Photos by Luxuryfoto.com

Oh Kevin, Danielle: where are you going? Is 2000 Rock Dove Court just too close to mom and dad and the bros over on Wisteria? (We hope not!) Late Saturday night, K2 as he is known, the eldest and only married Jonas brother and his wife, Danielle, put their 5045 square foot Vaquero home on the market for $2,200,000.

I shouldn’t have to tell you about life in Vaquero – - it’s where all the stars and anyone who does not want paparazzi around live.  With that Fazio par 71 course, it’s golf nirvana and home to Ben Crane, K.J. Choi, Todd Hamilton, plus Tiger Wood’s ex- golf instructor Hank Haney. Lots of baseball celebs: Vernon Wells, who plays for the Toronto Blue Jays is building a 15,000 -plus square foot home, as is the ex-CEO of Exxon-Mobile. Vanessa Swarovski, heir to the famous crystal family, also has a home in Vaquero. As does that Mark Charles Teixeira guy.

Unless you belong there, like Chuck Greenburg, you don’t get in. With that proximity to DFW’s private FBO,  2000 Rock Dove Court is a perfect home for the Jonas generation II. Built in 2004, the home has been designed and decked out by the M2 Design Group and boasts walls of floor-to-ceiling windows. Which is great on those huge Vaquero lots – -this one is .71 of an acre. The exterior is Mediterranean with Austin stone and tile/slate roof.

Maybe it’s that the home only has three bedrooms, and the Jonases want to start a fam. There are three baths off each bedroom, plus three half baths, five living areas, a pool, outdoor living area with fountains, covered outdoor dining, fireplace and so many water features you might mistake the backyard for Hurricane Harbor. The pool and spa are amazing, loaded with water features overlooking the terraced terrain. Of course the kitchen is totally decked out — this is Vaquero! — enough granite and marble to deplete Brazil, and oodles of storage. Four car garage, wood, flagstone and terrazzo floors, mammoth utility room, home theater, gameroom, wine cellar and a beautiful, rich wood-paneled library housing all of Kevin’s work and guitars.

Guess what else comes with this home: a coveted Vaquero golf membership valued at $175,000 and included in the sales price.

You know what I’d do? I’d ask them to throw in all the furniture… including everything in that master bedroom. Then I’d dial up Ebay… jump for more photos.

The living room opens to the glass-door-ed  sunroom with slate floors. Two important areas of this cottage have been majorly rejuvenated: the kitchen and the master bedroom. Kitchen  has custom designed millwork, granite, subway tiles, and stainless appliances including a wine cooler. For a home this size, you have a pantry and room to eat in the kitchen. Off the kitchen, the master has been expanded with a large walk-in closet. Face it, in the 1930′s folks must not have worn clothes; those three foot wide closets hold hardly anything. Master bath is all new with cute pedestal sink; original hall bath has new marble flooring. Small service closet holds a washer/dryer.

There are so many “news” in this house — roof and decking on detached rear garage, new gutters with leaf guards, landscaping, electrical panel, recessed lighting, paint and trim. I honestly cannot think of a better house in a great area for a young professional couple or two baby boomers who want to shed their large home to be free to travel. Freshly priced at $525,500 with Barbara Heady at Allie Beth Allman.  Might be a tad bit high — but this home is so cute she’ll charm the sales price right out of you.

Walking through the front door and past an elegant aquarium filled with exotic tropical fish and coral, you’ll be reminded of Miami. Continue through the sweeping dining room, past the kitchen decked out in Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances and granite-slab counters, and into the dramatic great room floating above the trees, and you’ll get a sense of New York City design coupled with an upstate New York countryside view. A board conference room and library overlook the pool and forest beyond, perfect for those who prefer to work from home. In fact, with a movie theater, gym, and saltwater infinity “floating” pool just steps away, you never really have to leave the grounds.

Quality infuses every detail of this home: the silent, automated window coverings; the exquisite wood cabinets; the wood-lined elevator complete with a state-of-the-art phone system. In the master suite, which along with an adjacent patio is suspended above the trees, the blinds move with the touch of a finger, and the artfully rendered light fixtures provide peaceful illumination.

