It was back in January of 2013 that Tom and Cinda Hicks first shocked us by listing their 25 acre Preston Hollow estate, also known as the Crespi Estate, for $135 million with Doug Newby. That price tag sure garnered a lot of attention from the folks at places like Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and pretty much everywhere. Lots of attention for being the priciest house in the US for awhile, but it never garnered any buyers. Newby always seemed to have the estate front and center on Private Air Luxury Homes Magazine. He even lowered the price to $98 million. Rumors were circulating for weeks before and after Christmas that the listing was changing hands. I know the Hicks spoke to Briggs-Freeman Sotheby’s as well as other top agents in town. The pricing advice on the home from these other agents was not accepted. Dallas is a hot market, and the Hicks want to sell their estate to downsize, enjoy their other homes, and not be so tied down to the annoying management of 25 acres.
It was Allie Beth Allman, a friend of the family, who got the signed listing agreement in late February. The house at 10000 Hollow Way Road in Preston Hollow will be in MLS this week, and stay tuned, we will be bringing you a private tour. Allie Beth sold the estate to the Hicks back in 1994, before they began a massive multi-million dollar renovation of one of the city’s most historical properties, the Crespi Estate.
Florence Crespi lived on the estate well into her 90’s.
Selling price is $100 million, down from $135 million with Newby who also lowered it to $98 million and then offered a portion of the property for $60 million in 2014. Newby never put the home in MLS, but Allie Beth sure will.
The estate includes a 27,092-square-foot main house with 10 bedrooms and 12 full bathrooms, a 3,347-square-foot guest house with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a three-story, 4,836-square-foot recreation building that includes a fully-equipped game room, a country club-sized pool and a 20-person theater. The property also includes a helipad, which he has occasionally lent to former president George W. Bush, who lives across and behind the property on Daria Drive in Mayflower Estates. The helipad proximity was a key factor in the Bush’s Daria purchase, and Allie Beth Allman was also their agent.
This is Dallas-Fort Worth’s priciest listing following the former Trammell Crow estate in Highland Park, which Allman is also currently marketing for more than $59 million.
The Crespi estate has historic ties to European royalty and dates back to 1939, when it was constructed for Italian Count Pio Crespi and his wife, Florence. Crespi was the youngest child of an aristocratic family who ran the family’s U.S. cotton empire. Architect Maurice Fatio designed the original home, which was in the Crespi family for more than 50 years.
What do you think about the pricing at $100 million? This is the most significant home in Dallas, probably North Texas, in the honeypot of the honeypot and seven minutes from downtown Dallas. Is there a buyer out there for the Crespi Estate? Tell us what you think!
