First Impressions

When entering the house from the front, you get the feel of a pier-and-beam house as you step up onto the large, wooden front porch which wraps around the side of the house.  Once through the front door, you see all the way down the wood-floor, center gallery to the divided-light glass rear door and through to the back yard.  To the right and left are oversized entries and sliding-doors to the library/dining room, and to the kitchen, respectively.  Halogen lighting drapes the walls, providing a warm, bold feel throughout.

Intimate setting for dining

The living/dining room combination is designed to give an intimate feel for dining and after-dinner conversation.  It is intentionally smaller than the other living areas and in addition to an ample dining area, has a seating area and fireplace.  The glass sliding doors can be closed to provide some privacy and protection from noisier dining going elsewhere, while still being able to see what's happening in the rest of the house.  Adjacent to the dining area is a built-in buffet, and the walls are equipped with built-in bookshelves.

Kitchen -- The Center of the Universe

The centerpiece of the kitchen, and perhaps the entire house is the large concrete island.  With enough seating for 10, it's rounded on one end and is always the casual meeting place, whether it's for breakfast or when throwing a party.  The backsplash is glass-tile, and there's halogen lighting throughout.  It's positioned as the helm as it overlooks the front porch and yard, the porta-cachere drive, the stairs and family room.  and the kitchen features all stainless-steel appliances, including gas stove and GE Advantium speed-cook microwave oven.

Perfecting Function and Form

From the kitchen or gallery, you step down from the hard-wood floors to the stained concrete floors of the family room.  The stained-wood bead-board vaulted ceiling manages to create a warm feel in a large room.

When entering from the porta cachere, you can go straight into the family room, or veer right through the mud room -- with a locker for each family member (there are 5) -- to the kitchen.

Master Suite

The master suite is downstairs off of the main gallery.  It is buffered from the main part of the house by a foyer providing two sets of doors.  It also has French doors that open up to the back porch.  The large master bathroom has separate his/her sinks with concrete counters, large tub, and separate shower with multi-heads.  The large his/her closets have a back-door that connects directly to the utility room for the ultimate in laundry convenience.

Adjacent to the master is a study alcove which overlooks the back yard.  It has a built-in desks for two computers and printer.

Upstairs

The staircase is the eye-catching visual centerpiece of the house.  Straight up the stairs is the landing which provides entry through French doors into the game room.  Then up the remaining stairs to the top level where there are four bedrooms.

All rooms upstairs are carpeted with commercial-grade designer carpet tiles.  Individual tiles can be pulled up for cleaning or replacement.

One side of the vaulted game room has a built-in entertainment system to house an entire surround-sound theater system and whole-house audio system.  The window frames are designed to provide complete "blackout" shading for movie watching in the daytime.   The other side of the gameroom is designed for a pool table or foosball table.  The game room is positioned over the porta-cachere and is double insulated to make sure loud movie watching, or play, do not impose on activity downstairs.   The game room is flanked by large window seats on both ends.

Large, wooded yard

In Plano in the 1800's, they platted lots on a huge scale by today's standards.  Including the city's right-of-way easement, this corner lot has over 2/3 of an acre total usable.  The back yard and adjoining land have huge pecan, oak and other established trees.

Upgraded everything -- Windows, Doors, Lighting and Trim

It's hard to overstate the authentic feel and statement made by the all-wood windows and custom-made doors.  Most of the windows crank out for easily opening and closing and were characterized by the architect as "too good looking to cover!".  All of the doors are solid core -- and most are custom-made stained wood and glass.

The extensive, oversized trim throughout maintains the clean Craftsman styling and provides warmth and charm.

All main living areas have specialized lighting that create a sophisticated look and feel.

This picture of the powder bathroom shows an example of the hand selected designer fixtures and wall textures as well.

Kitchen cabinets are extra deep -- 30" instead of the standard 24.  And drawer glides throughout the house are heavy duty and are extended so the drawer opens out all the way.

Located in Haggard Park neighborhood -- Plano's pride and joy

One of the best compliments we get is "It's amazing how you've been able to restore this house!". While it was designed to be perfectly congruent with the charm of the neighborhood and look like it was built a century ago, it was actually built from scratch in 2001.

