Phillip Carter Takes Frisco Custom Luxury Building to a New Level

When I first laid eyes on this Frisco custom luxury spec home in the Hills of Kingswood at 4012 Starling Drive a few weeks ago, it was still in the final stages of construction. However, from the moment I entered until I left, I had to keep picking my jaw up off the ground.

That was Philip Carter’s objective. Carter is the president of Christian Custom Homes and is bringing a new level of luxury homebuilding to Frisco. His firm was just won three of the 2017 Dallas Builder’s Association ARC awards: Best New Build over $2 million, Best Kitchen, and Best Closet.

“My intention is, wherever you go in one of our houses you think — Wow,” Carter said. “People either get it or they don’t.” Carter has fortunately positioned himself to only deal with people that do get it.

“I saw a demand that was not being met in a Frisco custom luxury spec home,” Carter said. “That blend of California indoor-outdoor living with a modern Texas Hill Country design was not being built here.”  He decided to meet the demand in high style, and with a fast turnaround. Confidence is not Carters only strong suit. He’s imaginative, inventive, driven, and knows his ideal client.

He decided to meet the demand in high style, and with a fast turnaround. Confidence is not Carter’s only strong suit. He’s imaginative, inventive, driven, and knows his ideal client. They have refined taste and are often moving here from another state. They want to spend time at home entertaining, are sometimes recognizable personalities, and have no time to hire builders, architects, and designers or to pick out finishes and fixtures. They also want what those multiple wow factors. Carter’s homes don’t just have extraordinary finish-out, they have secret rooms, hidden doors, and this one has—wait for it—an indoor basketball court on the second floor.

“I’ve never seen an upstairs court before,” Carter said. “It’s because the bouncing balls echo, but we wanted to put it upstairs and maximize the square footage downstairs for living areas so, we did a great job of soundproofing!”

Carter is also practical with his wow factors. The court can be modified easily and inexpensively to suit the needs of someone that does not want to have Mark Cuban and his buddies over every weekend for a pick-up game.

The 9,886-square-foot home has five bedrooms, five bathrooms, and two powder baths. Although things like hidden rooms, basketball courts, and personalized digitally controlled showers are exciting, nothing beats the view from this home.

Any great custom home starts with a great lot. This one has a hilltop vantage point and a view that goes on for miles. “It’s a sea of trees to the lights of Frisco,” Carter said.

Walls of glass run across the back of the home effectively blurring the lines between inside and out. With everyone gravitating to outdoor living spaces today Carter has even perfected an outdoor air conditioning system, so comfort is never a question.

The home sits on a terraced lot with three tiers. Carter wanted to create as much usable space as possible. Of course, there had to be a pool, but with a big wow factor. It has a negative edge and a 10-foot drop — into another pool below. Yes, there are two pools. And a waterfall. And a putting green.

“We want to create an oasis and impress the hardest to impress people,” Carter said. His instincts have been spot-on. The first two homes he built sold almost before he could get his crew out the doors. “We are delivering a product that people want and have not been able to find.”

He’s also delivering these Frisco custom luxury homes in six months. You read that right — six months. If you know anything at all about custom home building you know it is not unusual to spend three years getting it just right.

Carter has perfected his process with the help of Karyn Dismore Interiors. “Karyn and I have an almost brother-sister relationship,” Carter said. “We may butt heads at times, but we all laugh a lot, and we have so much fun. Our whole team has a good time with every project.”

“We make all the selections prior to breaking ground,” Dismore said. “This is our third house together, and we’re getting to be a finely oiled machine!”

Dismore is there from the concept stage to the actual staging of the home. She and Carter know the value of staging a luxury property, and called on George Bass Stage and Design to add the final touches that would turn the house into a home.

“This is not a typical staging, it’s what I call a lifestyle staging,” Bass said. “You look at the big picture and go with what the house is dictating. This home is a Frisco custom luxury modern, Texas Hill Country style estate. It has a rustic appeal, but clean lines so you want to keep it light and airy. You don’t want to complicate it with theme furniture or rustic pieces. Our mission is to help the house sell, to create a comfortable ambiance, so it photographs beautifully, and someone falls in love with the property.”

“I’m passionate about the homes I build,” Carter said. “They are a work of art to me. People are going to create memories, and raise families in them. I want these homes to be special.”

I’d say mission accomplished.

Be sure to watch Designing Texas with Jocelyn White and see a lot more of this Frisco custom luxury home on Sunday. Meanwhile, give Seeto Realty listing agent Suzi Givens a call if you have a cool $6.9 million and covet an indoor basketball court and a view for miles!

Karen Eubank is the owner of Eubank Staging and Design. She has been an award-winning professional home stager for more than 25 years and 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