Agent Recalls Pantera Co-Founder Vinnie Paul And His Arlington ‘Party House’

We know it was a wild and happening place. So much has been chronicled about the Arlington home once owned by the late heavy metal drummer Vinnie Paul, co-founder of the band Pantera. The 3,784-square-foot gated hilltop home at 1209 Hickory Valley Court was recently put on the market for $750,000.

The stories. Oh, the stories.

Chris Johnston, the home’s listing agent, knew Paul and “knew people who knew him very well.”

As some rockstars go — and we’ll lean into that stereotype here — Paul liked to party and he had the house designed as such.

“He wanted a party house, and that’s what he built,” Johnston said.

Pantera became well-known within the rock music community for “raucous alcohol-fueled parties while on tour and back at home,” according to a biography of Paul published by the Texas State Historical Association.

Like that time in 1999 when Dallas Stars hockey player Guy Carbonneau (Paul was a Stars fan and wrote a song for the team) attempted to heave the Stanley Cup into the swimming pool from a balcony: The cup, which weighs 37 pounds, landed short and hit concrete, producing a three-inch dent in the trophy that had to be pounded out. It’s Johnston’s favorite story about Paul. (You can see an image of the Stanley Cup floating in Paul’s pool).

Or that time when Paul and his brother opened a gentlemen’s club that was popular with athletes and visiting musicians and the party would sometimes continue after-hours at Paul’s house.

The house didn’t lack for game rooms and a safe room. It has 30-foot-tall barrel ceilings in the main living area (think silos). Instead of the customary Texas brick, the house has a white stucco exterior and a black-and-white interior. On the hilltop, the property offers views of downtown Fort Worth, Veridian Lake, Las Colinas, and Arlington.

Johnston’s favorite spot in the house is the garage floor where Paul scribbled his name in the wet concrete in 1995 when the house was built.

Tarrant County records show Metrotex Acquisitions LLC owns the property. Johnston controls Metrotex Acquisitions and listed the house with his son Christopher. They are co-owners of Texas Best Home Buyers in North Richland Hills.

Johnston spent time at Paul’s house in Arlington as well as Paul’s other house in Las Vegas. Paul was a big-time rocker, but he stayed true to his roots, Johnston said. Paul lived in Dalworthington Gardens and attended James Bowie High School in Arlington.

“I know some people who had occurrence meetings with him out and about,” Johnston said. “I think he was cautious about what happened to his brother (Darrell “Dimebag” Abbott).”

Abbott was killed onstage in 2004 by a man who was upset about Pantera’s breakup the previous year. In 2018, Paul died of a heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy at age 54.

At Paul’s Arlington home, he was a gracious host, Johnston said.

“He was generous and humble, and he had a right not to be so humble,” Johnston said. “Many times, he would cook the food (at his parties) rather than ask someone to do it.

“He was just a good, all-around guy.”

The house at 1209 Hickory Valley Court in Arlington is under contract.