Elizabeth Mast is Setting Records And The Stubbs House May Break Them All
Share News:
The historic Stubbs House overlooks Swiss Avenue from its perch on La Vista Drive. It’s one of the most extraordinary homes I’ve ever seen anywhere, and in my opinion, it’s the best house to hit the market in a decade.
The Jacobean Tudor house was built for paving magnate Robert Stubbs and his wife, Marie, in 1926. However, the most colorful owner was professional dancer Wiletta Stellmacher, who ensured the home received Texas Historic Landmark status in 2001. When it was listed in 2016 after Stellmacher’s death, Barry Jones saw the listing, drove by, and fell in love with the exterior. He told his partner Wayne Noble he’d found their next home and project. To say the house needed a lot of love is putting it mildly.
“A contractor friend spent a couple of days looking it over and told us what it would take to get it into shape,” Noble said. “The fiberglass pool was cracked and leaking, causing a host of issues, and would have to be removed. There were myriad other issues. We were lucky that we were familiar with older homes so we could see the opportunity here. It needed a lot of work, but we knew we could do it.”
They spent a year negotiating for the Stubbs House. Their Realtor, Elizabeth Mast, convinced Wiletta’s son Rick that they were the right people for the house and would keep its integrity. They made it comfortable to live in within a year, and in another five, it became the magical home you see today.
Secrets of The Stubbs House
Not only did Noble and Jones do the expensive work no one sees — like plumbing, electrical, and HVAC — but they also showed us how to live comfortably in a historic home.
Of course, Jones has a bit of an advantage. When it came to reimagining the 7,357-square-foot, five-bedroom, six-bathroom Stubbs House, his skills as a former event planner and a current curator for RH, formerly Restoration Hardware, have taken the home to an unimaginable level of style.
“The house is magnificent,” Mast said. “It has gone through such a remarkable transformation. They retained the historical integrity and, despite being such a grand home, it feels warm and inviting.”
The couple even captured the attic space adding a bedroom, bathroom, sitting area, and a huge craft room. In addition to the main house, the grounds offer two completely restored and updated 866-square-foot carriage houses over the four-car garage. A stately historic home with two income-producing properties? That’s something you simply never find.
So why are Noble and Jones leaving their picture-perfect home? There has to be a darned good reason to move from this house, and, of course, there is.
Jones is an integral part of the team launching the new RH gallery concept, which began with the 2020 purchase of Aynhoe Park, a 73-acre estate designed in 1615 by English architect Sir John Soane. It’s been listed as a Grade 1 building on the National Heritage List for England since 1953. That’s just the first project. RH is taking over the Abercrombie & Fitch space at 23 Avenue de Champs Elysées in Paris and will expand to galleries in Milan, Madrid, Brussels, and France. Yeah, you knew it had to be something big! So Noble and Jones are property hunting in the Loire Valley.
“We have loved living here and sharing this home with our community,” Noble said. “It’s an amazing house with an amazing presence. We need to preserve history and share these historic properties. I hope people will appreciate what we have done and a new owner will carry it forward.”
Finding a Flawless Historic Home
I’ve seen, walked through, and attended an event at the Stubbs House. I don’t use the word lightly when I say it is flawless. It’s listed with the highest price tag for a completely restored and updated home in the district, and it’s worth every penny, if not more.
Let me clue you in on what’s happening in East Dallas with historic properties. If they are move-in ready, they are fetching top dollar. Elizabeth Mast just sold 5650 Swiss Avenue for $400,000 over the $1.395 million list price. There were over 90 people at the open house and 10 offers. Updated historic homes are hot properties. I think this one will break records.
Call your banker, then call Elizabeth Mast and make an appointment to see this magical historic Jacobean Tudor. At $3.395 million, 6423 La Vista won’t be on the market long because I can tell you for a fact that it is a great price.