But for all its ethereal beauty, Oak Mount Place has rock-solid vitals: built in 2009, the home has 6026 square feet, four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, and three decks overlooking the woods and that gorgeous pool and spa. Walls of glass surround the kitchen, family and living areas, but the area is so secluded, those automatic window coverings might not even be necessary.

This house—designed by Mark Domiteaux, built by Ron Smith of Quorum Design + Construct, and expertly decorated by Ron’s wife, interior designer Abby Smith—would be right at home in Malibu. Lucky for you its owners chose North Dallas, where it’s available for a mere $2,750,000 (in Preston Hollow it could easily fetch $5 million). Before you sneeze at the price, go see it. Very motivated sellers who have put their heart and soul into this home are ready to say goodbye, and I have to tell you, the interior rivals that of a certain famous white house on Northaven Road.

Listed with Suzy Hotchkiss of Ebby Halliday.

This Harwood K. Smith mid century jewel is just one of many good reasons why sometimes you have to venture north of LBJ to buy a great house. Built with Hawaiian influences, the home creates an environment  that also emulates Maui — all that’s missing are the palm trees, mountains and waves.

Here’s the story. 6353 Kalani was built by a couple named John and Jean Wisenbaker. Get out your hankies, because this home is really the story of the Greatest Generation. John was born in Mineola, Texas and played football at SMU on the Rosebowl team. He served in the Navy during World War II, and survived the Japanese bombing at Pearl Harbor. It was in Hawaii that he met Jean, who was a civil servant. The two fell in love, courted and later married against the wartime backdrop. They came back to Dallas, where John ultimately founded one of the world’s largest petroleum reservoir engineering companies at that time – Core Laboratories, Inc. He was a true captain of industry, says his agent. Tom Rhodes. And he lived the American dream:  John sold the company in 1984 to Litton Industries.

Around 1960, John and Jean purchased almost all the land north of LBJ from Kalani to Hughes Lane.  Try to picture what that area looked like then: acre upon acre of cotton fields. It would be like going up north of Prosper now and buying up a few acres. Over time, they sold off the lots.  John and Jean then hired Harwood K. Smith to design this home, specifically asking for it to be full of Hawaiian influences to remind them of the romantic tropical island where they spent their youth and fell in love: Hawaii.

Then, since they owned the land, they named the street Kalani Place, which in Hawaiian means “Heavenly Place.”

John died in 1997, and for Jean, it’s now time to move on.  After all, a 4741 square foot home nestled on a wooded 1.52 acre lot with creek behind is a lot for a solo woman to care for, but I imagine she’s loved every minute and every memory.  Harwood K. Smith’s design features three bedrooms, three and a half baths, a den, open floor plan, tall, vaulted and beamed ceilings, natural light and a tranquil backyard living space. The location on a quiet cul de sac backing up to Northwood Golf Course — huge plus — is lushly landscaped with many mature trees and the 1.52 acre grounds are stunning.

Some could see this home as a tear-down because the house is, well, 50 years old now and needs updating– hard to believe homes built in 1960 are that age now. The price has been reduced to $889,000. Hopefully, someone will see the potential and the love that came all the way from Hawaii and kindled all through the years; the beautiful, strong marriage Jean and John enjoyed, the family memories this home has been saturated with.  Nani ke ea.

Yes, this is a happy home.

I would think that Costco would be shipping Tidy Bowl to this address daily. Buying toilet bowl brushes might wipe out Bed, Bath and Beyond! And seriously, you’d almost have to order paper toilet seat covers for each non-private bath.

This is your typical French country chateau (but with with marble, darling), new construction in University Park. But very pretty. The hardwoods gleam. There are formals,  an exercise room, a game room, a library and a study. (And bathrooms nearby.) Kitchen is decked out with  the latest and greatest, like Wolf and SubZero, and the entry has a lovely swirling, spiraling staircase sweeping upstairs to the six boudoirs. Now closet space is almost as abundant in this home as are commodes: the master mistress closet can hold 150 pairs of shoes, the master side slightly less. Her side also has eleven wardrobes. His room (and the par-tee) continues, however, down in the four car garage.

