There are not many homes that put my head into a spin.
But then there is 6617 Forest Creek Dr. I stopped counting how many times “amazing” came out of my mouth while touring the home. And the neighborhood: Forest Creek is in North Dallas just south of Forest Lane, south of LBJ. Dallas has so many beautiful hidden neighborhoods, and this is one of them. I happen to live just south of the Forest Creek nook, and I can honestly say this is the most accessible location in town.
I have lived in the honeypot of Preston Hollow on Melissa Lane east of Midway, and over to Marsh/Royal, where we bought our first home. All beautiful, leafy areas. But living smack in the middle of the LBJ/Preston/Hillcrest bullseye gets you to places much more rapidly because major highways are nearby. Not only proximate to highways, but you are near the best private schools in Dallas.
And the shopping! Your choice of four prime grocery stores, soon to be five if H-E-B comes to fruition at Hillcrest and LBJ.
But this house was custom-built in 2000 by Hawkins-Welwood, one of the best builders in North Texas. The second owner renovated and decorated to the hilt, including $2 million alone in the signature backyard personally designed by Paul Fields from Lamberts.
There are formals, two separate offices, six bedrooms, six full baths, and three half baths in the main house, plus a private guest haven above one of the two massive 2-car garages. There is a finished out basement/safe room. And every tree is lit with soft lighting by Lentz Lanscape. Let’s start with the grounds.
A Yard So Huge the Home Has a Walking Track!
The home embraces a huge swimming pool — which was moved back on the .87 acre property to create a mammoth (50×17 ft) covered loggia with TV and fireplace — flanked by an outdoor bar on one side, an outdoor kitchen on the other.
All structures are weather-proofable. The pool is extra deep and sports beautiful fountains at the western end.
This means that come sunset, while you are having cocktails on the loggia, you will see the sun shimmering over the glistening water. Truly, the pool area rivals a Ritz Carlton Reserve. Beyond the pool and fountains is plenty of grassy areas for fun or pets, including an outdoor walking track.
Tavern-on-the Green Bar
Back inside the 10,369 square foot house, enter most multi-million dollar homes in Dallas and you get the classic layout: formals and study to either side of the foyer in some format.
But at Forest Creek, we have a speakeasy bar on the right. Beautifully paneled in rich walnut, it reminds me of the gorgeous bar room at the home of Myrna and Bob Schlegel. It has a full walk-up, sit-down bar of exotic stone with back-lit shelves for crystal and bottles. There is also a built-in window seat and a stone fireplace. It is the most perfect place for friends to gather immediately upon entering your home.
To the left of the foyer is the formal living room, lined with beautiful paneled walls adorned with gold leaf. Onward is an enormous dining room at 21 feet long with easy seating for 20. The dining room connects to the kitchen through a butler’s pantry porte-cochere entrance for easy drop-off. This area absorbs the clutter of daily life before it accumulates.
The kitchen is decked with high-end professional appliances plus an island, a breakfast bar, an eight-burner Viking range and two 36-inch Sub Zeros (one fridge, one freezer), two dishwashers, and an icemaker. The kitchen links to the breakfast room with a charming brick fireplace plus one of the two garages, plus the immense laundry room with views of the delicious back yard oasis.
We have not talked about the family room. It is anchored by a beautiful cast stone fireplace with a crisscross beamed ceiling and full French door views of the loggia, truly the huge heart of the home.
On to the northern wing of the house, we have a formal powder room that, if it wasn’t in Architectural Digest, should be and a large en-suite office that could be a bedroom.
Next comes the primary suite, with a spa bath I call the Taj Mahal. Coved ceilings, long his-and-her vanities, storage, separate commodes, and a magnificent tub area overlooking the grounds. The bath also opens to a private patio.
There are two enormous walk-in closets with built-in storage, plus a cedar closet, and a hallway taking you down to the safe room/storm shelter in the fully finished-out basement with extra storage space.
There is also a secondary office beyond the primary that overlooks the northern side of the pool.
Game Room, Theater with Stage, Even a Green Room Turned Massage Room
The home has two staircases up to the second floor, including the dramatically sweeping front staircase. At the front northeastern end is a game room with a full wet bar and treetop views of the private cul de sac street from a built-in window seat. Off this room is the theater with a screen and stage. Behind this is the “Green Room” complete with Hollywood light-covered make-up dressers. The room is now used as a massage studio.
Each of the oversized four upstairs bedrooms features a private bath with unique custom closet configurations. One bedroom is actually two combined into one, creating a secondary primary suite. There is an upstairs laundry room and also space for an elevator, if desired, that would land near the breakfast room on the first floor.
The fabulousness of this home does not end when you exit: perched above the second two-car garage is a lovely bonus two-room efficiency apartment overlooking the poolscape.
A word about both garage interiors: pristine.
If it looks as though this home was built with a limitless budget, it was. It has been meticulously loved, nurtured, and maintained to the point where it looks brand new. And you could not find a better, more secure location on a private cul de sac with off-duty police protection.
This home is unprecedented for luxury, location, and a lifestyle that offers a chance to live every day as if you are at a very fine resort. Replicating the fine materials used in this home at today’s prices would be three times the asking price, at least so I think it is excellently priced at $5.65 million.
