Durham Builders Create Modern Marvels with East Dallas Santa Barbara Development

These photos are of the Durham Builders home at 6924 Santa Barbara Dr., one of three modern houses now available in the new Santa Barbara development. Photos: MetroplexHD

East Dallas has a new modern enclave near White Rock Lake, with three houses built, and four more planned.

The Santa Barbara development, near Mockingbird Lane and W. Lawther Drive, creates a style that fuses native Texas materials with California-style architecture. The result is marvelous, something that’s being called “this-century modern.”

“When we were doing the original modeling, we were doing was more Midcentury Modern [style], but I felt  a Texas modern house would go better with the community,” said builder Miles Durham of Durham Builders. “It seems like the people around the lake and in Lakewood are open to this type and style of house.”

Durham’s father, Robert Durham, is the architect for the Santa Barbara development.

“He has modernist influences, and Frank Lloyd Wright,” Miles said. “He does all of the floorplan layouts and all of the elevations, I do all the finish selections and more. We’ve done a lot of houses and we work well together.”

The Santa Barbara houses are priced between $810K and $825K, and are around 3,200 square feet with four or five bedrooms. The designs include an abundance of large windows, open floorplans, fireplaces clad in Carrera Marble and wood, designer tile, concrete floors, and chef’s kitchens with high-end KitchenAid stainless steel appliances and Silestone quartz countertops.

“It’s extremely affordable by Lakewood standards, and that was important to us,” Miles said.

The photos throughout this post are of the home at 6924 Santa Barbara Dr. listed by Jennifer Baldwin with Clay Stapp + Co. for $810,000. It is a 5-4 with two living areas and 3,137 square feet.

Outside, the Santa Barbara homes offer native landscaping, covered dining patios, decks, and large backyards with privacy fences and enough space to accommodate swimming pools.

He is no stranger to successful residential developments. Miles was one of two builders of Pine Tree Court, located at the corner of McMillan and Ellsworth. Along with Cambridge Homes, Durham Builders created 16 modern patio-style homes that sold out quickly last year.

His style is widely admired: Durham’s Eagle Trail home was featured in Dallas Modern Home Tour in 2012.

In this home, the most outstanding aspect is the sense of connection between the outdoors and indoors. The windows are the key to achieving that (and they’re all low-E and UV-reducing). The clean lines help draw attention to focal pieces: the staircase and entryway panel, are stunning in their simplicity and craftsmanship. 

“We’ve had a lot of showings and right and I think we’re close,” he said. “In terms of square footage, design, and price, we’re great.”

The next four homes will break ground soon.

“The design work on those homes is complete and our hope is to start construction by Dec. 1,” he said.