3908 Euclid Contemporary Jewel is a Car Collector’s Delight With Decked Man Cave and MORE!

Property previews begin Friday through Monday, 1 to 5 p.m.

When Dallas architect Joe McCall starts talking about 3908 Euclid, you can see the proud papa gleam in his eyes. It was almost 26 years ago that he met Dana Nearburg and her husband, Charlie, with the commission to improve their family home on Lindenwood Avenue off Abbott. Dana was an architect by training and trade; Charlie was an engineer who had majored in art at Dartmouth College. Any other architect might have thrown in the T-square rather than work with two such precise and detailed homeowners, who soon decided NOT to build on their existing homestead, but step it up a bit by buying a lot on Euclid.

And then the real challenge began!

“We had three challenges, actually” says Joe. “First of all, the lot was 70 by 225, well-sized, but the trees were smack dab in the center of the lot. Great trees, too.”

And the Nearburgs wanted to save every one. Not only did you have a lot with trees in the prime building footprint, you had a deep neighborhood setback: 61 feet. Unfathomable.

Add to that the homeowner’s desire for two separate garages, one of which would be a car collector’s dream garage with spray paint bay and full auto shop, with all the bells and whistles.

A tough assignment, but when the design challenge gets tough, Joe McCall just gets going. He also got to work with one of the best builders in town, Randy Clowdus, Randy Clowdus Construction Company. Randy also did significant work on the $39 million estate of John and Debbie Tolleson, where the George W. Bush library was conceived, in Volk Estates.

“I’ll never forget the first time I met Randy, ” says Joe. “He was in the living room with a plumb bob. He was making sure the studs were perfectly straight before the sheetrock and dry wall. Any studs that were not perfectly aligned were shaved or shimmed.”

Thus begins the opus of 3908 Euclid, which goes to auction next week with Heritage Auction Luxury Real Estate. Which was the scene of a lovely party benefitting Jubilee Park in Fair Park last week, as potential buyers kicked the tires of the imaginary collectible cars that could be housed in the incredibly tricked-out garage.

3908 Euclid is not like any other home that has been to auction in Dallas. Frankly, it has no flaws. The home was timelessly built to the most exacting standards by the owners, architect and builder, high tier overachievers all. Though the brick appears to be NorthPark brick, it is not, but matches the color exactly. The home has an undisclosed but easily attainable reserve, because it has to. (Listing price is $6,400,000.) Come Tuesday, December 13, a savvy buyer is going to get the deal of the century.

On the market with veteran Dave Perry-Miller agent Martha Tiner and her daughter, McKamy,  The owners now simply wish to move on. With homes of this calibre being “soft” in the current market, residual effect of the calendar and election, they want to cut as wide a marketing swath as possible to ensure their dream home is passed to the perfect buyer and next lineage of proud ownership.

Let me ask you this: is there any home in Dallas with a waterproof mailbox?

As Joe McCall tells the story, Charlie Nearburg admits to being a rather playful youth. One of his favorite passions was flooding neighbors mailboxes, with help from the other kids on the block, of course. Recalling how much damage a running water hose can do when inserted into a front door mail drop, he asked Joe to make his mailbox waterproof, just in case.

And that is just the beginning of the detailed and almost over-detailed perfection that runs throughout the home. It has phenomenal lighting, one of the best aspects of the home being how the home brings in the outdoors and dappling sunlight at various hours of the day.

Sinclair Black, a professor at at the University of Texas School of Architecture, took a stroll through 3908 and declared it perfect, marveling at the areas where the drywall and reveal meet maplewood floors on the staircase, an achievement he had never seen.

This is probably the most detailed home of all the detailed homes I have seen, tip top of the one percent.

Most of the perfection is in the solid state structure. Twenty four inch diameter steel casing from the drilling pipes used in Nearburg’s oil business forms the chimney for two fireplaces, a nostalgic touch. We know the house is perfectly plumb bob- aligned, but it also has nary a crack after 26 years. The reason for that is, again, supreme building standards. Every corner is secured with a shear wall system, structural braced panels (also known as shear panels) to counter the effects of lateral load acting on a structure. More common in high wind and earthquake climates, bolts in the foundation are secured to the walls, holding each corner tight.

“It keeps the walls and the structure from shifting, on all four corners,” says Randy, whose building company has also maintained 3908 Euclid for the Nearburgs every single year.

“The bar was very high when we built this with the Nearburgs, ” he says. “I call them the nicest perfectionists you have ever met!”

If the construction was painstaking — this home took three years to build, after all — the interior decor was pure perfection compulsion. Clowdus’ brothers work with him in his building company, and though everyone holds a college education and multiple degrees, they are, at heart, cabinetmakers. And some of the best. The batch of wood, maplewood, that was used for all the cabinets and trim in the house came from one batch, and was purchased at the same time. This guaranteed consistency of coloration.

