A Design Dream Team Collaborates on the Rivercrest Home Everybody’s Whispering About

Whispering, yes because this property is so under the radar that it isn’t even on MLS. We all love an insider scoop so I was delighted to be let in on this Rivercrest gem with a pedigree at 1616 Carleton Avenue, run by some of my favorite people. Uber-talented designer Julie Hayes, husband Jay, and star stager Tina McMackin and her boutique builder husband Tyler Bobbitt have pooled forces and investment capital to form 1616 Carleton Avenue Partners. Completing the dream team is seasoned architect Weldon Turner whose professionalism and breadth of knowledge I was lucky enough to observe at close hand when I was briefly part of a team on another project.

“Weldon’s contribution and support was invaluable to our venture,” notes McMackin.

Naturally, these design pros wouldn’t settle for anything less than the best, and they found it in a 1986 classical francophone pavilion designed by Jack Shutts, architect of Ridglea Country Club, Fort Worth Country Day School, and Holy Family Catholic Church, as well as many residential projects. The elegant symmetrical façade masks over 5,300 square feet of beautifully appointed living space.

Entering one experiences an uninterrupted sight line from front to back with two spacious symmetrical rooms at front. Builder Bobbitt has preserved many of the original decorative elements, including fluted columns and Greek Key crown molding, while subtly reworking the floor plan to gain space. In one of the front rooms, Bobbitt has added a stylish bar framed by the front window.

The second of the “paired” rooms has a living area centered on the fireplace and a long dining table to the left. McMackin has staged all of this with her characteristic eclectic deftness to demonstrate the livability of the somewhat unconventional floor plan.

The powder room gives a snapshot of the level of luxury and attention to detail throughout this stunning undertaking. Julie Hayes has created an arresting moment in black and white, enriched by gold. Black marble covers the vanity and floors, and in the water closet, she has hung Trove’s Fuocco wallpaper, a vintage photo of Venice’s famed opera house La Fenice, which was set ablaze for the second time in its history in 1996. Fuocco is Italian for fire and Fenice is Italian for phoenix and happily, this phoenix rose once more from the ashes. Vintage Murano sconces complete the Venetian vignette.

Many rooms are painted in gloss lacquer like lovely jewel boxes. A sitting room along the central axis is painted a rich Chinese red (in the photography it reads salmon) with tonal variations in the bookcase backs and ceiling. Tina McMackin has exploited this mise en scene to boldly juxtapose pattern on pattern.

More glorious lacquer in the kitchen. This time, a composition in blue/gray tonality. Countertops are a complementary Italian marble. One “tell” on the level of quality of a construction project is the dreaded and expensive window package. I told builder Bobbitt that he had done the impossible. Make me love a sliding glass door. These doors lead to one of the intimate enclosed patios.

The primary suite is located at ground level. Three additional bedrooms are on the second floor. An elevator was installed during the reno to broaden the appeal of this domicile. Materials have been sourced far and wide. Julie Hayes tells me the stunning marble mosaic was from a secret source in New York. All of the remaining three baths are finished at this level of quality.

The ground-floor laundry room has a luxury star-patterned stone floor, beautifully painted salamander cabinets, and stone surfaces. The exterior is almost entirely hardscaped, needing minimal upkeep benefitting from surrounding mature trees.

Interested parties should contact Jay Hayes of 1616 Carleton Avenue Partners LLC at 817-437-8117.

Photography provided by John Walsh of Premium Media.