Your Expert Guide

Highland Park West: A prime location with a cozy small-town feel

Agent Penny Cook.

Photo courtesy of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty

There are so many great places to live in Dallas that it helps to have an expert on your side. The Neighborhood Guide presented by Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty gives you insider access from the agents who live and work there, providing in-the-know info about your possible new community.

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If you ask Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty agent Penny Cook what she likes most about Highland Park West, she'll probably have a difficult time choosing.

"HP West is convenient to the Tollway and Love Field, plus lots of shops and restaurants. The people are an eclectic mix of ages and lifestyles and it's a very friendly environment," she says. "Each block has a character and charm of its own."

The town of Highland Park is also well known for its excellent police, fire, and city services.

Cook offered up a few of her personal favorites about life in Highland Park West. Here's her guide to the area:

Where to eat & drink
Cook claims that the best donut store in DFW is within walking distance, but if you need a little more substance to your meals, head to Inwood Road. Hot spots include Mesero, Adelmo's, Flower Child, Rise, and Odelay. For a step back in time, go across Lovers Lane to Dunston’s Steakhouse.

Cook points out that just west of Inwood, there are several fabulous restaurants: Drake’s, Jose, Neighborhood Services, Lovers Seafood & Market, Shinsei Restaurant, and Dea.

Highland Park Village is also an easy walk and offers Sadelle's, Cafe Pacific, Mi Cocina, The Honor Bar, and Bistro 31.

Where to play
This is one of those areas where you not only get to know your neighbors, you also get to know your neighbors' dogs. "I love walking my dogs through the neighborhood," Cook says. "We see lots of neighbors and know all their dogs by name. My dogs know exactly which owners carry treats in their pockets, and there's even a hidden dog park!"

Where to live
"We have many different styles of architecture in the neighborhood, with a mixture of older cottages, larger two-story homes, and new construction," Cook says. "We also have some absolutely beautiful landscaping throughout our neighborhood."

Highland Park West is a small residential pocket with a big-deal location: It's an easy 10-minute drive to the Arts District, Turtle Creek, and the Katy Trail.

"Many of the homes here are hidden gems," Cook says. "There are lots of small cottages that have been beautifully renovated and decorated. It's fun to see how they have been transformed."

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Penny Cook lives, works, and plays in Highland Park West. For more information on buying and selling a home in the area, click here, email ptcook@briggsfreeman.com, or call 214-384-2847.

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Million-dollar homes

Multi-million-dollar gated home community The Preserve rises in Frisco

Preserve

A palace on the prairie of The Preserve in Frisco

Construction has begun on a multi-million-dollar custom home community in Frisco. Called The Preserve, it's situated among PGA Frisco’s championship golf courses and near the Omni PGA Frisco Resort, with multiple phases that will roll out over the next few years.

The Preserve is part of Fields, a 2,500-acre development in North Frisco off the Dallas North Tollway. Fields is co-developed and owned in partnership with The Karahan Companies, Hunt Realty Investments alongside investors Chief Partners and Cross Tie Capital.

The development will feature retail, dining, entertainment, hotels, corporate offices, native Texas plants, flowers, trees, and 250 acres of park space. It's designed by the same team responsible for Plano’s Legacy West, led by Fehmi Karahan.

Phase 1 of The Preserve will feature 233 homes crafted by 10 North Texas luxury homebuilders: Alford Homes, Coats Homes, and Starside Builders have all begun home construction. The other seven are The Preserve Bella Custom Homes, Endurance Homes, Faulkner Perrin Custom Homes, Hawkins-Welwood Homes, Shaddock Custom Builders & Developers, Sharif & Munir Custom Homes, and Ventura Custom Homes, for whom construction will start soon.

The Preserve Frisco The Preserve in Frisco, soon to be covered with homes.The Preserve

Lot sizes range from 6,800 square feet to more than an acre. Home design options will incorporate high ceilings, open floor plans, glass walls, and seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor such as patios, infinity pools, and landscaped exteriors.

The surrounding area will have more than 2,000 new trees plus views delivered via design elements such as floor-to-ceiling windows and expansive outdoor living areas.

Many of the homes will address sustainability, health, and wellness with green architecture, energy efficiency, water conservation, and recycled building materials.

It will combine the privacy of a gated community with resort-style living, featuring amenities such as the PGA golf courses, 20+ miles of hike and bike trails, and the exclusive Brookside Club with an expansive swimming pool, state-of-the-art fitness center, tennis and pickleball courts and a playground.

Prices will start at $3,500,000.

Hunt Realty SVP Todd Watson calls it one of the most anticipated mixed-use projects in the area -- æa perfect location for discerning buyers seeking their forever home or a secondary residence" — although he's involved with the project so he's probably biased.

“As part of the Fields development, with prominent neighbors like PGA of America and the Omni PGA Frisco Resort, we know The Preserve will be one of the most sought-after addresses in North Texas," Watson says.

According to the Frisco Economic Development Corporation, Frisco’s population has increased by 500 percent in two decades and was recently recognized as the fastest growing city in Texas and third across the U.S.

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