Tell Me Your Real Estate Story: Jane McGarry’s Building a Dream Home in West Fort Worth
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Jane McGarry sold her gorgeous West Fort Worth hacienda in July and plans to build a new, smaller version nearby.
“I just closed on a West Fort Worth lot a couple of weeks ago,” said North Texas TV legend Jane McGarry, who now blogs at realjane.net. “I am drawing up floorplans for the new house right now and I hope to build a smaller, less expensive, low-maintenance version of my Westover Hills home I sold in July, the perfect baby boomer ‘down-sizing’ house.”
Jump to read our Q&A with McGarry for “Tell Me Your Real Estate Story.”
The lot for McGarry’s new home has a dry creek bed running through the back.
The lot for McGarry’s new home isn’t too big at 100 x 135, but it has a wonderful sloping topography thanks to the dry creek running through the back.
“My plan is to fill the flat front of the lot with a 2,800 to 3,000-square-foot “H” shaped one-story house,” McGarry said. She has a keen eye for design, something you can tell from the gorgeous stone-glad home she sold in Fort Worth this summer. Her new home will have some of the same features and lots of color, she said.
“It will have a an entry courtyard behind big double wooden door and a stone wall, like the ones you find in San Miguel Allende, and will wrap around a patio/pool courtyard in the back, similar to the pool area of my last house.”
While her previous home was 5,000 square feet, McGarry is sure she can build her second dream home in West Fort Worth with all of the color, style, and charm of the larger one.
The exterior of McGarry’s former home is rubble stone and mortar with a beautiful terracotta tile roof.
Over the windows are limestone plinths from Luders, while the columns are from Mexico with antique tile from Spain.
The doors are a rare find: 18th Century Peruvian wood carvings that complement the home perfectly.
City/Neighborhood: West Ft. Worth, Highland Park
Price Range: $250,000 and up
Agent: Martha Williams and her assistant Susanna Gorski at Williams Trew Sotheby’s in Ft. Worth.
What was your favorite room in your home and why?
My kitchen, because when I look back over my favorite family and friend times, that’s where they all take place, from my son doing homework at the kitchen table to friends gathered around the kitchen island.
McGarry loves color, which is obvious from these luminescent turquoise tiles that practically swathe the kitchen of her former home in West Fort Worth.
When building your new home, what were your “must haves”?
The new home will be built on a lot that includes a dry creek that runs through the backyard. I hope to have a small infinity edge lap pool and terrace that look out over the beautiful green space of the creek.
I am building a one-story home, because I have like them and because I understand there is a good market for one-story homes right now. I usually try to build with selling potential in mind.
I want great high-tech in this house: My computer is my link to my livelihood on RealJane.net so I am experimenting with some of the latest technology related developments for homes.
Who is your builder?
Why did you choose your neighborhood?
West Fort Worth is beautiful and quiet and I think the prices are still somewhat reasonable. The Highland Park community is close enough to I-30 that I can hop on the freeway and be anywhere in Dallas/Fort Worth in 30 minutes.
What is your décor style, and how do you plan on making your spaces unique?
I like open spaces that make for good “flow” in a house, and I’m partial to a bank of French doors across the back looking out onto a terrace and green space. My style is what I call “Italian/Hacienda”. I have a mix of antiques from Italy, Mexico, Southern France, and Spain that I have collected over 20 years, but there is nothing in my house you can’t put your feet up on!
McGarry’s home features an eclectic mix of Spanish, Italian, and Mexican antiques and art.
We love this antique dining set and amazing chandelier, both of which are 18th Century Italian.
McGarry’s family room is warm and inviting with the perfect use of bright saffron yellow.
Who is your designer?
Kenneth Blasingame, Fort Worth. Ken is one of my best friends and one of the most talented people I have ever worked with. He has an amazing eye for space and beauty, and for making a home reflect the person who lives in it, which I think is a very unique talent.
If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?
I’m getting ready to, so we’ll see!