The Haggard Park Neighborhood is the Plano's original neighborhood platted in the late 1800s. It's adjacent to the downtown square on the east side. In 2001, The City of Plano designated the neighborhood as a protected heritage district. The house and most others on the street are on the historic walking tour. The neighborhood is quiet and is one block from the Plano Police Station.  The Haggard Park community is great and there's an outing to one of the many great downtown restaurants on the first Wednesday of every month.  The amazing Courtyard Theater is across the street, and it's is catty-corner from the park where there's Plano's large gazebo, playground, and the rail car museum.

The "Not So Big House" Inspiration

The house was influenced by the "Not So Big House" book series.  The philosophy is to create houses where every room is used every day.  And that big rooms have a purpose but small has a purpose too.

With about 5,000 square foot under roof in the main living areas of the house, it's a pretty big house.  However, it has the usable capacity of an even larger house.

The large kitchen and its oversized island with seating all around, replaces the standard kitchen with bar and kitchen nook.  It takes less space and has amazing "feng shui" that people naturally gravitate towards.

Implementing a study as an alcove off of the master bedroom with a sliding door, instead of a full, separate room saves space and is intentionally located off the beaten-path.

Instead of a separate dining room and formal living room which take up extra room and often sit empty, the house has a "library" which has the main dining table flanked by a relatively small seating area with fireplace and window seat.  The Not So Big House series calls it an Away Room.  Unlike the large, main living, or "great" room, this room gives off an intimate feel and is a great place to sneak off for a conversation, read a book, or spread out the books for studying.

Adding media and game rooms separately in a house is another way to have run-away square footage for rooms that are rarely, if ever used, simultaneously.  Combining them as a single, amply-sized, room utilizes that synergy and creates a perfect multi-purpose recreational gathering area.

Bedrooms with Personality and Bonus Room

Each bedroom has distinctive features to make it unique.  Three of them have window seats.  The fifth bedroom is oversized to accommodate use as an exercise gym.

Behind the detached garage is a large room designed to be used as a music studio.  Walls are double thick, and double insulated, and it is intentionally set apart from the house and the neighbors as well.  It has central heating and cooling and a separate alarm system, and extra power outlets on each wall.  It has carpet tiles on the floor and walls, and the ceiling is vaulted.  It is the ultimate "man cave".

Daily Coming and Going

To accommodate getting in and out, and loading and unloading quickly, there is a circle drive with side entry into the house under a large porta-cachere.  With the large 2-car garage, there is covered parking for 3 cars.

In addition to the short walk to the DART rail station and the downtown square, by car it's a minute to northbound and southbound I-75 near the intersection of the 190 Turnpike, which is a straight shot to DFW airport.  And even when there's no traffic, it's 15+ minutes closer to Dallas than the Allen/McKinney area.

Modern Electronics

The house is equipped with a whole-house audio system.  Including the ability to play music throughout the house wirelessly from any computer or laptop with iTunes.  Or the ability to listen to the family room TV throughout the house.  It's also pre-wired for speakers in virtually every room including the front and back porch.

It's also equipped with an alarm system, as well as wired for cameras at all of the doors, and has automatic lights outside.

The media room is fully wired for surround sound and a projector.

Construction quality

The home was built to last by Myers Custom Builders.  The foundation is "slab on piers".  Siding is hardyboard.

The A/C in the main house is zoned with 3 units.  There are 2 water heater zones with two 50 gallon heaters each. 

Tax Exemption

Based on its authentic craftsman exterior, this home was approved as a contributing structure in the Haggard Park Heritage District shortly after it was built in 2001.  Therefore it receives the Historic Preservation property tax exemption, which as a new home (versus being restored), is 75% of the house value.   With annual property taxes running over 2.1% of the total value on the tax roll, that amounts to a property tax savings of $640 EVERY MONTH.  Making the monthly payment equivalent to a house costing about $125,000 less.  Here is an illustration showing how the tax exemption reduces the total monthly payment (including taxes and insurance) to about $3,450 which would normally be the payment for a house costing about $535,000:

     With     Without
Exemption   Exemption
  660,000     535,000  Price of house
  135,000     105,000  20% down payment
    2,900       2,350  Interest + principal (based on 5.25%) 
      350         950  Monthly property tax
      200         150  Est insurance
    3,450       3,450  Equivalent monthly payment

Below are the actual annual property taxes paid for the last 4 years. 

  2007    2008    2009    2010
$4,039  $4,100  $4,151  $4,191