5805 Red Wolf: The Hidden House That Tech Built Sells in Record Time

The Bulls Eye of North Texas… Has Moved North

This home at 5805 Red Wolf Lane in Plano and the land have quite the story. It proves that the bull’s eye of luxury in Dallas-Fort Worth has moved north. It is a stunning, stunning property tucked away in one of the best-kept secret neighborhoods in North Texas. So secret you have likely never heard of it.

And it just sold in what is likely a new DFW record: TWO DAYS!

The home is perched on almost seven acres of Hill Country-like land with 30+ feet of elevation changes and a huge pond, even cliffs! Owls, hawks, and other wildlife creatures cross the grounds daily. Imagine the experience of driving into your own ranch compound every day, but you are a mile from the intersection of the Dallas North Tollway and the Windhaven exit. 

Once those gates shut behind you, you are in an entirely private and self-sufficient world with pond, pools, cinema, tennis, hiking, exercise, entertaining space, gaming and room for guests. 

From Cowbells to Larry Ellison’s Sound System

The land was once part of the original Haggard Family farm. C.S. Haggard settled here in 1884 with 123 acres in what was just a plain-Jane farm town north in Dallas — Plano. Cattle ran on this property until about the 1960s when a house was built on the portion where the tennis court now sits. Local lore has it that just after it was built, the owner, a Savings and Loan guy, tried to get rid of a wasp’s nest by fire, and the new house burned to the ground.  Undaunted, he bought the house next door, expanding the property. 

The late David Fair, an icon of the Texas title business, owner and CEO of Hexter-Fair Title Company and one of the leading real estate attorneys in Texas, purchased the property in approximately 1990 and built a rambling, 10,000 square foot home where he let his Great Danes have the run of it. Many Dallas Real Estate agents have fond memories of Fair-hosted parties on Red Wolf Lane. 

From WOOT to Underwater Windows in the Swimming Pool

In 2010,  Matt Rutledge bought the Fair property, planning to raise his kids there and live the good life after he sold the company he founded, Woot, to Jeff Bezos for a reported $110 million. Rutledge, envisioning another success story, thought he would remodel David Fair’s sprawling spread to his own liking. He hired the late Don Caperton of Caperton Designs to design the home, Sharif-Munir Custom Homes to build it. But as so often happens, you do a little work on a house and just realize that it’s better to start new. And it’s even better when you have an almost unlimited budget.

In 2015 the Texas Hill inspired compound was completed after three years of construction. It is an entirely one-level Blanco-stone main residence bullwark of 12,335 square feet of living space under a standing seam metal roof. 

A resort-worthy 1059 square foot veranda with drop-down Phantom Screens is on the geothermal system to extend the incredible formals — creating one of the very best indoor/outdoor living spaces I have ever seen.

From here you can survey the spring-fed creek and private one-acre lake stocked with bass and catfish. The land itself is a Texas treasure: dramatic elevation changes, native wildflower meadows, butterflies and birds, limestone outcroppings, and more than 100 hand-selected trees curated by Southern Botanical and The Hocker Group. There are many toys: a resort negative edge heated pool with underwater windows, a boathouse fishing dock, bass fishing, hiking, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you couldn’t do some hunting.

From Family Home to Lock-Down Nirvana

In 2021, when the world was locked down by Covid, the Rutledge family hunkered down on Red Wolf Lane and decided a tennis court would be more fun than a horse barn. The sunken, lighted tennis court was built, that offers some of the most exceptional views of the expansive home and negative-edge pool.

Inside, the main home is spacious and features soaring 20+ foot ceilings and expansive living areas that all take full advantage of the beautiful property outside. Don Caperton work his famous talent on natural lighting– it falls into the home at different angles depending on the time. Walk into the foyer, entertaining dining room on the right, a walk-in glass wine bar to hold approximately 700 bottles on the left. Off the main Great Room is a massive veranda with drop down screens with giant screen TV and kitchen for the pool area. There is even an outside drop-screen ordering bar where guests can put in food orders.

The gourmet kitchen is professionally equipped for cooking home meals or large staff preparation, with a massive separate pantry and prep areas.

