“I’ll be at the lakehouse.” You might say that every few months or every summer weekend if you’re lucky. But not many people can say, or rather get to enjoy their luxury lakehouse day in and day out. Homeowners Travis and Mary Anna Rilat have a black and white custom sign hanging on their mud room wall reminding them of that fact.
“Yes, this is our lakehouse on Lake Ray Hubbard and we’ve loved every minute of it.” That’s not a direct quote from the Rilats, but an inferred thought bubble that I’m nearly confident they’ve said to themselves at least once. They love this home, but now it’s time for another family to embrace their new lake lifestyle in the city. Welcome home to 1812 Canal Street located in the Heath Golf and Yacht Club, listed by Melisa Bouchard of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate.
“This property is a great example of the types of luxury listings @properties Christie’s International Real Estate loves to showcase,” Jerry Mooty, CEO and principal of @properties Dallas, told us.
The Rock of Canal Street
Maryanna and Travis have lived here for five years, having built the home from the ground up. In fact, they were one of the first custom luxury homes built on this prime portion of Canal Street. We know this because we wrote about another home in the 1700 block of Canal, and there in the background of that home’s new construction site, sat 1812 Canal like a stalwart of 2016 construction. The Rilats worked with the custom home builder who’s constructed much of the Rockwall Harbor District, so he’s familiar with the territory of building a home on a lakeshore.
The home’s location is pretty great, too. It’s tucked away inside Heath Golf and Yacht Club, a growing community of 1,200 homes, located just south of I-30 on the southern shores of Lake Ray Hubbard in Texas’s most affluent county, Rockwall County.
The Perfect Combination
Nestled into a quiet cul-de-sac, this 5,257-square-foot home has four bedrooms, four full baths, and two half-baths. By city tax rolls, it’s plotted on 0.489 acres, but an additional 0.272 acres sitting on the lakefront is your property, too. That gives you three-quarter acres of your own Lake Ray Hubbard lakefront sanctuary. What do you do with that lakefront? We’ll get to that. Let’s walk the home first.
Pull into the oversized driveway to find a simple, classic transitional home with rocky, minimalist landscape beds and a step-up veranda. What does transitional even mean, anyway? It seems everything nowadays is being called transitional, but I’d think of it as a mix of modern and traditional. Like a handsome wise man once said in a rom-com movie, it’s “the perfect combination of sexy and cute.”
All Under One Roof
Upon entering the modern double glass and metal entryway doors, you’ll find dark engineered hardwood floors underfoot and 20-foot vaulted ceilings overhead. With two stories in this floorplan, the home features two full-size mudrooms, two primary bedroom suites downstairs — including one that has its own separate entrance and single garage access, and a third primary suite on the second floor.
You know what that says to me? This is a perfect multi-generational home with a living/dining/kitchen area that serves as the central station of the home, yet still offers enough room to spread out into your own spaces. And the two mudrooms are because, you know, kids.
A Well-Stocked Kitchen
The kitchen is well-appointed with breakfast bar seating on the kitchen island, a walk-in pantry, wine storage for 176 bottles, and a casual dining space that overlooks the scenic backyard. The kitchen is also well-equipped with high-end Thermador appliances including two refrigerators, a double oven, a six-burner gas range with a Thermador hood vent, plus a built-in icemaker, and a pot filler above the stove.
An oversized kitchen island provides ample storage space with Carrara marble countertops, a farmhouse sink, soft-close drawers, and soft-close cabinets, including the wall cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling.
Moving to the bedrooms, the primary suite is complete with a cozy fireplace and a luxurious bathroom that features a walk-in shower and a large garden tub. In the his-and-her closets, she has washer and dryer connections and he has extra built-ins. I have no comment about that.
Musts, Likes, and Let’s Have Fun
This two-story home has all the things you need in a house like a utility room, closet space, and the two mudrooms I mentioned. Next, this home has all the stuff you’d really like your home to be equipped with — like a dedicated office space because, you know, work.
And then there’s the fun stuff you like in a house like the upstairs game room that takes kids into their own play space (maybe that should have been a must), and a media room that includes a built-in movie screen, projector, wet bar, and wine fridge. The owners mentioned the furniture is for sale, too, so throw in an offer for the popcorn machine, too.
The Outdoors Type
The whole reason you’re looking at this house is the lake, right? Along the property’s shoreline retaining wall, you’ll find a boat dock with two jet ski and boat lifts. That makes lake access as easy as a walk to your dock.
But you don’t have to be at the dock to enjoy the view. The home’s multiple outdoor living spaces that overlook the lake make quite an impression.
With treetop views, this second-floor balcony has a fireplace, bar seating, and a full outdoor kitchen that’s equipped with a gas and charcoal grill and a Teppanyaki Japanese-style grill.
Then on the first floor, the covered patio featuring a fireplace leads to the resort-style pool and grassy areas. The heated infinity pool, which looks out onto the lake, has a tanning ledge, swim-up seating, fire bowls, bubbling fountains, and dramatic fire bowls.
The backyard is multi-tiered with grassy artificial turf areas for pets, an inground trampoline, and a lakeside wood-burning fire pit with seating.
All this outdoor recreation comes with two secret hidden weapons: a no-maintenance turf yard that doesn’t get muddy and a key fob-controlled Mistaway mosquito misting system so you don’t get itchy.
Luxurious Extras
The whole property is equipped with an app-controlled AV package that controls the house, outdoor spaces, pool, and dock. The electric blinds in all bedrooms provide added comfort, and the spray-in foam throughout the house and garage ensures energy efficiency. There is a full surveillance system for the entire property.
Do you have a spouse on the fence? Well, tell them the home has a seven-car, temperature-controlled garage with epoxy flooring and a 16-foot door for boat/RV storage. The garage also includes a 20-foot-wide and 40-foot-deep bonus garage and an entire wall of aluminum built-ins. Those are good built-ins!
The cooled and heated garage is also set up to add a car lift, so that’s basically permission to purchase a vehicle or two to make full use of a cantilever garage should you decide to install it.
Spouse still on the fence? Finally, tell them the 12 televisions located throughout the home are included.
Melisa Bouchard of @properties Christies International Real Estate has listed 1812 Canal Court for $3.9 million. See the home for yourself this Wednesday, May 3 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Cocktails on Canal open house event hosted by Bouchard.
