Choosing The Best Townhome In Dallas

I really liked the way Hope Terrace was laid out, mainly because the central stair was a nice way of separating spaces within each floor, but also allowed for the plan to maintain a very open, acessable layout.

Good morning,
I love a challenge–3 great nominees.
**All 3 had average environmental features so this category basically canceled itself out.
*****
Hope Terrace–IMO, the best floorplan of the three at utilizing the narrow configuration, especially the 1st floor space. The kitchen acts as central hub between dining and living. 2nd floor bedrooms nice. Big terrace…nice, but view is iffy. Unfortunately, although the location is walkable, the street view left me unimpressed. Greenville Street, the main area for retail/restaurants, is old and dirty. I don’t mind “old”, per say, but I do mind “dirty”. There is a blue and brown corrogated steel building across the street due south of the townhouses. An empty parking lot and the back of a building (lots of doors and garbage cans) adjacent to the site on the north. The area needs more of a facelift before I would call it livable.
*****
Trinity–Modest floorplan with study on top floor instead of ground floor…nice terrace too. Also, small but usable balcony on 1st floor. 2nd floor bedrooms are fine with decent laundry closet. Although it is not walkable, the area around Trinity is under development and the views are better…clean, green areas with trees and bodies of water.
*****
Highland Gates–Least favorite interior but still livable, with the exception of no outdoor living space. (That was the deal breaker for me.) The area is highly walkable with a neighborhood feel…buildings and green areas are clean. There is a park 1 block away and dozens of restaurants/retail within walking distance along a much cleaner street. Unfortunately, there is an ugly powerline on the back side of the development beside a high-rise building.
*****
I struggled with the choices because the floorplan of Hope Terrace was so good but the location not good. I loved Highland Gates walkability but not the absence of outdoor living. Trinity was my compromise…o.k. floorplan with nice terrace and located in a cleaner area with future development including outdoor spaces for exercise and relaxation.

If cost were a consideration I would pick Trinity…sadly I spent every last dime buying Highland

I choose TRINITY.

Hope
– I do like the use of the interior pocket doors, the size of the windows on the main floor, placing the kitchen in the center where there is less light, master bath entry and the opposite closet was a good choice for the space, and they tucked a full bath and closet on the first floor- in the back- for a flexible guest bedroom/study I favor.
-
Did not like..lower floor outdoor spaces are quite poor until you get to that great roof, master bedroom is too big, the ½ bath is badly designed being about 3 by 7 and I think you can sit at the toilet and wash your hands at the same time, where is the laundry???, the sliding door in the second bedroom is too big as it eliminates the possibility of placing a dresser on that nice wall, they should have eliminated the living floor outdoor space as it causes wasted space, and if you plan on entertaining on the deck guests would have to go through a bedroom or down two floors to use the public bath, location is ok.

Trinity
-I like that we do not have circulation through the living room, the kitchen has plenty of counterspace and light and the stove in this plan would not be a firehazard unlike their other plans, the windows in the stair brings light in, I love the view you get when you walk in- right out to that landscaped back patio and this adequately sized storage space is right there, the laundry closet has room in it to place a basket, the second bedroom size is just right, I give them a nod for some of the energy concerns, the entry by the kitchen to that balcony was smart, the top floor is something I really love (being young and hip as BradW says). A flex space with all this light. A possible wet bar. And minimal steps from the hall to walk out to the roof deck with these views – now that is made for serious entertaining… you can enjoy the view in colder and warm weather.
-
The kitchen still needs work- why is the sink not under a window? Separate oven and stove (you can buy a slide in which is cheaper!), and if you plan on entertaining on the deck guests would have to go through a bedroom or down two floors to use the public bath- so they should have rearranged the guest room bath for a door in the hallway, the master bath has some wasted space in front of the toilet, if you went with a fireplace I do not see how the furniture would work without dueling focal points, they could have done something with that storage space in the garage. The local area is not quite where it needs to be for walking but views and proximity to downtown is great. Looking at the Trinity River project this will be near the future outdoor ampitheatre and channels for canoes and not seeing any buildings that would block that great view.

Highland
-Like the first floor bedroom suite layout with all the doors toward the middle of the plan, that kitchen looks great – the pantry- window over sink- though I cannot figure out where
the refrigerator goes… placement and size of the ½ bath, the second bedroom closet and bathroom location was smart, love the fireplace location though they should have gone see through, location seems really nice.
-
Dislike the need to walk through the living room to a stair, 2 masters closets are 1 too much, no outdoor living attached to the unit, the entry feels cramped, the dining room is too dark, the windows seem too small in the master and living.
*
Mid America Mom

Heyyyy, that’s great that 2 of mine got in there! Of course, not that I have any personal vested interest in either! I actually think that the best unit here is the Trinity one. Although the walkscore did come in a bit lower, it’s so close to downtown that, while you wouldn’t necessarily be walking all the time, it’d be a really short bike ride into work or to visit the museum or whatever. The most appealing part to me is all of the outdoor space this one has. Highland gates was just too big, lacking also ANY outdoor space, and the Hope Terrace – while it has access to what I think is a roof deck – felt a bit narrow, had that silly little balcony on the second and third levels, and had some wasted space ie. in the master.

