LESS IS MORE

Scouting Dallas Neighborhoods For Houses With High Renovation Potential

, as Jenny and Derek Kellogg are wont to do on weekends, the young couple parked and interrupted a man riding a lawnmower over a sprawling corner lot in the Merriman Park Estates section of Lake Highlands.

Jenny hopped out of the car, baby Hallie on her hip. The homeowner, apparently content to chat, powered down the mower. Jenny introduced herself, complimented him on his yard and asked if he knew of any nearby properties for sale.

“Next thing you know, our whole family was inside the man’s living room. Turned out his wife was a Realtor and that they actually were thinking of selling,” Jenny says.

“We purchased it three weeks later.”

Preston Hollow, Lake Highlands and a few other neighborhoods topped the Kelloggs’ list of desirable locations in which to take root. Their children were growing; quality of neighborhood schools was important, as was the proximity of parks, walkable streets and sense of community.

They had toured Merriman Park Elementary and liked what they saw, Jenny says.

“The schools and the tight-knit community in Lake Highlands were what we wanted.”

AS

Soon As The Kelloggs

procured the 1970s-era ranch house, they did what Derek, who owns the residential design and construction firm Richland Renovations, frequently is hired to do — something he and his wife utterly love to do — they changed everything except the address.

After that first encounter, Derek pictured and put on paper plans for his new home.

“I had a vision for what I wanted, how I wanted the home to sit, based on how we live, how we want to live. I have a weird talent of being able to walk through a home and draw it to scale. I could see the home finished.”

Over a period of about five months, Derek and his crew moved all but a couple of the home’s walls, raised the ceilings by two feet, and added a master bedroom, guest bedroom, and utility and mud rooms (they added about 1,500 square feet to the existing 2,700). They designed and landscaped a new backyard featuring a fireplace, television, stage, playhouse, garden and a bubbling fountain. The yard is pool-ready, Derek says, but Jenny is not sure she wants one. For now, the fountain as a water element is a compromise.

Richland College

12800 Abrams Road, 75243, Parking Lot E

Kidd Springs Park

711 W. Canty St., 75208, Horseshoe Parking Lot

PLEASE DROP OFF THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:

- electronic items (e-waste)

- televisions

- video games

- cell phones

- computers

- calculators

- printers

- small appliances

- toys and stuffed animals

- documents for destruction

(Limit 5 legal boxes. No boxes larger than 15 x 20 and NO binders)

- cardboard

- used cooking oil

- hardback books

- scrap metal

- auto and alkaline batteries

- tires (5 tire limit)

They removed a circular driveway, leaving nothing to block their view of a gorgeous green patch of parkland.

“Just look out that window,” Derek says, noting that when you do, you need no further explanation regarding the home’s appeal.

“It is rare to find that.”

The greenbelt across Merriman Parkway, visible via several symmetrical floor-to-ceiling windows, is thickly lined with aging trees, a trail that leads to White Rock Lake winding through them.

Lake Highlands’ residential enclaves developed in the 1960s and ’70s by and large feature ranch-style architecture, and, as both a professional renovator and landowner, Derek appreciates that. In his work, he says, he respects the form while putting a contemporary twist on it.

“We live so differently in 2015,” he says. “At

An outdoor patio, complete with fireplace and mounted television, comes in handy when the Kelloggs host neighborhood or school-related meetings, parties or game-watching events, something they enjoy doing. The covered space is just one attraction in an amenity filled backyard.

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

DO NOT BRING:

- textiles

- clothing

- shoes

- hats

- purses

- belts

- wallets

- backpacks

- clean styrofoam

- packaging foam

- bubble and shrink wrap

- plastic bags and packaging (without food residue)

NEW ITEMS

- household chemicals or paint

- building supplies

- pharmaceuticals

- furniture or mattresses

First 50 cars will receive two FREE Studio Movie Grill tickets!

For more information call 311 or the Waste Diversion Hotline at 214-670-4475

- new or gently used clean towels or blankets

- tennis balls

- dog/cat toys

- dry and canned pet food

- new or gently used leashes & collars

All pet items will be donated to Dallas Animal Services

Presented by City of Dallas Sanitation Services and supported in part by: the time, they built more but smaller spaces. A lot of the real estate they used for, say, formal living and dining areas might go unused today. We want less spaces, bigger, es, vaulted ceilings. I like to footage, make it usable.”

Each aspect of the reinvented home — from the functional and efficient, airy kitchen to packed game room and girly tailored to the family’s unique includes work (Jenny is a Nathan tor and tackles many of the administration duties for Derek’s entertaining guests and time.

UNLIKE MOST HUMANS,

like to move.

In the 10 years they have Jenny and Derek have lived They share a passion for finding would benefit from updates them — sometimes for clients times now, for themselves.

Their oldest, Taylor, might too.

“When we were looking and magazines, making plans she spotted a pink ceiling and she wanted the kids also about carpet,” Derek says. Taylor tel pink ceiling in her bedroom; complements whimsical designs and a velvety fuchsia headboard, another unique charcoal headboard the master bed, is custom-made.

Local interior designer Hall chose the single-edition well as the home’s sundry art cessories whose bold colors designs pop against neutral-hued

Taylor, 5, and Hallie, 3, share Jill-style powder room, a throwback one Jenny, as a child, shared

In April, the Kelloggs will abode on the annual Lake