Nestled among towering pecan trees, one Lakewood home feels like a treehouse, offering midcentury style, gracious living, and celebrity owners who personally helped design it.
This week’s Inwood Home of the Week, sponsored by Inwood National Bank, is at 7128 Wildgrove Ave., a stone’s throw from the southwestern shores of White Rock Lake. Owners Tim DeLaughter and Julie Doyle are musicians and co-founders of Polyphonic Spree, as well as owners of hip East Dallas joint Lounge Here and local faves Good Records and Good Pagoda.
When they built this house in 2006, it was the first of its kind in the neighborhood. DeLaughter and Doyle were sensitive to that and worked with many of the materials of the existing midcentury house, from re-using the original foundation and bricks, to featuring its Roman brick fireplace and colorful porcelain sinks inside. The couple worked hand-in-hand with architects and designers at W2 Studio in downtown Dallas.
“This was our ideal home — we were into contemporary design and if we maintained [aspects of the] design of the original home, we thought we could fit in the neighborhood,” said DeLaughter. “We were fans of [W2’s] work prior to this and we contacted them because we were going to need a home with more square footage.”
The pink brick and tropical pine cladding contrast pleasingly with towering pecan trees and lush landscaping — the aesthetic is both sleek and organic.
The main house has 2,712 square feet on two stories and a studio offers an additional 432 square feet, totaling 3,144 square feet of living space. A central courtyard features a steel catwalk connecting the two spaces and moving between stories, DeLaughter’s idea.
“There’s a massive pecan tree in the center of what is now the courtyard, which cemented the idea of it — we worked around it with landscaping and design,” he said. “We added about four-and-a-half feet [to the original foundation] on the south side of house then went up two floors.”
The house feels perfectly nestled up in its 0.178 acres, its concrete hardscaping creating multiple pathways, as well as a small pad being used to shoot hoops.
“It feels like a tropical setting because you’re up in the trees with that catwalk to the studio,” said listing agent David Bush of David Bush Real Estate. “There’s no wasted space in its design and it lives so much larger, with four bedrooms up and a circular flow downstairs — it’s just really cool.”
Inside, an open floor plan moves the eye from one area to the next and it does indeed feel bigger than expected, with red oak hardwood floors and walls of windows. The original fireplace features prominently in the front living room, just past the entryway with its built-in desk and shelving.
“That was such a beautiful fireplace — we couldn’t touch that baby,” said DeLaughter, noting that all the built-ins in the house, like that desk and the credenza in the next room, are floating.
The entire house has built-in surround sound and recessed lights that beautifully illuminates the couple’s extensive art collection.
Behind the entryway, the colorful kitchen delights with custom green cabinets that have notches instead of knobs and pulls. There are also wood countertops and Viking appliances, including a rare, full-double range. For seating, there is a built-in banquette against a brick accent wall. The look is re-imagined midcentury, both bespoke and playful.
Head upstairs from here for the four bedrooms. In the master, high ceilings, French doors leading to the catwalk, and lots of windows create a room that feels spacious and airy, with new carpeting. An en suite bath continues the green of the kitchen in several elements. A Japanese soaking tub takes center stage, a great family feature, says DeLaughter.
“It was W2’s idea and it ended up working out great to wash our kids’ hair — they could stand up in there,” he said. (This house is, by the way, in the attendance zone for the highly rated Lakewood Elementary, so the tub is not the only family-friendly feature of the property.)
Dual sinks, a separate shower, and large walk-in closet with built-ins are other appealing aspects of this en suite.
Other bedrooms have built-ins, new carpeting, and access to the catwalk. In their two bathrooms are the two sinks from the original house, tan and mint green. The cabinets have the same notched design as in the kitchen.
Taking a walk outside, the catwalk runs past the bedrooms with a colorful plexiglass wall at one end, an idea DeLaughter and Doyle hatched with W2. The studio would be perfect for a nanny or mother-in-law suite with a sleeping area off the main space.
This home was listed July 18 for $1.275 million, reduced to $1.199 million.