Trinity got my vote because I liked the way it handled “traffic.”

Hope has the problem of going up or down from main living zone to get to a bathroom. Also, I didn’t like the hall to the roof staircase almost being a part of that guest bedroom. It would depend on how often this bedroom is actually used by an occupant; otherwise conflict.

Highland makes you go through the living room to get upstairs. Also splits the master closet, which will cause bedroom traffic.

M.A.M.

I like the way you thought about using these places, especially the bit about where the guests will relieve themselves if they’re on the roof. The nice thing about Trinity is, a guest can just go down the stairs to the powder room without entering private space while en route to the kitchen for more food and drinks (to help the hosts).

Brad,
How about large cacti on the roof for shade/screening from wind and noise?

Brad,
I didn’t see your links to unique Dallas homes yesterday until today. Thanks again for showing us some unique architectural history. I would love to see what that floating dining room looks like in the Edward Durrell Stone Park Lane place. That really piqued my curiosity. The outdoor/indoor courtyard integration must be wonderful too.

BradW – so does this mean that in climates that are unfavorable we should nix the outdoor space and opt for efficient building envelopes designed to keep the outside out?

Hope Terrace – Although the kitchen would be a bit dark due to it’s location in the center of the plan, I think that it makes for really nice dining and living spaces. The bedroom on the main floor would be great for guests or for more regular use as a studio. The Trinity has a problem in the garage with the angled wall – did they decide not to draw in the second car because it would look ridiculous? Also, the location isn’t that great for me because I want to be able to walk to get my groceries as often as I can – and future redevelopment aside, you can’t do that in that spot. Good location for the Highland Gates, but the plans just didn’t sing to me.

MAM,
I had a hard time finding the laundry in Hope also. I thought it must be a stacker in the hall closet on the 3rd floor, across from the landing to the stairs that lead to the terrace. What do you think? I can’t enlarge the images so I just guessed based on what looked like the largest closet that could hold a W/D (without being a bedroom closet of course).

orangeopolis – not at all…I was just having some fun trying to drum up support for Highland
Terri – luckily the Escalade (hybrid – I don’t want to receive any nasty mail) is a company vehicle therefore I can still just afford the mortgage on Highland :)

BradW and I together: “Go Highland Go!”

BradW,
That was me asking about the Escalade…hybrid…impressive. I feel much better knowing you aren’t “taxed” with that extra debt.
Molly

I tallied the votes from the Slow Homers who have logged in comments today and here are the results:
**
Hope–6
Trinity–6
Highland–2
**
Of course this is unofficial since we don’t know who else has voted. But it can’t get any closer than a tie.:)

[img]hoar01buchanan.jpg[/img][img]hosl03buchanan.jpg[/img][img]hosl04buchanan.jpg[/img]

MollyK – I am just not as hip or as young as MAM. Clearly, my memory is going…
Terri, I think, asked what the floating dining room looked like in the Durrell Stone Park Lane house – well my crack team of researchers discovered that this home, voted in the top 10 most beautiful in Dallas, was featured in AD October 2008 – http://www.architecturaldigest.com/homes/homes/2008/10/buchanan_article – the pictures above are from the AD article credited here
Preston – Go Highland!

Durrell Stone Park Lane, thinking to the comments on the Buzz not family friendly, …

what parent would subject their baby or toddler to those slippery terrazzo or marble? floors and is that a drowning hazard in the dining room or just some drop off (that would be about as dangerous)?

*****WANTED to SHARE a COMMENT from Janicke Routs, on our fan page on FACEBOOK, about bathrooms in the Dallas climate.****

Here is some of it:
“Look at the Buzz, Montgomery and Metropolitan in Dallas for example: Almost every BATHROOM and walk-in CLOSET are connected to each other, which I find a terrible bad, ugly thing. Imagine what happens:
Every day the humidity of your bathroom will go in this closet and your clothes don’t have a chance to stay dry…..(the airco is almost on all year long in Dallas) and (no, the air-circulation systems are NOT controlling this problem) You will absolutely get problems with mold, it will not smell great, it’s bad for your health and above all, your clothes will not be fresh and can be ruined….”
*
Janicke thanks for bringing this point up, being an North American- northerner I had no idea that a closet placement like this could pose a challenge in Dallas.
*
Mid America Mom

If the closet/bathroom arrangement is as bad as suggested why is it so common in Dallas new builds? Clearly, care must be taken to control humidity etc. and, perhaps build quality is the issue here.

As you can tell I do not care for the dining room… that kitchen however peaked my interest. I wonder if those are the kind of upper cabinets that go up like the airplane storage.

Mid America Mom