Hot Property: A Kid Palace in University Park

If you immediately recognized this red-doored beauty above from the pages of our July/August 2017 issue, than you’re an extremely loyal D Home reader and we thank you for your service. If this is your introduction to the custom Robert Elliot home, let us walk you through it.

The design, dreamed up by a couple with four children ages 3, 6, 8, and 9, is all about stylish functionality. The front door (painted Benjamin Moore’s Bull’s Eye Red) is keyless, the main stairwell is towards the back of the house (the owners thought it would take up too much space), and a dining room doubles as an art atelier. A “boy cave,” designed for the couple’s only son, occupies the third floor. The main goal: to have enough functionality for the under-10 set and enough style for their design-loving parents.

There’s absolutely a midcentury modern influence throughout, as well as a NorthPark effect (all the brickwork was inspired by the shopping center), but there is one departure from the kid-friendly vision: a spa-like master bathroom with floor-to-ceiling white marble and a soaking tub. Because all parents deserve an escape.