Celebrity Real Estate

Celebrity Real Estate

Champ d’Or, One of the Biggest Properties in Texas, is Stirring Trouble on Turbeville Road

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Last we heard, Champ d’Or had been sold to Walters Hospitality, with plans to make it an entertainment venue/private club. Now, trouble is brewing up in Hickory Creek over the new owner’s mighty plans.

Champ d’Or is a magnificent property in Hickory Creek we have written about extensively from its birth to the nine years and eight agents it took to sell the monster mansion. Once listed at $72 million, the 48,000-square-foot estate — yes, 48,000 — was put on the market the minute it was finished. It took years to build. The owners even bought a home across the street to live in while they built it. The various sales and auctions and marketing attempts to get it sold have given us more copy than a real estate blogger could ever dream of. 

Cellstar Corp founder Alan H. Goldfield and his wife, Shirley, built Champ d’Or starting in 2000, but never really moved into it. It is modeled after a chateau on the outskirts of Paris, and the two-story women’s closet in the master suite is modeled after the Chanel boutique in Paris.

C’est bon? Mais no.

The “Champ” is now drawing the ire of the many homeowners who live around it. The original estate was on 39 acres, but much of the land was sold off to create housing developments. We hear plans to turn the estate into a private club have now been abandoned. Developers with the new owners, T. Chateau Event Center, LLC, plan to make it into a wedding and event center that has gotten a little steroidal (kind of like the mansion itself) with a hotel or two, restaurant, bar, and spa on the property.
 
The estate, once the lone structure on a North Texas prairie, is now in the middle of a residential neighborhood, across the street from an attractive community of homes selling in the $500,000 range with a 32-acre equestrian center, and walking paths that lead directly to Lake Dallas. Steeplechase North is to the west of the estate, with a smattering of nice homes in the $300K-ish range. Megatel Homes is one of the builders, if that tells you anything. And the only access to the community, Turbeville Road, is still just a two-lane road off I-35.
 
So a large part of the town of Hickory Creek’s population, which has grown considerably over the years because of the Champ, is in an uproar.

Hickory Creek has blossomed around Champ d’Or, once the sole structure on Turbeville Road.

 
 

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Celebrity Real Estate

For the Right Price, Wade Phillips Could Be Your Landlord

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Wade PhillipsAfter listing his house in 2011 and again in 2014, and again in 2018, former Dallas Cowboy’s head coach Wade Phillips is ready to be a landlord, again.

Phillips’ first listed his Preston Hollow home at 6115 Norway Road after he departed Dallas for Houston in 2011 (he’s now the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams). Built in the Hill Country style by Ryan Osborne, Phillips and his family were the first occupants of the home when they purchased it for $2.75 million in 2007.

Allie Beth Allman has been his Realtor of choice throughout – even for the purchase of the home. The property was listed for $3,295,000 in 2011, and then for $2.95 million in 2014. It was leased for $15,000 in 2015, according to MLS records, and then was placed back on the market in January 2018 for $2.95 million before having a price reduction in October 2018 for $2.85 million, and then one more about a week ago to $2.75 million.

The home is for lease once again for $15,000 a month, and is still for sale as well.

Back in 2011, Candy broke the news that the home had been listed, and described some of the home’s features. (more…)
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Celebrity Real Estate

Mark Cuban Snaps Up a Vacation Home in Primo Laguna for Christmas

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Mark Cuban must really be celebrating this year.

According to my colleague Neal Leiterg at The LA Times, Cuban just bought a $25.5 Laguna mansion. And tough Shark Tank negotiator he is, Cuban reportedly paid only $19 million for it plus some change. And even more, the mansion is located in a very exclusive Laguna residential neighborhood, tucked into the coveted front row of Montage Residences overlooking the ocean. The views are incredible, the interiors California contemporary. Mahogany and glass doors disappear into the walls, merging vast indoor indoor areas to the outdoors seamlessly, revealing breath-taking views of Catalina Island. High ceilings complete the airy ambience and I cannot even fathom what the Pacific sunsets look like from this home. Laguna Beach is one of the most famous resort and luxury home communities in the world, with magnificent coastlines, pristine coves, white sand beaches, and breathtaking cliffs. Celebrities and business titans are all drawn to Laguna’s communities, and with good reason. Montage is an ocean-front Laguna resort community. And if you have never been to a Montage property, oh my: think the Ritz Carlton on steroids! Montage International is a luxury hotel and resort management company founded by Alan Fuerstman and based in Orange County, California. 

Cuban’s pride and joy company, the Dallas Mavericks, has been in the news this past year as a veritable poster child for the #MeToo movement. That is, a poster child of how bad it is to work in some environments if you are female.

But as soon as the misconduct became known, Cuban took quick action  and hired a Dustbuster to turn his company’s culture around: Cynthia “Cynt” Marshall.

I hope she gets to check out these digs! (more…)
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Celebrity Real Estate

Best of 2018: One-Owner Family Home of Local Chef in North Dallas Up for Sale

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North Dallas

[Editor’s note: Merry Christmas! This week, we’re taking time off to focus on our loved ones, so we are sharing some of our favorite stories from this year. Keep an eye out for our top features from the archives as we rest and get ready for a brilliant 2019! Cheers, from Candy and the entire staff at CandysDirt.com!]

Bethany: It’s always so much fun when you get to profile a family with the home – and this great home that belongs to one of Dallas’s best restaurant families was a great opportunity to do just that. 

