Highland Park Country French Estate by Durrett Homes

What do Bill Gates, Brad Pitt, Elton John, Johnny Depp, and Victoria Beckham have in common? Well, besides celebrity. They all share a love for homes in the French countryside. Even Marie Antoinette escaped the confines of the palace for her rustic retreat, Le Hameau de la Reine, as often as possible. If you can’t flee to France, our Monday Morning Millionaire is the next best thing. It’s a Country French estate built by Durett Homes for a developer.  Imagine that if you will. Designing and constructing a home for a client with a depth of building knowledge that matches that of the builder could be somewhat daunting. Unless you are Jeremy Durette that is. He has over ten years of experience, and luxury homes are his forte. This flawlessly constructed 7,578-square-foot home at 4301 Bordeaux Avenue has the absolute best of everything.

One of the most striking aspects of this home is the motor court entry. The four garage bays have doors that resemble those on of a stable, so it’s easy to imagine you are truly in the French countryside, and a horse is going to saunter out at any moment.

 “We were going for a European feel inside and out,” Durette said. “Most homes today are white with dark windows. We wanted to do something different.”Durette tapped the most creative talents around to create a country French estate that would fulfill the dreams of his client, and he succeeded beautifully.

Fusch Architects did the plans, and it doesn’t get much better than that. Durette had a special blend of flat terracotta roof tiles made by The Roof Tile & Slate Company in Dallas. Blake Fusch with RF Imports crafted the exterior gas lanterns and the screened porch. Several of the limestone fireplaces are antiques imported from France. There is antique Chicago brick, reclaimed timbering from a forest that had burned down, and white oak rift- and quarter-sawn floors that were milled in Texas. All the timbering has true mortise-and-tenon joints. Pegs hold it together. The details just never stop.

Pay particular attention to the dining room. That is not gold paint on the ceiling. “It’s 14 karat gold leaf, laid by hand,” Durette said. “The craftsman was quite a character, arriving daily in a captain’s hat and working barefoot,”

This one-of-a-kind country French estate has three living areas, four bedrooms, four bathrooms, three powder baths, a huge game room for the kids on the second floor, and that screened porch is not only one of the best you’ll ever see, but it’s also going to last forever.

Of course, a beautiful home is just a house when it’s not staged, so I was delighted to see the deft hand of George Bass Stage and Design here.

“It’s an exquisite property,” Bass said. “There is a casual elegance and an easiness about the property. It’s handsome, expansive, and well-thought-out. We infused the house with soft, transitional furniture, contemporary art, and introduced a lot of white with mirrors to reflect details. With a home of this caliber, you want to convey a message of the possibilities and each decorative avenue they could take. We stage a residence for the buyer and want a buyer to see something inviting yet not complicated.”

Tom Rhodes of the Rhodes Group with Compass Real Estate has this gorgeous country French estate listed for $5.5 million.

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