The main floor has two immense living areas, with wine bar, dining room, and that kitchen. Powder rooms nearby, so drink all you want!  There’s a main level library, theater room, laundry room and spacious patio/pool/hot tub all packed onto one-quarter acre. Great landscaping, too.

The only thing I did not like about this house is the master bedroom upstairs. But you have so many rooms downstairs, you could easily transform one of the libraries/study. But then, having the theater downstairs makes the bedrooms quieter when Blackhawk Down is playing, and you can keep an extra eye on kiddos, send them home when they get too rowdy… or start hanging in the bathrooms too much. In fact, that  might be just what the architect had in mind!

3529 Colgate is priced at $3.4 million with Clay Stapp, Stapp & Co. Don’t laugh at that price — you are getting more plumbing products than the Kohler showroom. One of these days, porcelain may be as pricey as gold!

I’m going to level with you: you are not getting new construction, which in this ‘hood goes for well over a million, even the foreclosures. But you are getting bright, newly updated interiors from OCD owners. I am not going to tell you the kitchen has Sub Zero and Wolf, but you get tumbled marble counters, a gas range and stainless appliances. And I am a sucker for white kitchens. In the 2233 square feet, you get three bedrooms and three baths;  one is the master, one the powder, and I am so sorry but the two bedrooms have to share a bath. (Think they’ll survive?) The sellers have installed many wall mirrors and opened up the family room nicely with a vaulted ceiling, which eliminates that “ranchy” low-ceilinged feel. I like the original molding, hardwoods, brick floors in the kitchen, a separate laundry room and attached two care garage that has a generous storage closet. The main bath has original circa 1949 tiles in mint condition. (See below, I just love the color!)

You know what else is gorgeous? The lot — treed, green, .32 acres (93 by 155 feet!) with room enough for a pool.

In a word, a very live-able family house and located on a great street at a great price. If you can muster up a hefty down payment, and can qualify for a convention mortgage of about $417,000, you are getting the lowest interest rates in the history of the world. Any lower, they’ll be paying us to take out a mortgage. So make an offer, take the Preston Hollow plunge.

Let me take you inside: large open kitchen with granite island, breakfast room and walk-in pantry. We will subtract points for no stainless appliances, but honestly, I have always loved pure white kitchens. You get a family room, formal living and dining with original hardwood floors, and a large master suite with attached study (or could be a nursery, or exercise room and son of a gun, it also has a large walk-in closet)  that looks out onto Blue Fair Lake. The architect and builder must have had ESP: each bedroom has large walk-in closets, not something you see in every 1950′s home, plus the period built-ins and beams throughout. There are two fireplaces, vaulted ceilings and even a landscape sprinkler system.  The master looks like a home in Austin with  the second stone fireplace,  and has a beautiful newly-constructed balcony overlooking the backyard and lake.  The master bath needs updating — hide your eyes from the wallpaper — but has the bones and plumbing of double sinks, plus a linen closet, and additional built-ins. New sinks, a creamy marble resurfacing and a clear glass shower door and you are there.

But here’s what will really sell you, especially after a weekend like the one we’ve just had: the backyard has been remodeled and landscaped with huge flagstones throughout, reinforcing the retaining wall and landscaping the grounds with grass, plants and flowers. Hint: I’d write a mosquito-mist system into the contract. If you are even considering Lakewood, speed dial your agent now and if they don’t call you back to show you this home, contact the listing agent, Annamari Lannon with Allie Beth. She’s got great taste in homes!

(Jump for more photos:)Your view from the back of this home!

See why I was keeping this one a secret? Very low-maintenance yard.

This town-home is loaded with 2010-era  upgrades and haute design finishes. Walkability score: 100, as everything is nearby – the Apple Store, Knox Street, and of course the Katy Trail. Once inside, 4401 Travis feels more like an urban man-cave with polished concrete floors — drop anything on them, it comes right up. (Or breaks;  so you just toss it.) Also polished museum walls  and gallery with the correct lighting to hang that burgeoning art collection you are picking up at all those art receptions you attend. (You go for the art, right?) The kitchen is remodeled enough so lady friends can come cook you a nice Chicken Cordon Bleu on stainless appliances, serve it on the granite counters, clean up and hide all utensils in the new maple cabinets like a good woman.

