 |
| UNDER FIRE: The Strait Lane estate smolders in 2002. |
When the chateau burned five years ago, $44.9 million went up in smoke. Dallas architect Robbie Fusch was in tears at the news. He had conceived 10330 Strait Ln. in the early ’90s for PageNet founder George Perrin, and after dumping $35 million worth of amenities into the 43,000-square-foot mansion (73,000 square feet including verandas, garages, and guest houses), sold it to Dallas land investor John Lau for about $7 million. Everyone from Oprah to Saudi princes took a look-see, but it was businessman Jean-Raymond Boulle who bought it in 2002. Boulle added a natatorium, 24 bathrooms, 21-seat theater, and 1,800-square-foot master suite. The blaze took 300 firefighters more than eight hours to battle. Earlier this spring, a hedge fund purchased the estate, and again it went on the market. In May, oilman John W. McReynolds, director and president of Energy Transfer Equity L.P., bought the home for around $14 million. The Strait Lane chateau will rise once again.