Now that Amy and Jim “Sevy” Severson’s children have left the nest, the two have set their sights on a Gulf Coast vacation home and a smaller abode in Dallas. That decision is going to mean great things for a new family, since they’ve listed the North Dallas home they built in 2001.

If the Severson name sounds familiar, it’s because the two have owned Sevy’s Grill, the restaurant named after Jim, since 1997.

That four-bedroom, three-bath home at 6550 Dykes Way is built for a family — literally. The Seversons bought the property and lived in the existing home from 1991.

“We bought our property in 1991 when the street was all original and you could walk into the Downs of Hillcrest from our end of the street,” Amy said. “It was all working class ranch houses, 1400-1600 square feet tucked into a ‘hidden’ north Dallas neighborhood bookended by newer, walled neighborhoods on Hillcrest and Preston.”

But the original home became a squeeze for the family of four, eventually.

“We loved our little city sanctuary, almost half acre at the end of a street, but we outgrew the original home by 2000,” Amy said. “We hired architects Bernbaum & Magadini — Bruce and Cindy Bernbaum were friends via Kramer Elementary. Our builder was Howard Gorman of Gorman Homes.”

That home, built with growing kids in mind, sits on a nearly half-acre lot on a quiet cul-de-sac. The layout is family friendly, with its open kitchen and den that provide views of not only playing children during dinner prep, but gorgeous views of the big backyard and pool. (more…)
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Celebrity Real Estate

One-Owner Family Home of Local Chef in North Dallas Up for Sale

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North DallasNow that Amy and Jim “Sevy” Severson’s children have left the nest, the two have set their sights on a Gulf Coast vacation home and a smaller abode in Dallas. That decision is going to mean great things for a new family, since they’ve listed the North Dallas home they built in 2001.

If the Severson name sounds familiar, it’s because the two have owned Sevy’s Grill, the restaurant named after Jim, since 1997.

That four-bedroom, three-bath home at 6550 Dykes Way is built for a family — literally. The Seversons bought the property and lived in the existing home from 1991.

“We bought our property in 1991 when the street was all original and you could walk into the Downs of Hillcrest from our end of the street,” Amy said. “It was all working class ranch houses, 1400-1600 square feet tucked into a ‘hidden’ north Dallas neighborhood bookended by newer, walled neighborhoods on Hillcrest and Preston.”

But the original home became a squeeze for the family of four, eventually.

“We loved our little city sanctuary, almost half acre at the end of a street, but we outgrew the original home by 2000,” Amy said. “We hired architects Bernbaum & Magadini — Bruce and Cindy Bernbaum were friends via Kramer Elementary. Our builder was Howard Gorman of Gorman Homes.”

That home, built with growing kids in mind, sits on a nearly half-acre lot on a quiet cul-de-sac. The layout is family friendly, with its open kitchen and den that provide views of not only playing children during dinner prep, but gorgeous views of the big backyard and pool. (more…)
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Celebrity Homes

Sold! Selena Gomez’s Stunning Fort Worth Estate in Montserrat

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4649 Saint Laurent Court in beautiful Montserrat, a luxury Fort Worth neighborhood, sold and closed today. It had been the estate of 26 year old pop star singer Selena Marie Gomez, who bought the 10,016 square foot home in November of 2015. This home is where the Grand Prairie native has been quietly spending time here in North Texas, which the star singer definitely considers home.

Selena paid almost $3.5 million for Saint Laurent Court in 2015, which is a case-book example of the kind of inflation DFW estate homes have experienced: the previous owners had paid $1.750 for the house in 2010. (more…)
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Wyly Colorado Estate Sells To Familiar Dallas Name

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WylyFrom Staff Reports

It took about 30 minutes or less for Sam Wyly’s 244-acre Colorado ranch to sell at auction, and when the dust settled (although one might argue three bidders can’t kick up that much dust), a familiar name in Dallas development emerged. (more…)
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Celebrity Real Estate

Joan Eleazer Sells Champ d’Or AGAIN: Hickory Creek Estate to Become Entertainment Venue

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Joan Eleazer with Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty is one pretty amazing agent. In fact, when I hear talk of Realtors going by the wayside as AVM’s and other computer-based platforms take over the selling of homes, I think of Joan. She sold Champ d’Or, once priced at $72 million, after nine years and eight agents. 

And now, she just sold it again, closing this week.

If you are new to Dallas, here is a quickie primer on Champ D’Or, 1851 Turbeville Road, probably the biggest estate in North Texas, the one Curbed called…

The estate is up in Hickory Creek, just south of Denton, off of I-35. It is modeled after Vaux-le-Vicomte, a chateau on the outskirts of Paris, France.

The initial home offering was 48,000 square feet on 39 acres. Originally built by CellStar Corp. founder Alan H. Goldfield and his wife, Shirley, the estate known as Champ d’Or (or “Gold Field”) is hands down one of the grandest residences in the entire country.

I once had the pleasure of interviewing Mrs. Goldfield. She told me how God inspired her to build this home and keep it going post 9/11. (The doves on the foyer ceiling are Shirley’s tribute to 9/11.) The property features endless unique high end amenities including a two-story mahogany library; a conservatory mimicking Tavern of the Green in New York City; an ornate theater complete with stage, screen and and a concession stand. The home has two commercial elevators, multiple staircases, powder rooms and fireplaces; a master suite with a steam room inspired by “The Rat Pack”,  hair salon, two-story Chanel-style “her” closet, two-story “his” closet, an indoor lap pool and an exercise room off the huge master bathroom with heated towel drawers.

Yep, heated towel drawers. I want some.

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