I first saw 9839 Rockbrook Dr. in the summer of 2010, and I haven’t been the same since. Tucked behind fabulously mature trees in Preston Hollow, this work of art may be the most published home in all of Dallas.
I have written oodles about this house, which is featured in this month’s Architectural Digest. The owners are attorneys and philanthropists Jessie and Charles Price. Charles grew up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, in a home his grandfather commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to build in 1952. Wright also built a skyscraper there, and Willard Spiegelman tells us Bartlesville remains a mecca for architecture buffs.
Known as the Stretto House, the home earned architect Steven Holl a National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects in 1993.
The Prices asked Steven Holl to build their dream house on a treed, rolling 1.5-acre lot, after seeing his work at the Museum of Modern Art. Known as the Stretto House, the Rockbrook home earned Holl a National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects in 1993. As Spiegelman says, “The Price house must be the only one ever built with a musical analogy in mind: Béla Bartók’s 1936 ‘Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta.’”
The 5,485-square-foot home has only two bedrooms, but the master suite is so enormous it takes up the entire second floor. The first floor — living, dining, library, kitchen and guest rooms — is an entertainer’s paradise, with expansive rooms and walls suited for large-scale art.
There is also a stunning two-bedroom guesthouse accessible by a bridge built over a stream. As the agent describes it, there are “breathtaking views of the sky, trees and water from every room in the home, with an interesting mix of handcrafted materials contrasting with rigorously machined parts.”
(Taking a breath!)
The narrow lap pool fuses metaphorically with three peaceful ponds on the property, currently listed for $3.9 million. If this is not enough pasture for you, a neighboring 1-acre lot might still be available for $2.5 million. But you might want to call listing agent Claire Dewar, just to be sure. Lots, like art, are red-hot commodities in Dallas these days.
The two-bedroom guest house is accessible by a bridge.
