When Architecture Meets Obsession: This Is 6416 Park Lane
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We could have a scavenger hunt for the last remaining ’50s and ’60s Ranch-style homes in that blue-chip stretch of Dallas hemmed in by Northwest Highway to the south, Royal Lane to the north, Boedeker Street to the east, and Preston Road to the west. At today’s prices, the original owners of those very first Ranch-style homes would leave closing as millionaires. The going rate is well in excess of $1 million for the dirt alone, often just a third- or quarter-acre of it.
That pretty little nook is turning at a much faster pace than longtime observers could have imagined. Personally, I think this portion of Dallas blows the Park Cities away. It’s got deeper lots with mature trees that make the area feel more countrified and estate-like. The area even has its own holiday light show.
This is precisely why Saad Chehabi, founder of S&R Development, has planted roots in this neighborhood, crafting several stunning, one-of-a-kind contemporary homes he lovingly built, each succeeding concept and creation better than the last.
Every S&R Development home features a unique architectural trademark, conceived in Chehabi’s incredibly creative mind and brought to full execution. At 6416 Park Lane, it is a unique melding of the structural beams that begins in the front and extends to the far end of the covered exterior pavilion. Rather than separating interior from exterior, Chehabi’s beams stir a continuous architectural language, a story if you will, drawing the naked eye from the interior living space to the possibilities of the exterior’s outdoor kitchen, lounge, pool, and gardens.
A Builder With Unique Fluidity
It is well-known in the building world that no one is more critical or harder to please than Saad Chehabi himself. If it’s not perfect, he will rip it out and start over UNTIL perfection is achieved. He doesn’t mind change. In fact, he welcomes it!
“Change and evolution is what makes a house unique, part of the process of creating the structure,” he said. “You write a book, or music, and the fluidity of change is what creates masterpieces.”
He builds selectively. S&R Development intentionally limits the number of projects it undertakes each year, balancing a highly curated group of private client commissions with just one or two spec homes brought to market annually. This allows Saad to remain personally involved in every detail of design and construction of every home. There is no better example of his custom touch than his latest masterpiece: 6416 Park Lane, a five-bedroom, five-and-two-half-bath contemporary.
Let me be clear: S&R Development does not produce quick-turn contemporary homes frosted with white stucco, studded with huge black-framed windows. No big white boxes, nothing cookie-cutter. S&R Development homes are the dreams of an artist, a man who has studied architecture and built some of the most beautiful contemporary homes in Dallas.
But they are more than homes: Saad is a builder who puts architectural meaning into every one of them.
Saad’s wife, Rana, is an architect (S&R), and together they pore over every single blueprint with a critical eye. I first met Saad years ago when I toured one of his mansions on Meadowbrook. I had never seen so much stone in my life, quarries of it sheathing the facade seamlessly to stone walkways. And then the tile — the most beautiful tilework I’ve seen!
Later, I walked his contemporary glass creation at 5020 Park Lane, just west of Inwood and situated on lush acreage in what locals call the Honeypot.
But here’s the thing: artists are never satisfied with one production. And with Saad Chehabi, each act gets better, as we clearly see at 6416 Park Lane.
This latest S&R creation is located on prestigious Park Lane within a treed quarter-acre lot S&R has been savoring since 2024. The home boasts 6,400 square feet, but there is an additional 500 square feet of covered pavilion outfitted for outdoor cooking and entertaining. Trust me, you will be spending a GOOD chunk of time out there.
Structural Beams Connecting Indoors and Out
Let’s start at the front of the property. Immediately from the street, people can admire the smooth, natural limestone facade and soaring windows, including a two-story vestibule of light focused over the extraordinary front staircase.
Not only does this S&R signature infuse the home with light, but it also creates a sculpture out of the staircase. Saad brought the limestone inside to the foyer walls beneath soaring, beamed vaulted ceilings, where it mimics the exterior skin of the home and creates a contiguous flow. This theme repeats in the great room, where limestone covers the fireplace wall from floor to ceiling, then continues outside to the al fresco kitchen and entertainment area. The artistic flow continues from wall to ceiling, where the black beams continue outside seamlessly, taking the eye immediately to the exterior pavilion just on the other side of the glass.
The great room focuses on this fireplace, a clean-lined stone structure flanked by two built-in consoles of modern design, with fluted white oak, lightly stained. The great room’s huge straight crossing beams contrast against the soaring cathedral ceiling above, sheathed in lightly stained white oak. Soaring glass doors slide/fold to fresh air.
Adjacent to the great room is the kitchen, equipped with top-of-the-line Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances, marked by stunning white bookended stone. The breakfast room sports a built-in hutch for even more storage. And off the kitchen and the butler’s pantry is a direct entrance to the three-car garage.
The home actually feels much larger than its 6,400 square feet. The first floor has the entrance hall, the great room, the kitchen, and all the formals, including a beautiful powder room. Outside is the 500-square-foot pavilion with grill, full-season fridge, and even a mounted television with remote-controlled blinds (for protection from the elements), a system custom-designed by the builder himself. Step out a bit further, and you’ll find a sparkling swimming pool.
There are five bedrooms in total. The primary suite is on the first floor, located in a secluded wing accessible by sliding glass doors to the exterior gardens. This room has a full view of the gardens and another focal point fireplace with fluted stone.
There is a spacious primary bath that is absolutely indulgent. The wet walls are bathed in bookended marble, including the oversized shower, and surround a stunning vessel bathtub. Both vanities are elevated, and the primary closet is enormous.
A study adjacent to the front vestibule is sheathed in white oak with floor-to-ceiling book-matched white oak panels, which slide to make books and whatnots disappear from sight.
The second floor offers more, almost a world of its own. There are four additional bedrooms, each with en-suite baths and large walk-in closets. I don’t know how he did it, but Saad fit almost another home into this space: besides the four bedrooms, there is a game room, a wet bar, a media room, and an exercise room. His efficient use of space is genius.
The Concierge Home Builder
With S&R Development, there is no such thing as the impossible. Every home is designed with comfort, leisure, and functionality, all wrapped in a stunning, soft contemporary package.
Prior to his focus on Preston Hollow, Saad Chehabi built massive estates for some of the most prominent Park Cities families. Highland Park is also where Saad and Rana have made their home and raised their family. While Rana is the architect, it is Saad on the project site managing, watching, literally every day!
“If I cannot be on site every day, I do not build the project,” says Saad. “Designing a beautiful home is an art, a project for me. I’m fully immersed from the moment we turn soil to the day I hand over the keys.”
He knows the value of customer contact, making sure to be incredibly accessible to his clients. There is no phone menu, message box, or superintendent: Saad Chehabi is the superintendent as well as the manager/builder.
The Builder and the Former President
Saad is the same builder who crafted a stunning contemporary private residence on the former footprint of President George W. and Laura Bush’s lot on Northwood, where the former president and his wife raised their family. The new build caught the eye of the former first lady.
“Laura visited the house and loved it,” said Saad. “That home was a turn-key operation, a service which we offer. We selected the furnishings, the art, even the flatware. Then we turned the key over to the buyer.”
Prior to becoming a home builder, Saad Chehabi designed intricate flooring with stone and tile mosaic. He has worked on homes for Oprah Winfrey and Sylvester Stallone, and for the Bellagio hotels in Las Vegas, among other well-known resorts. He also built locally for Real Housewives of Dallas star D’Andra Simmons.
6416 Park Lane, Saad Chehabi’s latest masterpiece, is listed at $5,295,000.
