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Feature: “Gallic Glamour”
 

 

Seven years ago, Mark and Ruth Ann Dunn fell in love with their French inspired manse in Preston Hollow, even in its unfinished state. Many of the interior walls weren’t up and there was no roof. The original owners who’d commissioned the house from architect Robbie Fusch, AIA, of Fusch Architects, Inc., in Dallas, had put it up for sale mid-project. The Dunns bought it, knowing that if they got in early enough they could make it their own. And they succeeded.

 

“It’s a country French house with a glamorous twist,” says interior designer Laura Lee Clark Falconer, ASID, of Dallas-based Laura Lee Clark Interior Design, Inc. Falconer worked closely with Fusch and builder Steven Hild, of Dallas’ Steven Hild Custom Builder, to finish the house the way the Dunns envisioned it: grand, yet comfortable. “For them, it’s all about entertaining and family,” she adds. Fusch’s design provided easy flow between rooms, essential for keeping the party moving. A rolling two-acre lot, created by joining three properties together, makes the large house feel more like a lavish country estate. Guests can spill outside into the covered limestone patios and groomed grounds, and the Dunns’ grandkids have room to run around. The backyard pool, designed to look like a French fountain, is a big hit with everyone.

 

Overall, the house has an authentic Gallic vibe. “Most of my inspiration comes from travels to France and Italy,” says Fusch, who goes on scouting missions several times a year to purchase architectural antiques for clients, such as the half-dozen or so limestone trumeau fireplaces found inside the Dunns’ home. A hand-carved limestone portico was modeled after one he’d seen in a chateau in the Loire Valley. The limestone masonry covering the exterior of the house is a foot thicker than what usually passes muster locally for French, says Fusch. Also, outside landscape architect Harold Leidner, of Harold Leidner Company in Carrollton collaborated with the homeowners to design manicured grounds and artfully raked pea-gravel walkways, as well as a driveway, reminiscent of fine Parisian gardens.