(That is a joke only the mother of a 26-year old bachelor can enjoy, because he says this then I slap him.) But I do see a bachelor in this pad, which feels more like a loft, and the 9.5-foot beamed ceilings make it seem a lot larger than 1681 square feet. You get two bedrooms, formals, utility room, soaring Pella wood windows, wood-burning fireplace with gas starter, upgraded carpets, two and a half baths remodeled (full baths off each bedroom), decorative lighting, balcony with landscape screen, and 2-car attached garage to house the car you will never need because you’ll be walking everywhere. You get all this with a super motivated seller who now has 4401 Travis, heart of Knox-Henderson, priced at $335,000 with $1200 annual HOA’s. A hundred bucks a month home association dues — not too shabby.

Greenway Parks is designed in the “English Commons” tradition of clustering houses around a series of open private parkways to encourage walking and community.  After all, where else can you live that neighbors deliver your morning paper with a fresh magnolia blossom?.

Greenway has approximately 300 families. For years, residents found the neighborhood so appealing  homes were often passed down from one generation to the next. Children who have grown up and moved away move “home” again to raise their children in the homes they grew up in or, if possible, next door. Architecturally, Greenway encompasses seven decades including romantic revival storybook styles of the 1920′s , postwar modern Bauhaus interpretations, sprawling ranch houses of the 1950′s, and the large “European-inspired” homes of the late 90′s and early 2000′s. (Well, that’s a nice way to put it.) And talk about property values — Greenway has never experienced a period of much decline; homes here enjoy vitality as if they were on the best hormone replacement therapy in the world! Almost all are up-dated or, in some cases, replaced. A strong Homeowners Association and well-defined, deed restrictions created quite a battle five years ago but they passed, and have helped to preserve the integrity of the neighborhood. No one was killed in the process, and the restrictions have likely made the last few new homes even more valuable.

What makes 5366 Waneta so spectacular is not just the 2009 updates, which are over the top gorgeous, but retention of the home’s original character and bones in every bit of the 5500 square feet. And all done so very, very artfully!

The vital statistics: Waneta is a five bedroom home on a 130 by 140 foot wide greenbelt lot that has more exposure to that greenbelt than do the neighbors. In fact, many of the original Greenway Parks greenbelt homes had their front doors open to the greenbelt behind the home.  Now she has two entrances — one on the front, another in the back. She has five bedrooms, four and a half baths, five living areas plus a suite of the master, a wine room off the bar, three car garage with two extra storage rooms.

Now for the fun stuff. The updates in this house were done like the U.S. government does things -  budget, budget, what is that? That is why you get so much in this home including, if you play your hand right, a reduction from the $2,095,000 price which is pretty fair, considering all you get here. There are five pages listing every re-do, ranging from a totally new kitchen to updated, jazzed out baths, paint, moldings, refinished original hardwoods, cabinets, audio visual equipment, Murano glass chandelier, Jasper Peony hand-painted wallpaper — yes, wallpaper IS coming back –  and three new HVAC and heat/air duct zones. Originally, the home had a boiler heat system; 80% of the downstairs duct system was replaced with rigid duct. The new units are 13 SEER heat pumps which I’m told are a lot better now than when we had one eleven years ago. The home’s wiring has also been completely replaced.

I may love the traffic flow on Waneta best. You walk in to a grand entrance, living room and sunroom on the left. To the right is the dining room, then kitchen and ginormous family room which opens to the absolutely stunning kitchen and breakfast room. At the end of this room is the bar with wine room and cellar off the bar. This room also has original access to the greenbelt. The master is up, which may be a slight disadvantage, but it will knock your socks off. A nursery off the master could be a great office or exercise room. The rest of the bedrooms and a playroom are upstairs, including a nicely secluded guest quarters.

