Tale OF THE Sale

Home of the Big Boy

THE HOUSE: 10645 Lennox Ln.

LISTING PRICE: $1,996 million

SALE PRICE: $ 1.996 million



IT CAN ONLY HAPPEN IN THE CURRENT money-making machine of Dallas real estate: list your home on a Tuesday, have a contract and two back-ups the day it opens on the MLS tour, and get your asking price!

It took Lynn Gardner of Ellen Terry Realtors all of seven days to sell the breezy, lushly landscaped Wilson Estates home of John and Liz Wright for full price. The Wrights bought the 2.3-acre estate (which resembles an in-city ranch) in 1993 from Frank Fuller, who had purchased it from the founder of the Kip’s Big Boy restaurants in Dallas. The restaurateur had left his signature on the property: a giant Kip’s Big Boy logo at the bottom of the tiled swimming pool. Other than that single idiosyncratic detail, Mrs. Wright had on her hands a basic, sprawling North Dallas ’50s ranch with low ceilings and six original horse stables-some more than 100 years old. She and her husband pumped about $700,000 into the home, using the original foundation footprint and even keeping plumbing in the same locations. The result was an L-shaped, 6,700-square-foot house with high ceilings and a long. lean porch stretching across the back that makes you feel like you are in the heart of the Hill Country.

Mrs. Wright also meticulously kept up a huge garden. Two to three thousand bulbs were planted each year, all synchronized to bloom continuously so that when one area was out of bloom, another would be coming in. The result was continuous color.

“No period of the year was without bloom.” says Mrs. Wright. “And we tried to maintain the international flavor of the garden.”

Hopefully the new owners will maintain that spirit.

There are no plans for horses-the new owner says that if anything, she may turn the current pasture into a tennis court. Her horses stay at her Celina, Texas ranch. As for Big Boy, she thinks he’s fun and plans to keep him right where he is.

Park Cities Turnover

THE HOUSE: 3613 Gillon Ave.

LISTING PRICE: $995,000

SALE PRICE $965,000



ONE REASON WHY ELEANOR MOWERYSHEETS is one of the city’s hottest real estate agents: She closes on a house every four days. Wrapping up a year of $80 million in residential sales volume in 1997-more than some entire real estate companies do-Mowery-Sheets. of Cold-well Banker Paula Stringer Realtors, had a boost from a sizzling market and houses that flip taster than Aunt Jemima’s pancakes. Take for instance 3613 Gillon Ave., which sold three times in 1997.

Built in 1916, on a half-acre lot along a prestigious Highland Park street, the house is 3,900 square feet. It had been passed down through three generations of the Elizabeth Moore family, according to first listing agent Doris Jacobs, Allie Beth Allman’s (op-producing Realtor.

In February. Mowery-Sheets’ client, a sharp investor named Timothy Heading-ton, bought the home for $980,000, with plans to tear down and build new. Then, in May. he sold “creatively”: Nicky Sheets. Mowery-Sheets’ husband and business manager, helped arrange a raw land trade. So she listed and sold the house to Benny Bartonfor$995.000.Alittle more than one month later. Barton decided he didn’t want to mess with building a home, and the house changed hands again for $965,000-a great deal for buyers Preston and Heather Paine. They plan to eventually tear down the house and build new.

All sales figures are according to county tax records, which may not be the prices paid. Bui Realtors say properly values in the Park Cities show no signs of declining. Mowery-Sheets sold another Park Cities home twice this year, each time for a higher price. And Jacobs says she sold a lot- just dirt and trees-on Miramar for $ 1.07 million. So if you’re looking for bargain properties in Dallas this year, maybe you ’d better look up north-like in Kansas.