The Most Memorable Townhome in Place des Vosges Brings Back Memories

It’s hard to believe that it has been 22 years since I walked up the steps of this classic Place des Vosges townhome. I’d been hired as the photo stylist by “D Home Magazine” executive editor Rebecca Sherman and creative director David Feld for a feature on the Dallas home and art collection of Vernon Faulconer and his crazy pop-open roof!

It was an absolutely amazing experience, largely due to my being able to meet and spend time with Mr. Faulconer, a Tyler oilman, philanthropist, and avid art collector. It was also the impetus for my return to writing full-time again. I was mesmerized by Mr. Faulconer and frustrated that I would not be telling his story and the story of his incredible home. I’m extremely pleased I finally get to do so.

Place des Vosges is now a discreet neighborhood of 16 classic French Normandy-style luxury townhomes off Turtle Creek Boulevard. It was designed by architect James Langford, who trained with I.M. Pei. You will easily bypass it unless you’re paying attention. That’s by design, of course. To clear up a long-held misconception, it is not designed after Place des Vosges in Paris. The inspiration was Place Dauphine, completed in 1616 and located at the tip of Paris Île de la Cité. It is laid out in a triangular shape instead of a square residential courtyard, aiming the eye towards Turtle Creek just as Place Dauphine draws focus to the River Seine at Pont Neuf.

Langford recommended what would become the exclusive, gated Place des Vosges as a place to build the Faulconers’ Dallas-based home and to showcase their growing art collection. After a few years of planning with a creative team that included designer Paul Draper and art consultant Shel Kasmir, a modern interpretation of a Parisian pied-à-terre came to life in late 2003. With Feld’s connections, “D Home Magazine” was the first to photograph the 6,792 square foot, three-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom home and one of the most unique art collections imaginable.

Tucked into a corner of the neighborhood with views to Turtle Creek Boulevard and Avondale Avenue, the home was built by Andres Construction with a solid limestone exterior, slate roof, and commercial-grade steel and concrete construction, something rarely seen in residential real estate.

Because the home was created to focus on art, the interiors were designed around the collection with Draper and Kasmir working to create a perfect balance. In fact, as the photographer was setting up lights, Kasmir arrived with an armful of gallery brochures. She was kind enough to give me a tour of the collection, pointing out the variety of striking pieces from the Yoshiyuki Miura granite fragments on nylon strings that hang like a modern spiderweb in the staircase to the 18th-century marble chimneypiece by Sir Henry Cheere, the English sculptor appointed as “Carver” to Westminster Abbey.

The home’s most dramatic art (and architectural) piece is a James Turrell skyspace. As of late 2024, Turrell had created only 90 skyspace installations worldwide. They are generally enclosed rooms that open to the sky through an aperture in the roof, designed to accommodate no more than 15 people. As you can imagine, only a handful of private residences have a Turrell skyscape. The Faulconer’s piece is known as Plato’s Eye.

When Faulconer arrived the day of the photo shoot, it was clear he delighted in this room. Le Corbusier chaise lounges were arranged in a circle in the turret room library under the Plato’s Eye installation. He called us all in and encouraged us to lie down on them. Then he told us to look up, and he flipped a switch. Much to our amazement, the entire chateau-like dome of the turret was motorized, and it slowly spun open to one side, revealing the sky, complete with a Southwest Airlines plane flying overhead.

When I was able to have a one-on-one chat with Mr. Faulconer, I asked him how his love of art came about. He replied, “I didn’t understand modern art at all. I’m a smart guy. I had done well in business, but when I was told a particular piece was important, like a Donald Judd, I just did not get it. So, I decided to educate myself, and it became a passion.”

One of the more amusing installations was on the second-level hallway. Faulconer took me upstairs and said, “Do you know what this is?” There were multiple massive pieces grouped together: colorful, bold, and unusual. He was about as happy as a kid in a candy store when he turned to me and said, “These are our DNA family profile portraits by Inigo Ovalle!”

Not only did Vernon Faulconer finally “get it,” but he reveled in his art collection and delighted in sharing it.

Although you obviously cannot have his incredible art, you can now have his beautiful Parisian-style townhome and be inspired to get started on your own collection.

Diane Duvall with Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty has the Number 7 Place des Vosges townhome at 3901 Turtle Creek Blvd. available for $8.9 million.