Monday Morning Millionaire: Our Tudor Love Affair Continues With This Historic Lakewood Retailer's Estate, To Trade for a Ranch, Rare Coins, or a Bigger Crib

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6735 Westlake

Herbert Marcus estate

6835 Westlake 6835 Westlake music 6835 Westlake stairs 6835 Westlake ext 2 6835 Westlake LRAs you know, Jo and I have a “thing” for English Tudors, being English majors and all. Still high off of 1310 West Canterbury, I found 6835 Westlake courtesy of Marilyn Hoffman in Lakewood, and it took my breath away. I have been canoodling with this house all day! Nestled on one of Lakewood’s most coveted streets, this home is like an architectural history lesson. Marilyn says it was built in  the 1920’s by the renowned English architect, Sir Alfred Blossom, the architect for the Magnolia Building, Dallas’ first skyscraper, and more than 300 other skyscrapers and famous buildings. It was built for Arthur Harris, owner of A. Harris and Company which later became Sanger Harris, which was then folded into Foleys, which was folded into Macy’s. This must have been department store retailer row. The home is right down the street from 6735 Westlake, the Herbert Marcus estate, which closed last October for $2,565,000. Like most homes built during the ’20s, and like the Marcus estate, the place is a fortress with a full basement, steel framed construction, imported slate roof, high beamed ceilings, wide plank flooring. As Marilyn puts it: you built homes back then to last a century, or longer. Sir Blossom also collaborated with Frank Lloyd Wright on the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, one of the few buildings that survived the earthquake that destroyed Tokyo in 1923.  This home has the very same type of foundation. Unlike most homes du jour, however, Sir Blossom (sweet name) took note of my mantra: you can never be too thin, too rich or have too many closets: this home has 35!

There are ten (10!) in the master bedroom alone.

$$$ Here’s the other thing that caught my eye: this home is not for sale in the conventional manner. The owner will trade the home for a ranch, a larger home, or rare coins. I’ve heard  of house swapping, but this is more like dirt or metal swapping.

Marilyn says the home has been featured in a number of movies and was once the cover home of Robb Report Magazine. Also, the the grounds were the setting for the first performance of Ballet Dallas. You can see why from the enormous drive-up appeal and the elegant set-back. The home is 7800 square feet, with four living areas, 6 bedrooms, 6 and a half baths, three stories and 8 fireplaces. There is also that basement with a wine cellar, coal chute and a chicken coop. The third floor contains a ballroom with catering kitchen and marble thresholds. Built on a 1.2 acre lot, the Tudor also has a gorgeous guest house with two bedrooms, two baths and a full kitchen. The main home has a library, a 60 foot long gallery, 27 foot long dining room, totally updated (and huge!) kitchen, and Butlers pantry for an actual butler. The entire house beckons back to a gracious living standard that thrived in this part of Dallas. Fashionable people had help, and this was a home for the fashionable.

Asking price: will trade for a ranch, a bigger house, or rare coins.  Guess Facebook stock is no longer an option, but I cannot imagine they would turn down a few oil and gas leases…6835 Westlake pool

 

Candy Evans, founder and publisher of CandysDirt.com, is one of the nation’s leading real estate reporters.

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