“#1 Select maple,” says Randy. “Same batch, same color.”

Not only that: Randy’s brother drew an axonometric sketch of the cabinets on an actual piece of the maple, scrap of course.

“Charlie was an engineer, Dana was an architect, the bar was set pretty high,” says Randy.

There is also a triunity to the home, that begins from the moment you walk in. Given the parameters of his initial challenge, Joe McCall designed the home with a series of three courtyards: the rear motor court that united the two garages (the regular garage and the auto aficionado’s dream space), the center courtyard with that original Live Oak tree that had to be preserved at all costs, and the front yard which, with that large setback, essentially became the back yard.

“They said, let’s make the front our back yard and an outdoor living room,” says Joe. “When their children were small, it was in full action with trampolines and swings.”

There is a front outdoor dining area with fireplace and barbecue grill that works conveniently off the dining room. Sixteen foot tall Savannah Holly hedges form the perimeter fence of thick greenery, creating privacy with a purpose.

The back garage courtyard is huge enough for tennis and soccer practice, as it once had a plywood backboard to practice serves. It is also large enough to accommodate food trucks (via an alley entrance) for a recent large reunion event.

“This is a distinctly modern home with glass, transparency, and yet complete privacy,” says McCall.

The public to private sequence begins with the unique limestone front wall stretching across the lot, the address etched into stone in Corbus’ stencil.

Yet inside the home, one feels a great airiness, never fenced in. It was Dana’s original floor plan that expanded from the entry.

You enter the home through huge glass doors. The foyer leads to a cozy, maple-paneled vestibule that evokes the design of Frank Lloyd Wright — intimate, secure — yet explodes onto the 30 foot tall grand hall gallery with full views of the center courtyard, and skylights running the entire length.

The foyer also opens to the airy formal living room, rising two stories high save for identical box fur downs on opposite walls. Off this room to the west is the dining room. Towards the north is a stunning view of the limestone-walled center hallway and a waterfall that is actually an interior spa.

 

Yes, another home in Dallas with an interior pool. The spa is completely functional and served as the perfect play spot for the Nearburg children when their mother was in the kitchen.

“My daughter played with her Barbie’s there while I cooked dinner,” says Dana. “And we have always used it as a spa, especially in winter.” The flooring here, and in much of the house, is Leuder’s limestone and then maple hardwood.

Euclid is, above all else, a family home with incredible traffic flow and storage in every molecule. Take the kitchen. At first glance, it may appear small, but consider that Dana’s architectural expertise is kitchen efficiency. There are more drawers and cabinets than in kitchens twice the size. There are two sinks, and Dana has an assembly line routine of taking fresh food from the Sub Zero, preparing and washing, transferring to the oven/stove, serving, and clean up from the breakfast room to the dishwashers. The kitchen also easily accommodates two.

The linear staircase leads up to the sleeping quarters, three bedrooms with en suite baths and huge closets, a large playroom, and the master suite. The master sitting room is separated from the sleeping quarters by a bridge-like hall overlooking the formals downstairs. This afforded privacy and full darkness to the one who wished to sleep while the other partner could read or watch TV. Off the master bedroom is a huge spa bath with separate tub, shower, and dual closets as efficiently stocked with storage as the kitchen.

The master’s huge windows overlook the treed center courtyard; it is like waking up in a treehouse, says Dana.

A glassed-in bridge connects the second floor of the professional garage, a complete guest apartment with living area, bedroom and bath looking back towards the center courtyard, tree and main house.

(The regular two-car garage is attached to the first floor and a hallway off the family room west of the kitchen. The mudroom is entirely tiled, and includes a full interior dog shower.)

Now, to save the most incredible for last. The four car professional garage includes a bay for SERIOUS engine tinkering. There is air compressor capability throughout the garage, the actual piping for it, which is useful for using numerous tools anywhere in the garage. There is also heavy-duty, commercial electrical capability, surgical suite lighting for perfect auto paint application, a spray hose and regulation fire hose for the paint bay. The garage doors are insulated, and the entire garage is climate controlled. There are windows in the garage doors (which are padded on the interiors, in case you accidentally fender bump) and a full ventilation system. The individual garage door windows are removable by hook and float downward as the door closes. They provide complete security, which is important to fine auto collectors.

Of course, the home is also equipped with a triple-backed home security system that we shall not detail here, and is also a short walk from the Highland Park police station.

That dream garage could also be the perfect place for a party in inclement weather. The garage has a small bathroom and finished counter space with cabinets, sink and wine fridge: the perfect man cave wet bar!