Own a Sprawling Vintage Home That’s a Big Moneymaker Too

Teresa Costa of David Griffin & Company Realtors has this week’s High Caliber Home of the Week, sponsored by Lisa Peters at Caliber Home Loans.

Avondale Ave, one of interior Dallas’s main thoroughfares, used to be called Ruskin and it’s where Dallas planted one of its first commuter neighborhoods. This being 100 years ago, it’s pretty close to downtown. One of those original few dozen homes is 4332 Avondale Ave, and it’s a brick beauty that’s ready for its next loving owners.

The house, a sprawling and multifaceted living space, is listed for $1,095,000.

The interior is all shades of pearly off-white, contrasted by the lovely hardwood floor. Entering the home, you’re greeted by a wide living room, set off with a fireplace, generous windows, and a copious passageway into an adjoining office space. Moving inward from there leads to the den, adjoining the kitchen.

And yeah, we see it too. The yellow barn bypass door is almost a touch of Andy Warhol amid an otherwise uniformly silky white design — it’s fantastic.

Only a note that strong could distract you from the celestial skylight over the kitchen island. It’s a premium finish out, Sub-Zero and Thermador appliances, with Italian quartz counters and abundant cabinet space.

The house has two bedrooms, and 2.5 bathrooms. Listing agent Teresa Costa points out the unique provenance of the master bathroom, pointing out “it was once a third bedroom, but was reconfigured to be a gorgeous bathroom with a walk-in closet.” The bathroom also features a spa-inspired M-bath with soaking tub and multi-jet shower.

There is still…so much more.

Over the garage is a converted, air-conditioned space currently in use as a gym. It would convert just as well to a second work-from-home space, providing a working couple two separate rooms to conduct business.

“Leave aside that this is a single-story family house in an interior Dallas neighborhood where that’s rare,” says listing agent Costa, “but then there’s basement too!”

A rarity for Dallas, the basement offers space for additional storage, a wine cellar, even a hiding place for Christmas presents.

“There’s so much to say about the dimensions of the house. It’s a generous 172-foot lot, which means there’s room not just for a putting green, but also a guest house.”

That there is. Offering a generous layout of rooms, rather than a broad open space, the guest house contains a cozy bedroom, and a kitchen more spacious than many condos in the area.

The guest house has a bankable history of generating $30,000 per year in short-term rental income, which is no surprise considering the abundant amenities in close proximity. Tom Thumb and Equinox are less than ten minutes by foot, as well as date destinations like Chocolate Secrets, Al Bernet’s, and Dallas’s much celebrated Homewood.

The home’s views are also striking, with Turtle Creek high rises visible from the backyard.

A house like this doubles as a slice of Dallas history, dating back as far as the street on which it’s located. In Dallas’s constant lust for new construction, that’s a rare specimen.

Here’s hoping you’re up for the responsibility of stewarding this house through its next chapters of history.