I’ll Take Luxury Real Estate For $23 Million!

Don’t you think luxury real estate should be a Jeopardy category? It would be easy to win if you’re one of our regular CandysDirt.com readers because we try to get you all the dirt! So, when Allie Beth Allman’s Rachel Trowbridge sent over an invite to preview her new listing, a multimillion-dollar gated estate on over two acres in Old Preston Hollow, I couldn’t make it out the door fast enough. 

I’ve seen some spectacular luxury real estate around the world, and this majestic Preston Hollow gated estate is now on my top 10 list. Richard Drummond Davis designed it, and Jim Reilly (James Reilly Custom Homes) built it. If you know anything about architects and builders, you know these two are among the handful that can create homes of this magnitude. The extraordinarily talented Barry Williams of Williams Design was an instrumental member of the team, as was Warren Johnson of Fallcreek Gardens, who created the dreamy landscaping. Johnson, you may know, created much of the beautiful landscaping for the Dallas Arboretum.

The beautiful French Renaissance-style estate was originally built in 2014 for Clifford Fischer, CEO of Fischer & Co., and his then-wife, Gail. Building a home of this size and with this level of detail took a little over two years. Although it’s hard for any architect, builder, or designer to play favorites because each home is a custom collaboration with clients squarely in the driver’s seat, I always ask what elements created pride in a project. In the typical fashion of consummate professionals, Davis, Reilly, and Williams all extolled one another.

“I have worked on projects with Richard and Jim for decades,” Williams said. “Their professionalism, reliability, and consistency are unmatched.”

Each mentioned the meticulous attention to detail given to the project by everyone involved, including the quality of construction, craftsmanship, scale, and interior design. Williams had a hand in all of the details, from millwork and cabinetry to fulfilling the client’s expectations of their desired style.

“The Fischers were thorough in their research and had put together a book of dreams,” Williams said. “They had a lot of ideas and were very collaborative.” 

A lot of people don’t realize gifted interior designers are not just tasked with wall color selections and acquiring the furniture their clients want. Williams, for instance, not only worked on finish-out details like the stunning millwork and cabinetry, but he also sourced the incredible silk, hand-painted, gold-leafed, and embroidered de Gournay wallpaper in the dining room. When the house was sold in 2020 to Scott and Cam Hall, they bought everything the Fischers had selected and left the beautiful wallpaper intact, thank goodness! 

Detail is what strikes visitors the moment they step inside those massive doors. The entry features a striking floating staircase and a dramatic domed ceiling. It’s flanked by that gorgeous dining room and a library wrapped in mahogany. Straight ahead is a masterful groin vaulted hall with a latticework insert all trimmed in gold, which frames the Grand Salon with ornate plaster ceilings, anchored at either end by black marble fireplaces overlooking the grounds.

It’s a little hard to believe the journey through the home can get better, but it does because we are back to details. There is a luxurious media room with five televisions, a drop-down 120-inch screen, and a fully equipped wet bar. 

What will stay in your luxury real estate book of dreams forever, however, is the two-story ladies’ closet. I thought the black lacquer two-story closet at Champs D’Or modeled after a Chanel showroom took the cake. I was wrong. The second floor of this one is beyond imagination. It’s a showplace like you’ve never seen before. It’s like opening the lid on a treasure chest.

Because the original owner was an automobile collector, the home was built with three separate two-car garages and features four car lifts offering covered parking for 10 luxury cars. There is quite simply something for every family member here.

Anyone looking for serious luxury real estate needs to make an appointment with Trowbridge fairly quickly. I’ve heard there are already interested parties. She has 5100 Park Lane available for $23.5 million.