University Park Southern Plantation-Style Home Scarlett Would Love
Share News:
We do give a damn about homes, my dears, and we think a modern-day Scarlett would love this University Park Southern plantation-style house at 3524 Wentwood Drive. This architectural design is not something you see every day in Dallas, and frankly, we wonder why not?Plantation-style homes are symmetrical, gracefully proportioned, and designed to handle our hot and humid weather. They boast generous front porches under deep overhangs, providing a sweet spot to sit and visit with family and friends. Classic architectural details offer a sense of history and recall an elegant, refined lifestyle from bygone days.
They are right up there with colonial style as far as what Hollywood loves. Plantation-style homes have served as locations for films featuring Clint Eastwood, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Jamie Fox, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Remember Interview with a Vampire, Twelve Years a Slave, and Django Unchained? Yep, all filmed at traditional plantation-style houses because they are striking and full of character. These homes are leading ladies, and this University Park Southern plantation-style house is a perfect example of star power.
The signature double balconies of the 5,509-square-foot home overlook the fairway of University Park. The house was built in 2000, by Douglas Scott Homes, a respected custom home-building company helmed by Douglas Lueckemeyer and Bob MacDonald that specialized in high-end homes in the Park Cities, Preston Hollow, and Lakewood areas of Dallas from 1994 to 2013.
Hudson Lockett Architects were responsible for the design, but the builders had a lot of input, from the double balconies of Lueckemeyer’s childhood home to the loft, inspired by MacDonald’s childhood room.
“One of my favorite architects was A. Hayes Town from Louisiana,” Lueckemeyer said. “My grandfather is from Mississippi, and my grandmother is from Arkansas, so there is a lot of southern influence in this house.We wanted every room on the main floor to have two doors to create a great flow and an open and inviting floor plan.”
Walnut floors in a Bordeaux pattern grace the entry.
The mahogany front door was created with leaded glass from Jim Molloy at Molloy Mirror and Glass Works, Dallas’ oldest glass company. “Jim did the custom fan over the front door and the library door,” Lueckemeyer said. “The library has pocket doors. When you pull them open, you see the leaded glass has houses embedded into the design. We got the idea from a home on Mockingbird Lane we’d both seen.”
The inspiration for the brick floors in the kitchen and breakfast room is straight out of Lueckemeyer’s childhood home. “I always loved them, Lueckemeyer said.” Of course, finding a load of old Chicago brick played a hand in the process as well. A stroke of luck also happened with the kitchen and library cabinets, which are built from longleaf pine. At the time, the wood was not easy to find, but their cabinetmaker had obtained just the right amount to finish both rooms.
That landing speaks to the strength of the house. You seldom see one that can bear the weight of a piano.
The master has his-and-hers bathrooms connected by a common shower. The shower has a skylight that provides natural light in a place you normally don’t have it.
“Bob had a loft in his bedroom when he was a kid,” Lueckemeyer said. “He loved it and thought it would be cool to do one in this house. Kids just love them, and we had space and did not want to waste it, so we created a loft in one of the bedrooms.”
The Southern plantation-style home has four bedrooms, four bathrooms, two powder baths, guest quarters above a detached garage and a lovely swimming pool.
“The house has a warmth and character about it that we seldom see,” Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s listing agent Jennifer Miller said.“I’ve been in business for 18 years, and the feeling you get when you walk into this home is still hard to describe.”
“I’ve always loved that house,” Lueckemeyer said. “A house was built on Orchid Lane a few years after we finished this one and we were shocked because it looked exactly like ours. But imitation is the best form of flattery!”
If you’re looking for a $2.295 million Southern plantation-style home with every amenity, give Miller a call and unleash your inner Scarlett!
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
