Kirk McDonald on Living The Dream And Selling His Park Hill Dream House

It’s hard to decide what to gush about first — the man or the house. Because while I haven’t been in a home that has excited me more in years, Kirk McDonald himself is just as engaging. It’s easy to see why he’s been so successful in real estate.

His client testimonials tell the story best, and they all read like a cross between movie star fan mail and loving messages from dear friends:

“Simply put, if you are not using him for your real estate transactions, then you are doing it all wrong. I have been involved with Kirk in 5 different real estate transactions. I cannot recommend him and his lovely wife Christi enough. They are truly wonderful, caring people and we will be forever in their debt.”

The Man, The Myth, The Legend: Kirk McDonald

McDonald is something of a legend in Park Hill, the neighborhood he calls home, both for the number of transactions he’s done there and for the love he’s put into the neighborhood as a resident. He’s lived in two iconic Park Hill homes: the one he now calls home at 2443 Medford Court (which will soon hit the market), and their former home (which he’s now sold twice) at 2420 Lofton Terrace.

Born and raised in southwest Fort Worth, McDonald met his wife Christi when they both worked for an insurance holding company: “the first and last job I ever had,” McDonald laughs. They also ran a store and a bed and breakfast in Granbury, and when McDonald had a “parting of ways” with the insurance company, they decided to move full-time to Granbury and start flipping houses. That naturally led McDonald to get his real estate license. He started with Keller Williams and found a partner with whom he sold $22 million in the first 10 months.

That was 2006, and by 2008 McDonald and his partner had opened their own office and become the biggest thing in Hood County. Then came the crash, and McDonald, seeing the writing on the wall, sold his part of the business to his partner, eventually getting his own broker’s license and starting the Kirk McDonald Group in Fort Worth in 2011.

“I knew I could do everything I did in Granbury in Fort Worth.” And it took off. He opened an office in Weatherford, and one in Houston, growing to 20 agents. “I got big again, and I really didn’t want to do that,” he said. “It just happened.”

Compass approached McDonald to bring his brokerage on board, and impressed by their technology, he agreed.

There’s no Place Like Park Hill

McDonald told me that when he was growing up, his best friend moved to Park Hill, and he remembers coming often to this neighborhood as a child and thinking, “When I grow up, I’m going to live here.” When they were moving back to Fort Worth from Granbury, Christi found the house.

“She called me and said, ‘I found a house and you’re not going to believe where. It’s in Park Hill.’ I said, ‘There’s no way.’ She said, ‘I bought the ugliest house in Park Hill.’”

They had bought a fixer-upper on Lofton Terrace that they transformed into one of the most coveted homes on the block.

On to McDonald’s current house at 2443 Medford Court. I don’t know if you’ll find another historic home in the Metroplex that has been as lovingly cared for and restored with such attention to detail by multiple owners anywhere in North Texas, especially in an unprotected historic district like Park Hill.

“Anyone could come in here and demolish this place if they wanted to,” McDonald said. As he and I toured the home, he pointed out where the original home ends, and each subsequent owner seamlessly added on, keeping to the original style while adding modern conveniences and luxuries.

As with any historic home, there are plenty of fun nooks and crannies and great stories to go with them. At the front of the home, the original grand staircase descends with a telephone box neatly tucked below, where McDonald proudly shows me his grandmother’s own antique candlestick phone.

One of the former owners was positive that the stairway was haunted, claiming she felt someone nudging her as she came down the stairs. She had a mirror placed at the turning so she could see behind her as she descended. The same mirror is in place today.

Upstairs you find the original primary bed and bath with stunning original tile work and cast iron claw foot tub.

From Home to Headquarters

McDonald purchased the home in 2017. At the time, the Kirk McDonald Group’s office was just down the street. John Zimmerman was holding an open house so the team walked over to check it out. One of the agents said, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we could office out of this house?” And an idea was born.

The McDonalds bought the house and while only a few agents worked out of the home regularly, it quickly became a kind of hub for the team with regular meet-ups like “Tanning Tuesdays” around the gorgeous pool. Of course, “Tanning Tuesday” was in preparation for an annual office-wide trip to Cabo. The office space McDonald set up was once a bedroom suite and is completely separate from the rest of the house with its own private courtyard. An idyllic workspace to be sure. 

Continuing our tour, McDonald took me through the many updates and points of interest of this spectacular home. Talk about attention to detail! Here’s an example: When the McDonalds took possession, all the exterior lights were Spanish Mission style — some were working and some not. They went through the painstaking process of rewiring all the lights and replaced them with custom period lanterns from Santa Barbara Lighting — exactly what would have been hanging outside the home in 1928.

All the boring (but costly and important) details have been updated: plumbing, electrical, and gas lines. The Ludowici tile roof (swoon) has been recently replaced through an intensive process in which the repair company removed the original 1923-1928 tiles, reusing the undamaged ones and adding new tiles. They blended the old tiles in with the new artfully so the older yellow and green tiles make a charming pattern with the newer terra cotta tiles. The chef’s kitchen has been remodeled, and surprise, there’s a door from the kitchen to the downstairs full basement!

The History of a Park Hill Home

Chris Farcus, the owner of Mama’s Pizza in Fort Worth, was one of the previous owners of the house. He added a wing for his mother (which later became the McDonald Group’s office). The house has had multiple wings added over the years, but the additions have been done with great attention to detail and in period, so you really have to look to tell where the original house ends and the addition begins.

Each owner has meticulously cared for and recorded changes to the house, such that there are records of who built 2443 Medford Court, how it has changed hands, and even anecdotal events that have taken place there.

As I mentioned, it was built in 1928 (making it one of the earlier homes in Park Hill, which only started development in 1926) by Houston Hill, a big oil man. Walter Hamilton Sr. then purchased the house from the Hill estate around 1956 where they lived for about 10 years, passing it on to their son, Walter Hamilton Jr., who lived there for just five years. The Alter family then took possession of the home for another 20 years, selling to Chris Farcus who stayed for 15 years, during which time the house fell into a state of disrepair. The Brown family purchased Medford Court in 2005 and began the restoration process, followed by the Petersons in 2010, from whom McDonald purchased the home in 2017.

McDonald shared a fun “full-circle” anecdote with me from one of the team’s Cabo trips. He’d just arrived with his group to find there was another company staying at their hotel: an insurance company. It was the same insurance company that had let him go all those years ago.

“I had so much fun on that trip. I had the whole team with me. To be able to sit and talk with them about what happened with my life after that because … I can’t thank [that company] enough. It took me out of a set … money, set everything, and launched my career.”

Words From The Wise

I asked McDonald if he had any advice for Realtors during these uncertain times.

“Don’t try to do everything all at once,” he said. “Focus on one thing and become the master of that. Be working on your database, this is a great time to be doing that. Really fine tune it,and find out who your true sphere is. It’s not 500 people, it’s 20-30 people. You go to those people and cater to them. And you gotta ask for referrals.”

McDonald and his wife Christi have decided it’s time to move on to the next big adventure and will be placing their much-loved home on the market in the coming weeks. It is officially “Coming Soon,” and I suspect this Park Hill treasure will be snapped up quickly, as Park Hill homes of this caliber generally are.

Kirk McDonald will have 2443 Medford Court listed on Compass Exclusives soon, but if you are interested you can contact him via his website.