Two of Westlake's Most Exclusive Estates - Douglas Wheat's Vaquero Paradise and Nathan Graves' Wooded Residence

No doubt, Westlake, Texas is a premiere site for luxury real estate in north Texas, have I not said that already?  Well, I did a little bit of funsearch, not research but funsearch because its fun research, and came across two monstra-mansions (I'm just making up words left and right) owned by businessman Douglas Wheat and doctor Nathan Graves.  Here are, in my humble opinion, two of Westlake's most exclusive estates!

This is successful businessman Douglas Wheat's sprawling residence in Vaquero...need I say more?  Appraised at $7.2 million bucks, his 11,600 sq. foot mansion at 2006 Navasota Circle comes with a 4 car garage, 3 pools, a half basketball court, courtyard, and outdoor living quarters.  Wheat is the Chairman and Director of AMN Healthcare Investment Services as well as the Director for the second largest distributor of YellowPages, Super Media.  His wife, Laura Wheat, is the mayor of Westlake.

This is the insane wooded estate of Nathan L. Graves, an affluent Urologist in the DFW Metroplex.  Graves has been with DFW Urology since 1986.  Graves is an avid pilot and Oklahoma Sooner.  His 11,550 sq. foot home comes with a 7 car garage, pool, pool house, 2 tennis courts, basketball court, and what looks to be a batting cage off the tennis courts!  His property backs up to Vaquero.

Thanks for reading,

John

George and Jan Grubbs' Southlake Mansion Badly Burned in Lightning Storm last November

Last November 2, 2010 was an important date - it was election day!  But for George and Jan Grubbs, it wasn't a good day at all.  While out of town, they received the horrible news that their house was up in flames.  If you can remember back to November 2nd of last year, you should remember we have rain and heavy thunderstorms all day long.  Fire investigators later concluded that lightning was the probable cause of the Grubbs' major mansion fire.  The 11,000 sq. foot home once appraised at $2.2 million dollars suffered extensive damage to the entire left wing of the home.  While the Grubbs were out of town that day, their housekeeper was not.  She was doing her normal cleaning routine when the lightning struck; she lost everything.  The Grubbs are known for their prominent car dealerships including Grubbs Nissan and Grubbs Infiniti.  Here are some snapshots I took of the Southlake home located at 702 South White Chapel Blvd.

As you can see in this aerial shot, the lightning strike completely destroyed the entire life side of the mansion.

It was a beautiful home with a private pond, pool, and gazebo.  The Grubbs' has a large brick wall built just inside the gate so no one would be able to see their home from the street - smart!

The lightning strike that caused so much damage to the Grubbs' home have some wondering - does Southlake attract lightning strikes?  An interesting story over on NBC 5 DFW.

Thanks for reading,

John

What to say...

As the cyclone (now at category 5) is hitting Far North Cairns, it's difficult to find things to blog about. The word friends of mine have been using in Cairns is that they are terrified and they have all prepared themselves to bed down in their bathrooms for the night.

It's going to be a long night as we wait for morning to see what Yasi has left behind.

But I do want to take the opportunity to say thanks to Louise.

You all know how much I love Table Tonic (blog and shop) and she has posted about my bedroom (with my yummy Table Tonic cushion) here on her blog. I'm thrilled to be acknowledged on such an inspirational and stylish blog.

 

Thank you also to all of you who have commented or sent me emails about my little bedroom.

I love how blog world works and the support we share for each other.

xox

House on The Mediterranean

This beautiful house is located in Malaga, Spain. It seems to be sinking into the vegetation which keeps it cool in summer. Inside, most of the furniture is either French or English, a real delight. I love every room of this house but I have an issue with the kitchen, though. You might guess what it is. Anyway, hope you enjoy today's tour, my friends!




































All images from here.

Billionaire Sid Bass' Extraordinary Lavish Residence - Easily Fort Worth's Finest Residential Estate

The "Bass" name in Fort Worth has a very prominent reputation.  Since the early 1900's the Bass family has resided in Fort Worth.  Perry Bass and Sid Richardson, both dead, began an oil and gas business that, overtime, hit the jackpot.  Sid Bass, now 69 years old, took over the business in 1968 and began investing in oil and gas and other high profile stocks.  In 2007, he was declared by Forbes to be the 287th richest person in the world with a networth of $3 Billion.  The Bass family were known for being the largest stockholder of The Walt Disney Company until 2001.  Among other popular holdings, the Bass Hall for the performing arts was named after the Bass family who all made, and are continuing to make, a big mark on north Texas.  This is Sid and Mercedes Bass' sprawling and extraordinary residence on Crestline Road in Fort Worth.  Undoubtedly, this is Fort Worth's finest estate.  Located at 4824 Crestline Road, the whopping 18,270 sq. foot home comes with acres upon acres of formal gardens, a pool, 8 car garage, private ponds, and gazebo.  Just last year, the whole estate was appraised at $16,140,000!!  Below are some incredible pictures I snapshotted.  The estate is so big, I had to zoom in and split the pictures in half!

Thanks for reading,

John

Happy Birthday to Fellow Luxury Real Estate Blog, Pricey Pads!

Pricey Pads has been with North Texas Luxury ever since the beginning.  Today, February 1, 2011, Pricey Pads turns 1 year old!  Over the past exciting year, Pricey Pads has had some great opportunities.  M. Cal, the lead blogger of Pricey Pads, took an exclusive one-on-one tour of the sprawling Dean Gardens estate before its plans to be demolished after Tyler Perry bought the property.  Pricey Pads featured the sell of Sheryl Crow's house and will soon feature the stars of "Little People, Big World", Matt Roloff's estate.  The future is bright for Pricey Pads - I am sure the blog will continue its great success!  Good luck M. Cal and Pricey Pads!

Visit Pricey Pads

Why Mother Nature ??

I received a call from my dad tonight asking if I was going to have a store to go to in Cairns (for those who don't know I work in retail hence the store question)! Only a couple of days ago I posted about my new move and promotion to lovely Cairns in Far North Queensland. Well tonight, only weeks after South East Queensland was hit by massive floods, Cairns is now bracing itself for a monster cyclone - category 4 to be precise with winds of up to 250 km/h! 

I'm lucky I haven't moved there yet but I am so scared for everyone I know living in Cairns.

Mother nature, what did Queensland do to deserve all this ??

Stay safe everyone  xx

image via weheartit