Midway Hollow Hill Country Contemporary Built With Family in Mind

Our Inwood House of the Week is a charming Midway Hollow Hill Country Contemporary at 4040 Davila Drive built for Robert and Jennifer Black in 2008 by Herman Darden Custom Homes.

The Blacks are Midway Hollow pioneers. They bought their first home in the neighborhood 13 years ago.

“It was a 1948 ranch,” Jennifer said. “When we discovered the neighborhood, we loved it immediately. We bought that house and lived in it until our son was about a year and a half old. Then the teardowns started. We knew we were outgrowing the house, we wanted another child, and we knew we did not want to leave Midway Hollow.”

The couple also knew what they did want.

“I wanted this house to feel like our home, not a spec house,” Jennifer said. “I knew I wanted a small builder and through friends, we found Herman Darden Custom Homes. We had a great relationship, and they managed the process so well. When we were in the architectural drawing stage, we took a family vacation to San Antonio, and I got a lot of inspiration from our hotel, the Hill Country Hyatt.”

The couple knew they wanted a lot of natural light, vaulted ceilings, and a livable, well-thought-out home. Jennifer also had a lot of details figured out as she’d been plotting her dream home for a long time.

“I had been saving old school magazine tear sheets of what I loved for years,” Jennifer said. I’d also download pictures I liked from real estate sites. Houzz.com had not launched, and Pinterest was just starting. I had always wanted the black-and-white entry, beamed ceilings, and I also knew I didn’t want a big fancy living room so I created a parlor off the kitchen. It’s small, quaint, and cozy.”

The house is 4,269 square feet with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and one powder bath. The Blacks put a lot of thought into family needs, creating a playroom with big storage drawers under the window seat for toys, and a media room for movie nights.

Over the years, the Blacks have kept updating, adding hardwoods upstairs and reconfiguring the master closet to create even more space. French doors on the playroom were replaced with custom barn doors last year, also creating additional space. The doors were cleverly constructed with a window built in so you can close them but still see in to check on the kids.

The Blacks are outdoor people, so a large patio, fireplace, dining area, pool, and spa were essential. “We have two kids and three dogs, we use every bit of it,” Jennifer said.

Midway Hollow is one of the hottest neighborhoods in Dallas. “Our street is awesome,” Jennifer said.” At one point, there were 10 kids on our street. Now that those kids are teenagers, a new generation of families have moved in, and the street is starting the trend again. It’s a super friendly neighborhood.”

The Blacks are ready for the next stage of life, with older kids, so they’ve put their Midway Hollow Hill Country contemporary on the market for $1.35 million.

The home is for sale by owner, so you can ask Jennifer about every well-thought-out detail!

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