Kessler Park Tudor With a Backyard Paradise

If you’re in the market for a Kessler Park Tudor with a backyard that has no less than five areas for entertaining, stop reading and call Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s listing agent Jenni Stolarski immediately. This is one hot property, and mark my words — it will be pending by next week.

It’s always a challenge to bring you move-in ready properties, especially under a million dollars. And when we find them, they go fast.

To give you some insight, let’s pull back the insider’s curtain. The National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) annual conference just wrapped in Denver. Real estate journalists from across America meet and discuss everything related to real estate. They also offer salient information on their respective markets. Of course, Candy is there and tweeting back information to all of us. What we’re learning is that nationally, move-in ready homes are selling in a month. In Dallas, those homes are negotiated at Monday morning real estate meetings and never hit MLS. We have a historic all-time low of housing inventory. So, when we find a home like this Kessler Park Tudor at 1038 Lausanne Avenue we mean it when we say run, do not walk, to get your signature on a contract.

If you’re not familiar with Kessler Park, it’s the jewel in the crown of Oak Cliff. Huge mature trees arch over the streets, and you can be in downtown Dallas in ten minutes. Oak Cliff is sort of a city within a city.

Stolarski lives near there and loves it for the inherent intimacy. The Bishop Arts District is close by and full of small business owners, many of whom live in Kessler Park. “It’s so nice to be walking around and suddenly realize the lady that owns a particular shop is your neighbor,” Stolarski said.

Built in 1934, and just off Colorado Boulevard, this three-bedroom,  three-bathroom home is charming, and at $675,000 it’s a rare find. For those of you that love Tudors, this house meets every expectation and then some. There are the requisite arches and stained glass highlights on exterior windows and interior kitchen cabinets. But let’s get back to that move-in ready concept. The 2,200-square-foot home has had all the necessary updates to the kitchen and bathrooms, but what we really love is the backyard paradise.

 

“The owners spend half their time in the backyard,” Stolarski said. That means the ability to entertain outside was paramount. “The pool was existing, but they built the exterior patio,” she added. “They took away the driveway in the back and turned the garage to face the alley, which gave them back a sizable amount of backyard space. There are five seating areas, two Koi ponds, (yes, the fish stay), a full outdoor kitchen with a grill, sink, a huge bar, and it’s wired for sound.” There’s a 130-square-foot pool cabana, and a half bath as well. Seriously, for about 10 months of the year, you could just live out here.

We’re always curious when such a perfect home hits the market as to where the homeowners are headed. They’re off to Portugal. What that means for you is that move-in ready takes on an even better aspect. As they are leaving the country, the furniture is for sale! Imagine purchasing a home and only having to unpack your clothes. Dreamworld!

Karen Eubank is the owner of Eubank Staging and Design. She has been an award-winning professional home stager for more than 25 years. She’s been a professional writer for 20 years. Karen is the mother of a son who’s studying music at The University of Miami. An ardent animal lover, she doesn’t mind one bit if your fur baby jumps right into her lap. Find Karen at www.eubankstaging.com