As you pull into the Urban Reserve, a collection of 50 architect-designed modern homes in north Dallas, one of the first properties you’ll see is 2 Vanguard Way. Much of the five-year-old house is hidden behind a stucco wall, but everything about it was thoughtfully planned, homeowner and listing agent Patrick Crawford says.
During construction, they allowed the lot and the tree-lined street to inform the home’s design. There are windows everywhere, he says, to create an indoor-outdoor feel. “From pretty much every vantage point of the home, you can always see greenery.”
The rest of the interiors have a sleek look. “Minimalistic is the number one thing that we wanted,” Crawford says. Everything is streamlined and modern. Take the kitchen, for example, which has minimal hardware, an induction stovetop, and hidden-away appliances. Additionally, many of the home’s features are controlled by an app, including the speaker system, the fireplace, and the heated hot tub and pool.
The exteriors have the same clean, modern look. Because their house is one of the first on the street, they had strict rules to follow for the facade of their home, Crawford says. They picked three materials: stucco, richlite, and wood. For the stucco, he says, they did a three-coat version that was smoother and less likely to crack. There aren’t any knots in the wood siding, he explains, because they didn’t want the house to “look rustic.” Finally, the black richlite, a sustainable material made of layered engineered paper and resin that was cut onsite, gives the house “a really cool look.”
Leaving the Urban Reserve, he says, will be bittersweet. Vanguard Way “is really a unique street in and of itself,” with all its architect-designed, sustainable homes. Plus, it has easy access to the White Rock Trail Greenbelt, and you can bike all the way to White Rock Lake.
And Crawford has enjoyed getting to know the folks on his street and in the separate development behind him. “I’ve never had a neighborhood where you actually know your neighbors,” he says, adding that people get together for movie nights and more. “It’s like an old-school feel where you know your neighbors and you’re really connected with the community.
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