Briggs Freeman Agents List AIA Award-Winning Secret Sanctuary by Architect Max Levy

“There is lovely natural light falling through beautifully proportioned spaces that reframe your appreciation of nature.” These are the words architect Max Levy used to describe this secret sanctuary overlooking a spring-fed creek.

When Levy was asked to build a custom home for a doctor, dancer, and their small child years ago, he embraced the challenge of an unusual site between a creek and Greenville Avenue.

“It was a thrilling project because architecture had to come to the rescue,” Levy said. “Architecture can resolve difficulties. Instead of taking a standard builder’s floor plan, bulldozing a site, cutting down trees, and presenting a face to the street that makes no sense, you can do something that makes a sliver of nature better through architecture. When you build on a site, the site generally becomes less. In this case, the site became more.”

The narrow site was leftover from the construction of Greenville Avenue. It backs up to the street and faces the natural beauty of Richardson Creek, a branch of White Rock Creek. Most builders would not have a clue how to treat such an intriguing space, but it’s what architects dream about. Hand them an unusual site and a load of restrictions, and they are all about problem-solving and creating lasting beauty and functionality.

Because the creek is the focal point of the landscape, Levy designed a long thick brick gallery wall parallelling the street, countered by a vertical chimney with three living pavilions and a fourth garage structure. The brick wall serves as protection from the street, and you have no sense you are a few feet from Greenville Avenue. The architecture protects and frames the view of nature.

“The improvisational aspect of the home is my favorite thing about it,” Levy said. “The original living and dining area has a 16-foot-long window seat. Pulling the dining table to one end gives you a compact living dining area. Beyond the sliding doors is the flexible studio space you can make into anything, a playroom or even a party space. It invites any kind of use.”

The original owners had only a few simple requests of Levy. They wanted a gallery wall, a dance studio, and a screened porch. The main living space in the 3,135-square-foot, four-bedroom, three-bathroom home is divided with frosted glass pocket doors, which created the flexibility needed for a dance studio and now offers another living space. A perfect box was created in the middle of the home to serve as a screened porch with a square skylight. Floating above the skylight is a yellow awning.

“In Texas, you have to be aware of the sun,” Levy said. “If you just create a skylight without thinking about the sun, it will clobber you, so we put a party hat on it!”

This room was eventually glassed in for the present owners to become an adorable child’s room with a library ladder to access bookcases above the closets and has recently served as a home office.

Levy considered that the family might expand, so he gave thought to their needs and future owners by designing the garage with a flat roof to receive a second level. The present owners are only the second to have lived in this secret sanctuary. They love the location for many reasons, with safety and privacy paramount.

The site is so private that guests visiting may have to make a few passes before they find you. Having raised three children here over the past 20 years, they have also loved the wide open spaces that easily accommodate family and friends.

“Max placed each window for a specific view, and you appreciate that he intended you to wake up with a particular view from your bed or see a certain tree framed from a window in the living room,” the homeowner said. “Another magical thing is the tree wells in the backyard. There are a million places for swings and forts. There is nothing average about this home and this property. It’s going to be hard to leave.”

We must remember that the value of architect-designed homes is that they are thoughtful and considered. They are built to take advantage of the site, the views, and external influences like noise and light. Good architecture can help you slow down, catch your breath, and appreciate what is truly important in life. That is why these homes become so highly coveted.

In 2016 this secret sanctuary received the Dallas AIA 25-year award in recognition of a project that has stood the test of time. It’s been written about many times, appearing in multiple publications from the Architectural Record to House Beautiful.

Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realtors agents Sabra Girard and Pogir Pogir have this secret sanctuary at 9180 Greenville Avenue listed for $1.299 million. This is an incredible opportunity to own an architecturally significant property, and I expect to see a line out the door at that price!