Following the flow of the home from front to back is the massive game room with a full bar. Check out the custom-made Shuffleboard and Foosball tables. 

Blanco Stone Outside, Billionaire’s Technology Inside

The Media Room Supreme: not joking.  Off the massive game room is an award-winning, 20-seat state-of-the-art home theater with an immersive 3D audio system custom designed by HomeTronics that delivers a cinematic experience beyond comparison, beyond many theaters! The home owners basically gave HomeTronics cart blanche to create the best home theater system possible. This system is by California Audio Technology, the same firm that outfitted one of Larry Ellison’s yachts. The theater walls are about 2.5 feet thick for sound control — a baby could be sleeping outside the double doors and not hear Top Gun. Speakers are embedded in these walls so the sound is immersive. HomeTronics even brought in a sound system so sophisticated it can literally trick your ears so as to avoid startling loud sounds. 

I would be remiss if I did not mention the most beautiful primary suite in Texas, one to rival any Highland Park fairway estate. The view from the bed is of the pond and waterfall, with a direct path down to the water, the spa a few steps away.

The baths are separate, joined only by the enormous steam shower, and both closets are beyond fabulous. 

There are nine garage bays, six that are climate-controlled, and a workshop in one of the larger bays with epoxy flooring the current owner uses as a gaming room. A two-bedroom guest house is above one of the three-car garages, with a kitchenette living area, en suite bedroom, and bunk room.

In the main house there is also a safe room/tornado shelter, lightning protection system, and irrigation drawn from the 1,800 ft water well — which means you will basically self-water the entire property with recycled water.

Utility Costs of  A 1500 Square Foot Home

The house totals 18,668 feet under the standing seam metal roof. But your utility bills will be that of a 1500 square foot home. The owner invested hundreds of thousands in a state-of-the-art geothermal HVAC system, way ahead of the eco dynamic standards du jour ten years ago.

More than 30 water wells were dug to loop extensive ground radiators for ten 2.5 tons of air conditioning. Then because technology changes, he upgraded all air handlers four years ago. The Geothermal story is that it is very expensive to install at the onset, about three times the cost of conventional HVAC. But the system pays for itself with long term costs savings in energy and many environmental benefits. The systems have a much longer lifespan and require less maintenance than conventional. (And no loud and ugly compressors handling the outside air all day in our Texas heat!)

At 5805 Red Wolf Lane, the current owner invested in a dynamic future savings and environmental protection that will greatly benefit the buyer.

“We can leave the screen or patio doors open in August, our cooling costs are pennies a day,” he told me.

One Client Said “the Bulls Eye of North Texas Has Moved North”

This property represents a full-circle timeline of North Texas history. From the Haggard family cows grazing the prairie grass to the 80’s Savings and Loan wildcatters, the ownership of David Fair – he likely bought from a foreclosure sale after the ’87 collapse — to the current relaxed luxury of a tech entrepreneur in a loaded  Hill Country estate. 

But note how the signature location for millionaires is decidedly moving north — Highland Park and Preston Hollow are no longer the only rodeo for ten million plus estates.

“A client told me that the bulls eye has moved north,” says listing agent Ryan Streiff of the Perry-Miller Streiff group. “Meaning, you are finding more and more millionaires willing to spend funds only thought possible in the fairway of HP or Preston Hollow. Big money, especially tech money, is chasing real estate further and further north, especially along the Dallas North Tollway corridor that almost runs to Oklahoma now.”

Ironically, 5805 Red Wolf Lane sits on the Collin and Denton county line, literally bi-secting the estate. For the uninitiated that means excellent Plano schools and a Denton CAD tax rate, lower than Dallas or Collin Counties. Cannot be a more perfect home for executives, athletes, or those seeking to live in your very own nature reserve. And yoo hoo Goldman Sachs people, the drive to downtown Dallas, if you must, is just about 30 minutes. 

This property was priced at $15,900,000, listed with Ryan Streiff, of the top-selling Perry-Miller Streiff Group with Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate, who put it under contract in two days.