Christine Allison On Gracious Living

Dear Reader
A Rich Life

I am delighted to present our third annual Million-dollar Home issue. This issue is not-as the uninitiated might presume-a sort of standing on tiptoes and peering into the windows of the very rich. (This is D Home, not Dickens.) Rather, it is a chance to focus on houses where money is not the defining obstacle, and where our readers can find ideas and inspiration for gracious living.

Throughout the year, gracious living is the plotline of this magazine, and we approach it from many angles. In this issue, we see it most vividly in Rebecca Sherman’s piece on Nancy Hamon’s penthouse apartment, where memory is the main character; her home, though recently decorated, integrates the furniture and accessories she has collected over a lifetime, and as fresh and lively as it is, it is also, in a good way, sentimental.

In David and Shelley Stevens’ University Park house, a family-wide passion for European antiques and architecture prevails. In this story, history is the main character, and the Stevens’ joy in surrounding themselves with antiquities, along with a good measure of warmth and laughter, makes for gracious living and then some.

Peek inside Mrs. Hamon’s penthouse of memories.

Finally, we visit the home of developer Diane Cheatham. While we may think that gracious living by definition has soft edges, we learn otherwise as we walk the rooms of Diane’s two-story contemporary townhouse, a small triumph in glass and concrete. Its plan is so ingenious that light is virtually summoned to the rooms. Read Diane’s story and you will see that light is the main character-a study in gracious living.

In Dallas we are uniquely intent on, even obsessive about, searching out small pleasures and beauty, wherever we can. Yes, yes: it is true that we do not have mountains, ocean, or trees, but that is precisely why the things we surround ourselves with take on more meaning and importance. Memories, history, and light-these are hallmarks of gracious living, and as affluent and acquisitive as many Dallas homeowners might be, no one in this city can buy them. Not even for a million dollars.

Enjoy this issue and send me your thoughts.

Cordially,