Bringing the Outside In The Dream Home’s outdoor living spaces, like the rest of the home, are highly functional, built around the home’s C-shaped footprint, with the pool and spa notched in.
The covered galley-style outdoor kitchen, made of the same leuders stone that's on the home's exterior, features a built-in grill with vent hood and poolside walk-up bar with sink and refrigerator. Steps away, a covered dining vignette seats 10.
And on the other side of the pool is the master bedroom's own covered patio, with a built-in fire pit and giant flat panel. Yard Art Patio & Fireplace provided the outdoor furniture.
The outdoor kitchen, dining area and master patio are heated by Infratech infrared electric, flush-mounted heaters, installed by JetStream Outdoor Cooling. JetStream also installed a proprietary cooling system for the master patio.
JetStream's pump misting system allows “flash evaporation” of the moisture to occur, cooling the air and dropping the ambient temperature by up to 25 degrees, JetStream's Forrest Woods says. The cooling system is concealed and ducted, requiring accessible attic space above the patio.
The heating and cooling systems are easily controlled. The heaters are provided by switches that provide off, low, and high choices. The cooling system includes independent switches for the blower and mist pump. The blower can be used without mist to circulate air.
Claffey Pools built the linear, contemporary jump pool, which goes to a depth of 7 feet 6 inches, and spa. The eight-person rectangular spa has a full-perimeter overflow, glass-tile edge on all four sides; when the water is still, the top of the spa looks like a sheet of glass. The pool also has glass tile accents.
The pool and spa lighting and variable-speed pump can all be controlled by mobile app. The sections of the concrete deck around the pool are accented by artificial turf. “The project is an extension of the home and provides a great entertaining atmosphere,” says Shelly Claffey of Claffey Pools.
Smart: Efficient Dream Home The magazine's Dream Homes are remarkably energy-efficient. This Dream Home's efficiency starts with its Jeld-Wen's Siteline windows and patio doors, which meet or exceed 2016 Energy Star 6 standards and were provided by Texas Custom Window & Door.
Siteline's LoE 366 glass blocks infrared rays. In warm weather, the glass reflects the sun's energy and prevents it from entering the home. In cold weather, the glass reduces heat lost by reflecting it back inside.
The Dream Home also sports ZIP System sheathing, an engineered wood panel with built-in wrap that reduces air leakage and moisture damage inside the walls. The attic has full foam encapsulation in the attic and walls.
The Dream Home has a Trane XR17 central air and heat system with a two-stage outdoor compressor system and a variable-speed indoor furnace, provided by J&S Air. The system also has Trane's new Wi-Fi capability, allowing the Dream Home's owners to control operations by mobile phone. The speed and size of the HVAC system change to accommodate the temperatures needed throughout the day. Mild days require low speeds, while hotter days require high speed and more cooling capacity.
All of the Dream Home's light fixtures — the interior and exterior lighting being provided by Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting, and landscape lighting by Passion Lighting — feature LEDs. “They are 80 percent more efficient than a standard halogen light,” Braswell says. “And the new LED lights have a 25,000-hour life.”
And the Dream Home's two tankless water heaters, provided by ProServe Plumbing, mean the Dream Home expends energy heating water only when hot water is being used. “It is an on-demand system, only heating water when it is necessary,” Braswell says.
Final Frontier: Garage Our Dream Homes typically have three- or four-car garages and lots of storage space, but we don’t tend to write about the space beyond that. In this case, we made an exception.
The Dream Home's new owners chose to trick out their three-car garage with a package provided by Garage Living of Dallas/Fort Worth. And they're not alone. The New York Times, in December, called garage finish-outs the “final frontier” in high-end homes.
Why? Because a clean, well-designed garage space can serve as an extension of the rest of the home, serve as an extra entertaining space and accommodating surrounding for the homeowner's luxury vehicles, and support a home's value, according to Garage Living of Dallas/Fort Worth, which designed and installed the garage floors, cabinetry and slatwall organizers.
The Dream Home's garage shows off a textured Floortex Coating for the concrete floor. The color: “Nightfall.” This unusual airy garage, like the rest of the home, sports plenty of windows, including diffused glass divided lights in the doors.
Garage Living's GL Cabinetry modular units — dark gray with black trim — are power-coated welded steel, with magnetic door latches and large lockers for sports equipment. The gunmetal gray and black slatwall organizers allow the homeowner to hang up tools, toys, tires, bikes and golf clubs.
The garage also has a motorized attic lift that enables the easy movement of items for storage into the attic above the garage.
Modern: It's Coming On The Dream Home stands out now as unusual in Fort Worth, but expect to see more of it. If modern is difficult to find in the Fort Worth area, that starts with the dearth of available lots, says Braswell, who built his own modern home in La Cantera.
“Right now, it's hard to even find a place to put it,” he says. “But it's coming on.”
