Luxury Real Estate Agent Michelle Wood Lists a Classic Iconic Home For $32 Million
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Just when I think I cannot be impressed, Compass agent Michelle Wood lists a drop-dead gorgeous estate. It’s the new classic iconic home and embodies everything I mentioned about uber-luxury homes on Monday. While I’ll shed a tear for the 1963 Midcentury Modern that once stood on this land, I will also heartily applaud this tasteful beauty.
In August 2017, Candy let readers know what was happening with 3616 Crescent.
The new owner is Gil J. Besing, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Cardinal Capital Partners, Inc. and a seasoned real estate investor. His wife is Tricia Besing. They currently have a home in Highland Park across from the Dallas Country Club on Saint Andrews Drive. Hexter House, you had a good run.
Candy Evans
As someone who walks the fine line between fabulous multimillion-dollar homes and historic preservation, it can be tricky to both comprehend and explain how and why a new owner decides to tear down a significant historic home.
The original Midcentury Modern on the lot was built for the Hexter family by E.G. Hamilton, and was absolutely iconic. Hamilton was one of the founders of OmniPlan, the same firm that designed NorthPark Center.
Mil Bodron of Bodron / Fruit updated and expanded it in 2008, and CandysDirt.com held an event in the house in 2015, so we knew it well. However, even Bodron feared for its survival because the lot is so large for Highland Park, and there are no protections for historic properties in the Park Cities.
If you are going to tear a classic iconic home down, build an equally classic iconic home in its place.
Trends, family needs, and personal desires drive the real estate market. Sometimes, a house just does not work for the needs of a new owner, so rather than continue to mourn what was lost, we put on our big-girl pants and celebrate the fact that the owners tapped another great firm Eskenasy Ferguson Architecture.
What do I love about it? What everyone should love about it. This is what we hope for when we lose an iconic home because this is going to be another iconic home. Just wait. I’m right about these things.
First, it fits the bill of what both architect Lloyd Lumpkins and dream-house builder Tony Visconti told me this past weekend for Monday’s post about the new classic iconic home. The vast majority of us like clean lines, symmetry, and architecture we can understand.
Eskenasy, designer Tom Sheerer, and builder Tatum Brown collaborated to bring this new iconic home to life. Those classic exterior elements include Moleanos Portuguese limestone, stucco, slate, lead-coated copper roofs, steel doors, and windows.
Inside, there is more classic style, but you’ll note a striking color palette. If you have watched one of our favorite shows, “The Parisian Agency,” this is what you find in Paris now: classic homes with modern interior colors and furnishing — an exciting and fresh juxtaposition of elements.
Today, buyers want it all, and this home offers it all. My tears are dried, and all I can say is, bravo, this is an absolute beauty.
Compass Real Estate agent Michelle Wood has this new classic iconic home at 3616 Crescent Ave. listed for $32 million.
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An asking price of $32M for this house is ridiculous, even for HP.
Read my Monday post about Uber luxury ; ). People want what they want, where they want it, and are willing to pay a premium for it. It’s a different ballgame at this end of the market.
DCAD shows the “total market value” for this house at $11,044,800.00. I guess when the owners weren’t trying to sell it, they were happy with DCAD. Wonder what they would think if DCAD sent them a tax bill showing the value at $32,000,000.00?
Hi Bill,
I know, right? It’s a different realm. This lot was scraped, so I believe what you are seeing is the lot value of 11 mil. Add a giant luxury home, and the value greatly increases. Then add in location, which many will say is priceless. When you have a finite number of homes in a highly sought-after area and a buyer pool that wants this area, all bets are off. I honestly think if someone can afford a 32 mil. house, the last thing they are worried about is property taxes.
Who decides which house is acceptable to demolish? I seem to recall a recent post about huge uproar about historical preservation…..
Hi Chris. The buyer decides to raze or keep if it is in an unprotected area and not deed-restricted.
Hi Karen, Thanks for your reply, but in fact the “total value” on DCAD for this property is the lot AND the house. The lot is valued at $6,003.000.00 and the current existing house that was built in 2020 and is 8,400+ square feet is valued at $5,041,800 for a total combined total value of $11,044,800.00. While I have no doubt anyone who can afford an $11-million house or a $32-million house can afford the property taxes, I doubt the last thing they are worried about is property taxes, otherwise you wouldn’t see so many property tax protests in this price range of home on DCAD’s website.
Hi Bill, Thanks for doing the digging. In my experience, people of all income ranges protest property taxes because it’s just smart to do so. I protest mine every year because my house is frankly a tear down compared to what my younger neighbors are doing in the way of additions and updates. I’d imagine anyone in this price purchase range has “people” to take care of property tax protest for them. My knowledge of uber luxury is that buyers at this level are not letting property tax weigh into the decision to purchase because they simply do not have to. DCAD-based value is based on dirt value plus what DCAD deems the house value to be. Inaccuracies are not uncommon. There are limited homes availalbe in this area which drives price and remember value is in the eye, and the seemingly bottomless pocket of the buyer.
I was referring to the house near the Tollway that was torn down over a weekend and there was tremendous uproar from neighbors. Seems like a double standard…
Hey Chris, Yes, I know. While we can, and certainly do mourn the loss of historic properties, until people who live in these neighborhoods get involved and move to create actual historic preservation protection, there is simply nothing, short of deed restriction, that can be done. It’s why many of us choose to live in conservation and historic districts where protections exist.
I did read your article, but I’m thinking about the fact that the entire Crespi estate, which had nearly 10 acres of prime Preston Hollow land, sold for somewhere in the neighborhood of $35M. The Crespi house is nothing to sneeze at either…..expert craftsmanship and materials, beautifully proportioned, and renovated by Peter Marino.
I know a few years have passed since Crespi was sold, but I cannot wrap my head around any sort of valuation equivalency between 3616 Crescent and the Crespi estate.
Hi KP. I know! It’s fascinating. I think you cannot compare Crescent to Crespi because it’s a different buyer for each of these properties. Prices have absolutely exploded since the pandemic, and the buyers who can afford this level of luxury have moved here, just waiting to spend that money. When I speak to luxury architects, builders, and Realtors, they all say the same thing. It’s not unusual for new construction on uber luxury homes to be north of 30 million. When we had this mass influx of wealth, Realtors were telling me we did not have what buyers wanted, so builders got to work, and now we do have what they want. What we are not privy to is the roughly 50% of off-market transactions happening in this range. It’s a wild ride and I think it will continue to be for some time.
KP Crespi was sub-divided into basically a luxury neighborhood.
Crespi is a “luxury neighborhood”? It feels like a bunch of too huge of a house on too small of a lot without privacy on a goofy cul-de-sac. To each his own.