Tale OF THE Sale On the Move and In the Money

THE HOUSE: 4738 Shadywood Ln.

SELLING PRICE: $1,575 million

JUST HOW HOT IS DIRT IN DALLAS? HOT as volcanic ash-and still erupting. Here’s proof: Darwin Deason, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Affiliated Computer Services Inc., bought a 3.48-acre property in Bluffview last January-the estate home of philanthropist Nancy and the late Jake Hamon. Deason originally had plans to tear down the elegant 1939 columnar structure. But then he changed his mind and sold the house to Paul Nussbaum, chairman and chief executive officer of Patriot American Hospitality, reportedly the nation’s second-largest hotel acquisition and managing company.

Deason saw the house first from his black stretch limousine. The house sits high atop a rambling, leafy hill, evoking images of a Kennedy-esque estate. He also liked the spread next door, 4722 Shady-wood Ln., but it had been bought only hours before Deason’s arrival.

So Hamon’s listing agent, Dave Perry-Miller, helped convince Deason he could situate his 300-foot-long dream home on the Hamon property.

“And if not.” says Perry-Miller, “we felt he could resell the lot and not lose money.”

Originally listed for $1,675 million, the Hamon property sold to Deason for $ 1.45 million.

Nancy Hamon, who lived in her house for more than 40 years, relocated to The Mansion Residence. While she was moving chandeliers, molding, and even a few commodes, Deason was rethinking his purchase. He decided not to move to Hamon’s property at all, but rather to remodel his penthouse at 8181 Douglas Ave.

Paul Nussbaum, 50, bought the Shadywood Lane property from Deason, giving Deason his quick $125,000 profit. Now Nussbaum has hired architect Gary Koerner of Three Architecture Inc. to design his new home.

’’We are just in the design process,” says Koerner. “I can’t even tell you how big it will be just yet.”

Probably not 25,000 square feet. Nussbaum is single, so the house will more likely be 10,000 to 15,000 square feet. Construction is scheduled to begin in June 1998, on the earth that could tell many, many tales of wealth created by oil, computers, and real estate.



THE HOUSE: 9338 Meadowbrook Dr.

LISTING PRICE: $6.9 million

SELLING PRICE: undisclosed

WHEN GEORGE AND DOMINIQUE PERRIN sold their not-yet-complete, 45,000-plus-square-foot Strait Lane estate on Aug. 18 to Dallas real estate investor John Lau, every Realtor with a multimillion-dollar property in tow held their breath. Maybe their listing would be the perfect one for this nice family in dire need of a house. The lucky winner was Allie Beth Allman, who sold the Perrins the exquisite Preston Hollow home of Drs. John Bell and Toni Grant Bell. The sale price: undisclosed. The number floating: about 6 millionish. The 18,000-square-foot estate at the corner of Meadowbrook Drive and Dent wood Drive had been on the market just two months.

“It is the finest house in Dallas,” says Allman.

John Bell is not a medical doctor; his Ph.D. is in strategic management. He is the former CEO of Bell Packaging Corp., which he recently sold to an Australian firm for about $300 million. Toni Grant is a radio psychologist, à la Dr. Laura.

Those who have been inside the house compliment the furnishings and design- especially the 130-year-old, 2-inch-thick pine floors imported from Louisiana, a 2,000-square-foot master suite with all the necessities (this one has a steam shower and a dry sauna), and three huge bedroom suites with many reading nooks. There is also a complete executive suite with its own entrance and a third-floor exercise room. Outside, there’s a guest house, tennis pavilion, and a Swimex pool that creates its own rapids for stay-in-place laps.

It may not be Strait Lane, but the Pen-ins are said to be delighted with their new home and neighborhood. They should be: Tale of the Sale has learned that John Lau paid $8.5 million for the Perrins’ Strait Lane estate, so we know there was no problem in financing Meadowbrook.