You have to love Dallas architecture. With world-class architects and builders at our fingertips, we really have the best of everything and the only limit is your imagination.
Our Monday Morning Millionaire is off the charts in imagination, and in execution. If Harry Potter needed a home in Texas, this Highland Park architectural masterpiece would do nicely.
I’ve always thought 3619 Crescent Avenue looked like it was inspired by Hogwarts, but the design was actually drawn from a style of Romanesque Revival architecture called Richardsonian Romanesque, after architect Henry Hobson Richardson. Richardson is known for designing the Trinity Church in Boston, a National Historic Landmark. Richardson is also the only American architect to have a style named for him, and his style was and is expensive to create. You’ll see a number of Texas county courthouses that have definite aspects of Richardsonian Romanesque architectural style.
Originally built for Donald and Mary Catherine Huffines in 2005, it is truly an original. I remember rounding the corner of Cowper years ago and having to pick my jaw up off my lap at the sight of it. I actually pulled over and stared at it for some time. It was like nothing we’d ever seen in Dallas and frankly nothing constructed since then can hold a candle to it.
If you’ve been keeping up with Texas politics, Huffines is the Republican State Senator for District 16. His grandfather founded the Huffines Auto Group in 1924 and he and twin brother Phillip started one of the largest real estate land development companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, Huffines Communities.
So yes, you could say he knows a thing or two about real estate and homes. Huffines hired Warren Wilke and the two put their heads together to come up with the home Huffines dubbed Coram Deo, a Latin phrase meaning “in the presence of God.” The exterior is made of granite shipped in from all over the world. There is nothing bland or boring anywhere. Columns, turrets, balusters, arches, and detailed carvings abound. The roof is natural rock slate with custom-designed copper finials and an all-copper gutter system.
We could fill a book trying to describe everything about the three-story, 13,984-square-foot mansion but we’ll try to keep it concise. There are seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, three powder baths, a great room, family room, office, library, breakfast area, game room, wine cellar, playroom, nursery, guest suite, billiard room (with a kitchen), and a theater (with a kitchen).
Let me draw a breath.
The house has seven fireplaces. Of course, there is an elevator. There is a wellness center with a sauna, steam room, his-and-hers cabana baths, an exercise room, two pools and spas, a waterfall, and enough backyard for a good game of touch football as it’s on one of the largest lots in Highland Park. There is room for four cars in two attached garages. If you feel faint, join the crowd.
Although this home may sound over the top and somewhat intimidating, it’s not. I’ve been in the house and it’s surprisingly cozy. Seriously. You’d never realize it’s enormous because it was carefully laid out for a close-knit family with five active children. The house was created with two distinct needs, to be suited for entertaining but to clearly serve as a family home first.
There is so much to look at in this one-of-a-kind wonder, listed at $8.695 million, that you’re going to have to call Doris Jacobs with Allie Beth Allman and Associates and see it for yourself. This is one instance where words really don’t do it justice. So as you recover from the holiday, sit back, relax and enjoy these gorgeous photos.