There is no pool, but with so many lush trees and landscaping, you really don’t need one to feel cool. Besides, you’ll probably get a magnolia blossom-laced invitation to use the neighbor’s pool. Listed by Maribeth Peters for Allie Beth Allman: $2,095,000

Roy is closing his store, and now he’s selling his pride and joy home,  a Ju-Nel jewel built in 1966. Roy and Wanda were probably only the second owners; he has the original construction drawings by revered Ju-Nel architect Jack Wilson. The 2912 square foot home in Lochwood Meadows offers three bedrooms, three bathrooms on two levels with huge expanses of glass.  The carport was remodeled into a den, and the second level master suite was extended over the carport area, creating a private deck and sunroom. The Beards did match all materials of the original house. Roy is relocating to Nebraska to live near his daughter, Alice Hillhouse, closing the doors of his well-known, well-loved Preston Royal store in early August.  Wanda died back in October. Roy brought his natural foods market to Dallas in the 1960′s as the natural food movement was gaining momentum in San Francisco and Berkley.

About the house: don’t be surprised if you find anything organic in the corners. Jackie Stewart, daughter of Dallas real estate icon Henry S. Miller, recalls grumbling over an organic discovery in her food:

Stewart recalls testily showing Beard a dead caterpillar she found in a small bag of dried fruit. “He looked at me and said, ‘Well, that is why they call it organic. It is part of the natural way of things.’ I was struck by this profound but simple truth.”

10909 Fernald Avenue, $329,900.

Ron Wills, a Canadian, says he just cannot take Texas summers. But his wife, Corrina, a Tucson native, says she is not going to live anywhere with brutal winters. My suggestion:  Make an offer with the contingency they become personal tenants of that lower-story space November through April each year.

The house is just over 2900 square feet, and isn’t it amazing the Sanders managed to raise four bright children in this house? (I understand one daughter is also a judge.) Oh, if these walls could talk.  Listed by Bonnie Bauer, Dave Perry-Miller and Associates, an Ebby Halliday Company for $549,000.

The home is 3405 square feet, was built in 1993 on a 50 by 129 foot lot as a custom, and may need some 2010 updates in the kitchen and baths. Traditional property: an entry flanked by formal living and dining rooms, high ceilings, hardwood floors and custom draperies. Note: lest you think wallpaper and draperies are passe, I’ve just returned from The Greenbrier in West Virginia where Carleton Varney even used wallpaper on ceilings! Two masters, one up, one down and a central staircase sweeps you up there to that retreat plus bedroom number three.

Downstairs, where of course you will spend most of your time, is a large family room with fireplace, skylights, and that kitchen. There’s a paneled study off the family room for those who would rather Facebook (oh dear, I just made it a verb!) than watch TV, and an outdoor living area. I mean really, what else do you need? More garage space? Gotcha covered — you can store three cars in the home’s two garages. (Or “stuff”.) A bargain? OK, these sellers are not drinking any post-Fourth Kool Aid: this home has been reduced in price to $469,500. Another one in the same area at 8332 Coral Drive  is on for $525,000.

Full disclosure: there are home association dues of $800 a year that cover front yard landscaping and security plus common area maintenance — I think I could live with that!

Marty Turco may have turned down a three-year, $6 million contract from the Flyers, but when it comes to real estate, he might not be turning down many offers on his University Park castle. For one thing, he holds the cachet of a lucky star address: maybe 3500 Centenary holds the same winning streak that 3500 Beverly did. Marty’s home is gorgeous and certainly much more affordable, and only listed for $2,795,000 versus $12,500,000. Write up this real estate contract, you’ll get a gorgeous Gage custom build from 2006 on an 80 foot corner lot — we know how coveted those corners are in Park Cities! This property is filled with more than 6,700 square feet gussied up by top interior designers. Five bedrooms, five full baths, two half baths, four living areas, gourmet kitchen, a pool with water wall which sounds so enticing right about now, complete outdoor kitchen and living area, screened porches, two car garage, plus library and study.

According to The Bleacher Report,

ESPN.com’s Pierre LeBrun  “traded texts with Turco this morning (June 28), who confirmed the Flyers’ offer but said he wanted to see what was on the market Thursday” on his Twitter profile.

Don’t know about the market for goaltenders, but I’ll tell you about the Dallas real estate market: the 34-year old Turco’s home is a steal. And yes, D Sale of the Week will appear on Tuesdays now… MLS day… and more House Porn bang for your buck earlier in the week!