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| The happy couple doing what they do best: look amazing. |
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| Mandy and Mike Modano (with golden retriever Bella) value the privacy their backyard provides, due in part to 40-foot cypress trees. |
“Privacy is a big issue for us,” Mandy Modano says. This comes as no surprise. If not the most famous professional athlete residing in Dallas, Mike, who plays center for the Dallas Stars, is arguably the most handsome. Those who follow Dancing with the Stars closer than hockey know his wife Mandy, aka Willa Ford. The blonde beauty had a hit single, “I Want to Be Bad,” in 2001 and is currently filming Michael Bay’s remake of Friday the 13th. They met through a mutual friend and married about a year ago. Though the couple appreciates their fans—“Both of us are so friendly. We’re very grateful,” Mandy says—they didn’t necessarily want their house to be a stop on a celebrity home tour, which is the way things were beginning to feel at Mike’s former Highland Park house, after a local paper published his address. At times, Mike was unable to get out of the driveway because busses laden with hockey fans were blocking the way.
The search for new Dallas digs began shortly before Mike and Mandy were married, and they fell in love with a Preston Hollow house, in large part due to the backyard. “It was definitely a selling point,” Mandy says. “You can’t see in our backyard. It has these 40-foot cypress trees that you can’t even plant anymore—they’ve been grandfathered in,” she says of the neighborhood ordinances that govern the area where the Modanos live. And while the space was nice, the Modanos saw room for improvement. “It didn’t have the rich qualities of texture and color that we wanted,” Mandy explains.
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| Preston Hollow becomes a tropical getaway. When the Modanos moved in, the pool was light blue; North Dallas Pool & Patio made it a more sophisticated midnight blue. Next up, they hired Jared Cossell to bring in the surrounding stone. For nearly a month an Arkansas quarry mined stone exclusively for this project. |
First in line for a face lift: the pool. It had simple, modern water features, but it was light blue. “I’m from Florida,” Mandy laughs. “That’s very popular there. It’s not so much my favorite thing.” So, the couple took inspiration from Mike’s last pool and painted the bottom a darker shade—almost midnight blue—to a cooler, calmer effect. New tile borders in a copper-tone patina added another element of drama. The stone coping was added for both aesthetic and practical reasons. “I have a niece, and we needed some security there,” Mandy says.
The addition of the stone coping forced the couple to address the stamped concrete patio. “Somebody used acrylic paint on it,” Mandy grimaces. “Red. It had started peeling. It was really vulgar and ugly. So we decided to add stone, and that’s where it all went down.” Enter Jared Cossell, owner of Earthquake Exteriors, a Dallas-based company that specializes in outdoor kitchens. He had just finished the Modanos’ outdoor kitchen area when the couple came to him for help on the patio. “Mandy wanted to match the quartz used in her pool coping,” he says. “The stone is pretty pricey and hard to get.” For nearly a month, an Arkansas quarry mined stone exclusively for the Modano backyard. “The stone completely transformed the place,” Mandy enthuses.
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| Mandy ordered oversized iron furniture so that Mike and his athlete friends could relax in comfort. “A lot of his friends have copied it,” she says. |
Cossell was also able to offer advice on landscaping—he went to school for horticulture—and Mandy had some ideas of her own. “My dad is a farmer, and I like to work in the garden,” she says. “Mike will get out there, too, sometimes.” The couple wanted something interesting, but knew they had to be practical, too, for the sake of Scout and Bella, their golden retrievers. “If a dog pees on monkey grass, it burns,” she says. So after looking in a magazine, she opted for pink chintz thyme with rock in between. “I wanted it to look old and English,” she says. She also added basil, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and dill. “You can freeze herbs. And you can give them as gifts.”
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| While eating at the restaurant Nove Italiano, Mike Modano noticed the light fixture and ordered it before he and Mandy even moved into the house. |
All the hard work has been worth it. “We almost got married in our backyard; we love it so much,” she says. When in town (about half of the year), the Modanos use it extensively, whether winter or summer. “We prefer to entertain outdoors. We’re active people,” she says. Dinner parties are casual affairs—people are encouraged to get in and out of the pool. Friends sit on bar stools as Mandy does the prep work and Mike takes care of the grilling—he’s become a huge fan of License to Grill, the popular Discovery Channel cooking show. “Our dining room is rarely used,” Mandy says.
The Modanos continue to add touches that make their backyard a unique living space. Take the chandelier made to look like a collection of wax pillar candles: “It was Mike’s idea,” Mandy says. “We always go to Nove [a four-star Italian restaurant in Victory Park]. He saw it, liked it, and ordered one before we even moved in.” They added a cabana and a fireplace, the large ceramic urns that double as water features (“Mike loves anything Italian,” she says), two televisions (“We have twelve total,” she confesses), and plenty of speakers for the iPod. Mandy kept Mike’s colleagues in mind when she chose the oversized iron outdoor furniture. “We needed it for Mike and his friends. When it arrived, he was so happy, and a lot of his friends have copied it,” she says with a laugh. Next on the couple’s list: water misters.
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| The happy couple. |
As for the neighborhood, the Modanos couldn’t be happier. “We have awesome neighbors,” Mandy says. “Preston Hollow is so laid-back. People are so nice and cordial.” And though the tour bus hasn’t made a stop yet, they have had two unplanned visitors, both children. “One came over with a brownie after a Stars game, and another came selling some items for a fundraiser,” she says. “Nothing intrusive. And anyway, I think we’re all people. It’s just normal.”
Earthquake Exteriors. 2709 Morningside Dr., Little Elm. 214-770-2992. www.earthquakeexteriors.com. Owner: Jared Cossell, North Dallas Pool and Patio. 3312 Starlight Trl., Plano. 972-835-4555. Owner: Trey Keierleder
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Entertain Like the Modanos
1. Unless there are special events at the house, i.e., receptions and fundraisers, meals/parties are casual.
2. Entertainment they enjoy: Yahtzee, Rummikub, outdoor movies, TV, swimming.
3. The couple likes ’80s music. Mike also loves sitting outside listening to jazz while he sips an espresso on Sunday mornings.
4. Mandy’s favorite color for outdoor entertaining is yellow. She enjoys putting together her own
arrangements and incorporating herbs from the backyard. “It makes it more personal,” she says.
5. Meals always start with a huge antipasti platter.
6. Mike enjoys grilling steaks (seasoned with Montreal Steak Seasoning), burgers, and corn on the cob.
7. Wine selections include Grgich Hills, Dominus Napa Valley, Caymus, and Braquetto d’Aqui.
8. Mike loves the infamous No. 9—a coffee drink made especially for the hockey player at Kozy’s. He likes it so much he’s learned to make it at home so that he can serve it to guests.
