Room for 250 Guests: If You Didn’t Pay Your Taxes Today, You Might Have Enough to Buy Oakland Ranch

Attention Jordan Spieth: I may have just found the perfect vacation home for you and it’s less than an hour from Dallas. Wouldn’t you love having your own PRIVATE golf course? How about 230 acres to romp? We can make it happen for $8 million! I saw this spread 25 – 30 miles south of downtown Fort Worth and my ranch juices got to flowing: how would you like this place as an escape hatch from $30,000 a year millionaires, the traffic on I-30, LBJ and all the damn potholes we have that the city won’t repair? How would you like a private golf course? There’s a huge pool, about the size as five put together, an infinity edge, enormous rooms, and closets like you have NEVER seen. Located 30 minutes from downtown Fort Worth, Oakpoint Ranch is spread across 230 acres. But to see it, you don’t think “ranch”: the spread features a sophisticated Georgian- style home and towering oak trees that seem to go on forever. The home is 10,000 square feet,  has 5 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms. It also has a full entertainment wing, which includes a game room-filled with personal memorabilia and a state of the art theater. The huge home theater could hold a Boy Scout troop. But first, let us see the THEE master. This room was designed for people who look up a lot: a unique ceiling mural with little puffs of white clouds, gives a celestial feel to the room. Of course there are separate master his and her baths, both enormous. The grand entry foyer features a winding, floating staircase. The pattern on this carpet is patterned after a carpet on the Titanic — no Titanic jokes, please. Believe it or not, the company that made carpet for the Titanic still exists. I’m going to ask the listing agent, Debbie Murray of Allie Beth Allman, for a picture of that carpet. Better yet, a sample! Oakpoint Ranch is being marketed for a cool $8 million.    But you must see my favorite room, the wine cellar. Designed as a luxurious wine tasting room, the wine cellar is also a strong storm cellar.  The ceiling is beautifully lined with hand- cut bricks, rendering an old Italian villa feel to the cavernous cellar. The acreage was purchased from the Estate of Oscar Lee Wilkirson: Oakland Ranch had been in his family since 1775. The buyer, Philip Walker, was a Republic of Texas veteran. For his brave fighting at the Battle of San Jacinto he was given a 616 acre land grant in Shelby County, Texas. Yes, in those days you were paid for military service with dirt. He sold that land and moved to Johnson County in 1855, near the current house site. Philip and Elizabeth Walker were buried in Oakland cemetery, which adjoins the ranch. Their remains were later moved to the Texas State Cemetery, though their original tombstone is still there in the Oakland cemetery. 13 confederate veterans of the Civil War are buried in that same cemetery. Gosh, so much history! There is an 8 acre lake with an island that flows into the historic Walker Springs, named after Philip. It flows 24/7, 365 days a year regardless of draught. The rare flowing spring has been used as a campground for years.

When the railroad built tract 3 miles away in Grandview, Texas, Oakland ceased to exist as a town. But that just made life more pristine at Oakland Ranch. The house features a Vermont slate roof, generous wood paneling, and a number of smart tech upgrades that would have amazed Philip Walker. Had him rolling in his grave to get an iphone.

Oh yes: there’s also bass-and catfish-stocked in the  lake, and an in-progress party pavilion is being built for outdoor private parties on the lawn.

Parties that you can deduct on next year’s taxes!