
