Monday Morning Millionaire II: Mid Century Gem Owned by a Caruth Family Member Gets Whole New Lease on Life

I wish bodies could be more like houses. We spend so much in maintaining the outside (I am so overdue for a microderm my skin is screaming!) and try our best to keep the insides tuned up – eat right, exercise, no toxins. But sadly, we cannot gut our bodies, take them down to the studs, replace tissue, bones and fluids, and produce another 50 plus years of life span.

With a house, you just paint the facade and gut the innards, and voila! 5526 West University. This is a vintage 1953 mid-century modern gem just coming on the market this week. I was in it Friday, and didn’t want to leave. Of course, I was also enjoying the high off of “fresh home fumes” as I call them. There is nothing, nothing like walking into a freshly built or remodelled home and smelling the potpourri of fresh paint, varnished floors, clean wood and clean lines. The listing agent, precious Marybeth M. Peters, tells me the home was once owned by a member of the Caruth Family, once one of the largest landowners in Dallas. In fact, Patty Caruth came thru the very first open house this weekend.

“We discussed that her family was the first owner,  and she said she moved in the house when she was just 5 years old,” reports Maribeth. “She loved walking around and seeing all the changes, how the home was taken down to the studs and meticulously renovated and she loved the large master suite addition.”

That’s such a nice feeling, to walk back into your own personal history. Finding a home in Greenway Parks with a master and master bath downstairs is rare, Well, this home has not only a master and beautiful master bath on the first floor, but a downstairs study. The floor plan is completely open so the home feels much, much larger than its 3691  square feet.The living room has a 12 foot ceiling with Pallisandro granite- surround fireplace, matching floor to ceiling corner windows, and huge French doors overlooking the landscaped yard and Pennsylvania blue stone patio.The downstairs master is located at the front of the house, and has a delicious master bath with sculptural soaking tub, a double white travertine vanity, clear shower and a beautiful dressing area. This might also be a perfect guest suite (closet area is open and sparse) because there is a master upstairs, on the second floor, too. There are four living areas total including the main living room, family room, study and upstairs TV/game area. I am so glad the owners put the kitchen on full display because it is a work of art: gleaming Pallisandro granite, smooth as baby’s butt European style frameless custom cabinets with rift oak accents, Miele double ovens and Miele range. The kitchen opens to an eight foot long breakfast bar, spacious den and adjacent study. There is also a long wet bar with wine storage in the dining room, which, by the way, I think could be another living area if you are not into a big formal dining room, but do keep the fab Jonathan Adler chandelier.

Upstairs, three more bedrooms, including the second master, all like walking through a brand new house with updated baths. In fact, everything in this home has been updates: electric, plumbing, lighting, HVAC. Windows are by Pella windows, there is a completely separate 2 car garage and all structures have standing seam metal roofs. The stairway unloads into an open den/TV/game room accessible by all bedrooms. The yard is perfectly sized at 75 feet wide, 168 feet deep and plenty of room for a pool. Maribeth is putting this baby in MLS at $1,075,000 and I think it’s awesome. I would live happily in this home in a New York minute. And then I could get to New York in about a minute: other great thing about this location is Love Field five minutes away now with those new gates and no more Wright Amendment is going to make Bluffview, Baby Bluffview, Greenway and the Bird Streets suddenly a whole lot more exciting for lock and leave!