What is it about Dallas Stars and wallpaper on the ceiling? Maybe staring at all that ice? I don't know, but I sure like it. First, Loui Eriksson wowed us with his smooth-as-a-baby's-butt stucco contemporary in Preston Hollow featuring glorious interiors and — a blast from the past — wallpaper, on the walls and ceilings.
Yes, children. Once upon a time, we had metal ice cube trays and rose cabbage wallpaper.
Recently I perused 3230 Bryn Mawr Dr., home of Dallas Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen. From the street, Lehtonen's pad looks like a perfectly proportioned Georgian fit for a president. Inside, it is full of surprises. There is wallpaper on both the living room and dining room ceilings. In addition, there are soft blue-green tones throughout the home with just a shock of color, much like an original Marimekko design.
Built by Gage Homes in late 2009, the home is 6,400 square feet of pure, clean lines and that classic Park Cities floor plan: foyer, sweeping staircase, living on the left, dining on the right, and kitchen and den straight ahead. A well-done layout sure lets in the light, and the lot is pretty hefty for University Park: 70-by-106.
But then there are more surprises: balanced archways, bar with wine grotto, full butler's pantry that is practically a pastry kitchen, and an enormous and well-engineered kitchen. The study off the living room is connected by three glass doors for optional entertainment flow and streaming sunlight.
The bedrooms are all upstairs, including the huge master suite with breakfast bar. Besides the master suite, there are three guest bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, plus a game room over the garage. The third floor has been finished out as a fifth guest bedroom. Blueprints call for a future elevator in an executed shaft that now houses two giant closets.
But it's the master bath that hits me like a hockey puck, with marble surround jetted tub, his-and-hers vanities and commodes (yes, plural), two huge walk-in closets, and double glass shower. Outside is a relaxing back porch that you cannot call an outdoor kitchen, but the bones are there to create one if you are so inspired.
Asking price is $2,395,000, listed by super Dave Perry-Miller agent and HGTV star Julie Provenzano. And where are the Lehtonens going? Heading north, for more land. Preston Hollow honey pot, perhaps, or Strait Lane. Hell, maybe both after last fall's $29.5 million contract. Just somewhere they find a ceiling to cover in wallpaper.
From the outside, Kari Lehtonen's place is a perfectly proportioned Georgian.
