A Mere $19.5m Snags The Original Luxe Showhouse in The Creeks of Preston Hollow

It is always exciting to revisit a home a few years after her birth. In fact, it’s kind of like seeing how a baby has grown after the first time you held her.

Most of us watched the birth of this unique home at 5020 Elm Hollow Drive — well, her unveiling, I guess — in 2008. Built as a spec home to end all spec homes, this masterpiece was the 2008 Luxe Show Home for Scottish Rite when Mark Molthan had just completed it. It was the very first home built in The Creeks of Preston Hollow. There was tons of publicity, a huge party, and incredible buzz for the 16,000-plus-square-foot beauty.

A New Neighborhood’s Start

Some of that buzz comes from the incredible location: a 20-ish acre plot at the southwest corner of Inwood Road and Royal Lane developed by Hillwood and called The Creeks of Preston Hollow.

Prior to 2000, it was just a quiet, empty, woody piece of North Dallas land. For years it lay fallow, one lone stone mansion facing Royal Lane. Every time I drove by, an image of the movie Giant came to mind.

The home was on a multiple-acre parcel that caught the eye of telecommunications billionaire Kenny Troutt. Quietly, Troutt began amassing more land to the original parcel, buying out homeowners in the surrounding neighborhoods so he could build a family compound. But as Troutt gathered bids to build an estate on the property, he became disillusioned with what he felt was exorbitant pricing and sold the parcel to Hillwood, who developed the corner as an uber-exclusive gated luxury home community for 17 estates on one-acre-plus lots.

Creeks of Preston Hollow

With few options for estate living in Dallas — Old Preston Hollow, Hillcrest Estates, and Preston Trails further north, Dallas needed such an option. (Don’t forget, the Crespi-Hicks estate (or Walnut Place) was still a 25-acre estate at this point.) Molthan built five homes in The Creeks of Preston Hollow, including the one once occupied by pro golfer Hunter Mahan, now belonging to Jordan Spieth.

Molthan’s build at 5020 Elm Hollow is one lot past the guard station. The home is three stories, connected by an elevator and grand stairways. Enter up an impressive set of Italianate stone steps to the front door and foyer.

One, Two, Three, Four Kitchens

The home is a tri-level, Italian-style villa designed by noted architect Robbie Fusch. The lower level was scooped into the ground and includes a seven-car garage finished to fine interior speculations with a bar and golf simulator.

There is a long, gradual drive sloping down to the garages that is heated so you never need to worry about ice. And if you are thinking what I am thinking, like about February’s Snowmadeggon 2021, don’t: the home has a complete backup generator system.

Built at the crescendo of his career, Mark Molthan used the highest standards of craftsmanship and design in the showhome, then it was updated by subsequent owners with bottomless checkbooks.

This is where the new buyers are going to make out like bandits: materials were sourced from all over the world and used everywhere, such as hand-carved fireplace mantels and ceilings: materials like these are currently unavailable or no longer made.

The home was first designed by Debra Owens, and then replenished with exquisite textiles, draperies, and wall coverings. Thoughtful architectural design yields wide hallways and grandly scaled spaces for art collections and entertaining.

“I was very passionate about this home, it was incredibly important to me,” says Molthan. “Elm Hollow was cutting edge. I think it was one of the first underground car garages in North Dallas.”

Molthan had toured a home in Newport Beach, California, which became his inspiration for Elm Hollow. That home had a deep center courtyard that opened up the basement and made it feel like another floor in the house.

“You don’t even realize that you are eleven feet underground, because of the courtyard,” says Molthan.

The first buyers, Metro PCS Chairman and CEO Roger Linquist, and his wife, Sue, hired their own interior designer and gave the home a feminine touch. Mr. Linquist passed in 2015.

A Most Unusual, And Practical, Men’s Master Suit

The three-story home is divided into wings: from the entrance is a grand overview of the lower-level indoor patio garden. To the left is the massive, two-story library and office. To the right is the oversized dining room connected to the catering kitchen (that’s right, there are actually two kitchens in this home, plus two mini-kitchen serving centers). The “real” kitchen is accompanied by morning and breakfast rooms.

The first floor holds the master suite with an arched ceiling, which is separated by a vestibule sitting room complete with a hidden coffee bar and icemaker. The master bath has his-and-hers closets and baths, and an interesting touch that was added by the current owner: integration of the man’s bathroom into his closet. The gentlemen’s closet is accessible from one shower exit (one OVERSIZED shower exit) and a vanity with a sink. Meantime, her side has been redone in the most exquisite floral stone tiles — Karen Eubank and I almost popped when we saw them. Her bathroom also has a private exterior garden.

A secondary bedroom with a bath is on this floor, as well as the study, two kitchens, dining, huge formal living, and family rooms. There are outside patios on all three levels and a negative-edge swimming pool off the back deck overlooking the expansive lawns and gardens.

A Winterized Outdoor “Kitchenette”

A word about the home’s backyard entertaining pavilion as I called it because it is so clever. The home is sited on three-plus acres, centered in the middle, which means several things. One, you can sell off the acre to the east AND the acre to the west. Cha-ching. Two, you can retain the acreage and build out more, permanently sealing in your privacy.

The covered patio in the back overlooks a negative-edge pool, with the grilling station wisely located in a separate area. An outdoor mini-kitchen (the grill is your stove) is tucked into the house behind weatherized French doors. Brilliant!

Six Bedrooms Up, Down, And Center

Upstairs are three bedrooms, one a second master suite, all ensuite and enormous. There is another living area up here as well as a study and full laundry room. The lower level, tucked at basement level, is designed so every room faces the sun-filled courtyard, as Molthan planned. There is a game room, media room, wine storage room, wine-tasting room, en suite guest quarters with a private guest entrance, and a fitness center with the seven-car, finished-out garage.

And another kitchenette.

The estate at 5020 Elm Hollow is a fine example of the new multi-million dollar homes we are seeing in top North Texas neighborhoods, homes built within the last 10 to 15 years, updated and improved to the point where they have almost doubled or tripled in price.

It’s a grab-the-key, walk-in, move-in, and move-not-so-much-as-one-pillow ready. If the sellers consider selling every single piece of furniture in the house, or even one, it will be your very lucky day.

This home is listed with Traci Hummel and Dana Greenberg, Dave Perry-Miller for $19.5 million.