Love Modern? This Overton Park Beauty Could Fulfill Your Dreams

Alright. I am happy in my hundred-year-old Texas Mediterranean house chock-a-block with period antiques. And yet. When confronted with the simplicity and elegance of an outstanding exemplar of the modern idiom, it’s not difficult to lose myself in the reverie of imagining a very different life. Winston Churchill once observed, “We shape our dwellings, and afterward our dwellings shape us.” The architect-conceived Westcliff residence at 3950 Santa Rita Park certainly represents a powerful life choice.

This bespoke construction was the result of the collaboration of the architecture firm of Cohen Architecture Company and a remarkable homeowner. The 1987 build was the home of Fort Worth philanthropist Rosalyn Gross Rosenthal who died last March at the age of 99.

Following her mother-in-law’s advice, she “joined everything.” A list of her civic and charitable contributions would fill pages, but include substantial endowments to Bass Hall, the funding of the Fort Worth Symphony Clarinet Chair, underwriting the Cook’s Children’s Hospital neonatal unit, and substantial contributions to ensure the construction of the Beth-El Synagogue, to name but a few in a long list of generous lifelong giving.

The house is located in the gated community of Overton Park in a section of what a friend of mine terms “fancy Westcliff.” The residence has a deep setback on a nearly half-acre lot and could be described as inward-looking. By that I mean it creates an independent world of its own upon traversing the front gate.

The spirit of the late proprietor pervades the museum gallery-like domain which once displayed canvases of modern masters including Joan Miro, Marc Chagall, James Havrad, Graciela Rodo Boulanger, and Robert Rauschenberg.

I described the house as inward-looking but every opportunity has been exploited to capture views of the meticulously landscaped walled private gardens of the property. Rooms seem to gracefully float in a beautiful blur of interior/exterior space. Wherever possible walls are windows. And wherever possible windows are floor to ceiling.

The usual suspects betray the age of the 80’s vintage house. That is to say those most subject to the caprices of fashion. Kitchen, laundry room, and baths. Some prospective buyers may see them as targets for updates, but after nearly forty years I think they have attained vintage status.

Two of the bedrooms, including the primary suite, are on the ground floor. But this house rambles over three levels. The bath below, with its sumptuous floating marble basins, gives a sense of the level of the quality of the materials employed throughout the house.

At mid-level there is a spacious bedroom suite with an attached sitting area suspended over the garden. The upper level houses a bedroom suite, an office, and a casual living area.

At the back is the enclosed garden which includes a covered logia with a grill and a wood-decked pool. The multi-million dollar property prices out at $385 per square foot below the median $401 for the neighborhood. However, construction costs of a house of this caliber would easily top $800 per square foot to build today.
Kendall Karr Kostohryz of the Joseph Berkes group at Williams Trew Real Estate has priced 3950 Sarita Park at $3.75 million.