This Joshua Rice/Smitharc Masterpiece of Glass on Beverly Drive Is a Work of Art

Beverly Drive is one of the most iconic streets in Highland Park, a community with a plethora of iconicism. True to its name, Beverly Drive echoes Beverly Hills. In fact, the graceful boulevard — wider than most Highland Park streets — was laid out in the early 20th century by Wilbur David Cook, who was also the landscape designer for Beverly Hills, California.

The homes are not necessarily all gigantic mansions, especially towards the east/west endpoints, but they are majestic. Uniform, deep setbacks on oversized lots, abundant greenery, and a smattering of great architectural styles — from Spanish Colonial, Italianate, Mediterranean, English, Georgian, even Tudor — make Beverly Drive one of the five most coveted streets in our area.

Now, a striking modern home has taken reign over the street’s architectural past: 3121 Beverly Drive. This home is a significant architectural jewel. The owners gathered the best of the best talent in North Texas and California to craft a modern but warm, family-rich home. A bit different, but very neighborhood friendly, designers made the front yard the back yard to yield the most use of the unique lot. Built by Kienast Homes, architecture by Smitharc, interior design by Joshua Rice Design, and landscape architecture by Paper Kites Studios, the home is now one of the most superb modern architectural masterpieces in Dallas available to purchase.

“It was a unique lot on a highly coveted street, ” says Rice. “Plus there were city-imposed restrictions. Once the foliage is mature, the front yard will be an oasis.”

This home at 3121 Beverly Drive is also an architectural pacesetter. With sleek lines and a harmonious blend of materials, every detail was conceived with careful analysis, then executed with refined elegance and meticulous craftsmanship. A few of many examples: The 14-foot tall glass windows and slider doors were imported from Portugal to cover the front of the home with grandeur, creating a glass house effect. Interior doors are full height custom-made of white oak, as are the floors.

Then there are the bathrooms.

The Lavoratory As Sculptural Art

Ceppo Di Gre custom stone floors and countertops in the kitchen and living area were imported from Italy. The marble stone fixtures throughout the house are the result of hand-carved artisans working from huge blocks of imported product, all custom designed by Rice himself.

In the primary bathroom, the vessel bathtub was carved from a single solid block of Icelandic Dark; the vanity is another long, solid block with sinks carved out. In the formal powder room, a solid block of Ceppo de Verde marble with carved sink creates the striking vanity. Floor tiles and the custom lavatory base were hand-chipped from the same block to ensure uniformity of color.

There are five bedrooms, five full baths and that one gorgeous half bath. The open living room on the first floor is connected to a museum-quality kitchen. Custom fumed oak cabinets were coated with an innovative product, FENIX laminate. Super matte, fingerprint resistant and extremely durable, FENIX surfaces are ideal for high touch areas like kitchens and bathrooms.

The kitchen is also more than functional for a large family with top-of-the-line appliances including Gaggenau and Wolf. Because the kitchen is so open and such an integral part of the living area, Rice created a scullery in the back of the kitchen that can actually get dirty. A wine bar and Miele coffee station are nearby for entertainment ease.

Smart Space Planning

Convenience is a hallmark of this home’s design: there are two laundry rooms, one up, one down. Five bedrooms total, four are on the second floor with a playroom and loft, plus a study station and a dedicated yoga room. Downstairs are the primary suite, main formals, media room and adjacent office. 

The home has every room needed in an executive estate. It proves that visionary architectural design and innovation does not have to come in oversized packages. This beauty comes in at an efficient 5631 square feet. Nor does modern have to be anti-family: 3121 Beverly Drive was crafted by a young couple with four small, active children who were incorporated into the design.

Designed for One Child: They Moved In With Four!

Best example: the almost like bleacher-like seating crafted from the white oak staircase that is an architectural eye-pleaser you see first thing the moment you open the door. To the right of the actual stairs, the architect skipped every other step, creating an attractive seating element. He created not just a staircase, but a gathering place for both children and adults to sit down or perhaps, play.

With it’s Atherton feel, This home exemplifies the haut contemporary home du jour sought by young affluent couples who don’t want huge or sprawling, eschewing wasted square footage. They DO want unique design. Every molecule of this home was planned, scrutinized, and executed only after a thoughtful consideration of the questions, does it make sense, can it have a duplicate use?

“This home is so unique for the Park Cities,” says the agent, Becky Frey of Compass who specializes in haute contemporary homes. “The interiors really doesn’t feel as contemporary because of the color pallets, the use of woods, the stone, all blending and inviting a cozy vibe. The owners really built a forever home. They took a long, deep HP that’s almost a third of an acre (.27) lot near the Katy Trail and pivoted the entertainment to the front with a fire pit and chairs, making it a prime gathering spot for the entire neighborhood.”

“There is no wasted space, but the home has every amenity you need,” says Rice. “The only wasted space really is the hallway. We adjusted throughout the building process: first designed for a couple with one child, by the time they moved in they had four!”

Custom Entertainment

The most brilliant example of the smart space planning is the media room. It’s not the typical, upstairs- somewhere-sprawling-room with theater seating and a ton of wasted square footage. This is more like a cozy TV room with a giant screen.

“We came in and curved the corners, made it softer and acoustic friendly. We also used an acoustic treated felt wallpaper,” says Rice.

Rice custom designed the sofa to have it fit along the wall in the media room space, overall 12 feet long. The custom made sofa is deep and plush, with open space below so a series of matching ottomans can be stored underneath. What more space does one need?

The primary bedroom is on the first level and backs to the downstairs laundry room. Thundering sneakers, however, will not overtake the owners sweet dreams.

“Behind the primary bed, we floated a cabinet 15 inches deep on a dual wall soundproof to any laundry noise behind,” says Rice. “It helped make the primary even more of an oasis retreat.”

You are not buying a home, you are buying art to live in.

The home at 3121 Beverly Drive is listed with the Becky Frey team at Compass, asking $7.975 million.