LUXURY HOMES

LUXURY HOME BUILDING IS booming in Dallas like never before, but you have to listen closely to get the story. At the 10,000-square-foot-plus, multimillion-dollar level, the houses may shout, but their owners whispe

In his 18 years in the business, home builder Mickey Munir of Sharif & Munir has never seen so many spectacular luxury homes under construction at once. His firm alone has three major projects under way-and he does mean major. That’s as close as he’ll come to revealing dollar amounts. The economic impact of each of these homes is far-reaching, with as many as 200 artisans and workers on each job site, and construction on some homes lasting longer than a calendar year.

In the Strait Lane area, Munir is building a rumored-to-be-30,000-square-foot home off Lennox Lane for the mysterious “Dr. X,” who has everyone-neighbors, Realtors, and builders- talking and wondering. Dr. X has chosen to remain anonymous which has only served to fan the fires of curiosity. He may soon reveal his name, but in the meantime, he is said to be a wealthy plastic surgeon who probably advertises in this magazine. Now that really narrows it down…

Munir is also building a home for Excel Communications CEO and founder Kenny Troutt and his wife, Lisa. The architect on the project, Vern Berry, and the interior designer, Nancy Ross, have come up with spectacular details for the 14,000-square-foot dream house. Lisa Troutt says she drew from her own background in fashion design and ideas she’s been saving for many years to give the house special personal touches.

The exterior of the Troutt home is Country French with brick and cast stone detailing. The interior features a mahogany library with a beamed ceiling, a billiards pub done in dark oak with a slate floor, and a hand-forged, wrought iron, circular staircase in the entry. The entry and formal areas have limestone floors and 24-foot ceilings. A must in many of the new homes of this caliber is a “media room,” and the Troutt house is no exception. Their two-level room will be finished in mahogany and black, and will feature home theater equipment including a 70-inch viewing screen.

Size and topography attracted the Troutts to the property. The housesitsonawoodedlotof2.66 acres, large enough for the sizable pool, a pool house, a cabana, and a French veranda off the back of the home for entertaining.

The dirt also is flying on Strait Lane for the chairman of PageNet, George Perrin. The gatehouse alone is the size of most of the existing three- and four-bedroom homes in the area.

Over at 8605 Preston Rd., just north of Northwest Highway, builder Thomas S. Byrne is well under way on an approximately 10,000-square-foot home for Howard Rachofsky, a money manager and art collector. The home, rumored to cost $5 million, was designed by world-renowned architectural firm Richard Meier & Partners, which is currently working on the Getty Museum in Malibu, Calif., that will open in 1997. The museum-quality home, with its gallery entryway, will in fact be a museum one day, says Rachofsky. Meanwhile, protesters are angry that a 100-year-old Red Oak was cut down to make way for the I house. “Killing trees is not art,” I one flyer proclaimed.