Monday Morning Millionaire: Champ D’Or Getting Downright Reasonable. Maybe…

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Champ D’Or. If you have lived in Dallas for at least three years, you know all about the Turbeville Road mansion up in Hickory Creek, near Denton. It’s a 35,000 square foot, French baroque castle meets Plano McMansion dream chateau. This spread has been priced from $72 million to $35 million, and on the market since the day it was completed in 2002, pricing depending on the land tossed into the deal,  the market, or the owners’ whim. You could open a boutique agency with all the agents who have listed (and marketed!) Champ, the latest being Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s Joan Eleazer. The owners of the property are Alan and Shirley Goldfield, he the cellphone mogul, she the one who re-created Chanel’s Paris boutique in her master closet: it is outfitted with 18K gold doorknobs, a vanity with an antique chair purchased in France, a $30K custom gold chandelier, made in Florence, a custom iron railing modeled after the famed mirrored one in the Chanel store on Rue de Cambon in Paris, and a $10K custom area rug with the brand’s intersecting-C logo.

“When I built this closet, I tried to think of everything that I would need,” Goldfield tolf HGTV when they filmed the closet.

Full disclosure: I took Champ to Pebble Beach Concourse D’Elegance this summer, and it was the most talk-about home at the show.

Champ D’Or is ten years old this year, and is probably the only 35,000 square foot house in the world that has never been lived in.

Newsflash: Owners Alan and Shirly Goldfield have sold off some of the homes and dirt SURROUNDING Champs, and word is Alan might even be willing to go lower on the latest list price, $35,000,000.  

That McMansion sized price includes the main house, a pool and tennis house, outdoor swimming pool, tennis court, adjacent lake, and up to 25 acres of beautiful treed property. Upon turning into the beautiful esplanade that leads to the front of the property, matching guardhouses direct one into the treed mega mega acreage. Beautifully landscaped and meticulously maintained by trained staff even though the house is still technically vacant, the grounds offer lovely vistas, including a 1½ acre lake to the west of the main house. There is a large garden room that may be used for year round entertaining which stretches across the rear of the home and opens to a veranda that can seat 450 people.

The east wing of the home is comprised of the men’s and women’s powder rooms (yes, plural) and an exceptional master suite. Here are the goodies in that suite: a breakfast bar, wet steam room, weight room and master bath with a two-story Chanel styled closet for her and equally lavish man’s closet, as well as a private hair salon. Off the master there is an indoor ionized lap pool.

On the second level there is a theater/media room with lobby and access via the east elevator. Then there’s the  Wedgewood suite:a living area with fireplace, bedroom with breakfast bar, luxurious guest bath, and adjacent laundry room. A second suite has 2 bedrooms, each with a private bath, and is perfect for guests with young children.

The third floor has a lovely ballroom complete with men’s and ladies powder rooms (again, plural), a catering kitchen, and incredible storage. There is also a third floor suite with living room, dining room, full kitchen and 2 bedrooms with separate baths.

The lower level is comprised of a 2 lane bowling alley, full racquet ball court, garage which can house 10-15 cars, laundry room with commercial washer and dryer and sheet press, wine room, and gift wrap room. You could eat off the floor in that garage. There are two elevators in the home, 130 tons of heat and air, and an office area on the second floor of the library.

According to a great story in D CEO that named Champ “The Best Little Teardown in Texas”,  a financial firm named The Stanford Group (heard of them?) once made a serious play to provide Goldfield’s company, Cellstar, $25 million in needed capital. Cellstar’s board refused to reply to the offer, and the deal never went through. Just think what might be happening to that house if they had accepted that moola. Alan Goldfield is a telecommunications billionaire, hence some also call this the House that Talk built. I think it would be the perfect venue for a plastic surgery center where you could check in, get your nip/tuck, then recuperate just 20 minutes from DFW on a good traffic day.

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

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  1. Karen Eubank on February 7, 2012 at 7:19 pm

    This is a great house. Seriously. The location is horrible but it's a great house. So here's my thought. Turn it into a recovery spa for plastic surgery patients. Really. Think about it.

  2. Karen Eubank on February 7, 2012 at 7:19 pm

    This is a great house. Seriously. The location is horrible but it's a great house. So here's my thought. Turn it into a recovery spa for plastic surgery patients. Really. Think about it.

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