A Couple Falls Hard For The Home Of Their Dreams

Text by Cathy Gordon | Photography by Susan Friday Photography

Gary Wallace took a leisurely drive one day, hoping to find the home of his dreams. And he found it. A quick walk-through all but confirmed it in his mind. This was the house.

Excited, he called his wife Jann. “Do your research. Find out more,” she urged.

So he called the number on the Mary Ross Custom Homes sign posted out front. It didn’t take long for his hopes to get dashed.

“It’s not for sale,” the builder informed him.

So begins the tale of the house with two suitors. Builder Mary Ross, in love with the house, had purchased it from friend Ross Munger, a well-known and respected builder, now retired. She had every intention of moving into it. She was remodeling it to become her personal home.

Along comes Gary, newly smitten. The house had grabbed him by the lapels and wouldn’t let go. Jann was falling hard too.

“I was so thrilled that Ross Munger let me buy his house,” says Mary. “I was really looking forward to moving there. We were pretty far along in the remodel and I had to tell Gary, ‘It’s not for sale.’ More than once I told him, believe me.”

“We pestered her. A lot,” quips Gary, who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. “We loved this house. Everything about it was right. We were calling her up all the time hoping to sway her.”

Back and forth, the dialogue went. And then came the Wallace’s happy-dance phone call. Mary had changed her mind. She had grown to know their heart. Jann and Gary loved the house as she did, she says, “So I thought, ‘Okay, I’m going to sell it to them.’ I would never have sold it to just anybody, but they loved it. I could see that. I knew they’d do it justice and they did. It’s beautiful.”

“There are so many things we love about this house, starting with location,” says Gary. They wanted a property in the front part of the subdivision for easy freeway access.

But this five-bedroom gem has a lot more going for it than thoroughfare convenience. It boasts a beautiful, tree-studded large yard with a neighborhood pond with fountain in clear view from their backyard. A wooded reserve is behind them with pathways that lead to a lake.

They find themselves hanging out a lot in the den, they say, with views of all those amenities.

“But seriously, we use all of this house,” says Jann, whose stamp can be seen throughout. She loves tone-on-tone decorating with whites, beiges and other neutrals setting the stage for her fun, romantic and, at times, whimsical accessories.

The couple bought the house in time to make their own selections of paint, light fixtures, hardware, etc. They sold their recently built house in Midland and a smaller home in the area, melding the households into this one.

“That was some week, closing on all these houses about the same time,” Gary says. “Oh gosh, what a week,” agrees Jann, who was happy for easy detail selections with this house. “We knew what we liked since we’d just done all the house selections recently in Midland. We just kind of copied what we had there. That was nice – it made everything less stressful. We definitely know what we like.”

Gary credits Jann as the creative genius behind the home’s décor.

“It’s just a hobby. I’m not a professional designer or decorator,” she explains, “but I’ve done the decorating in every house we’ve had because I just love it.”

She has a knack for ferreting out just the right accessory. Antique stores, Marshalls, Anthropologie and some other boutiques are favorite haunts. She takes her time finding just the right thing.

“Sometimes I’ll come home and say ‘Wow, that lamp is just perfect!’ Then it’s gone the next day,” he quips. “She’s replaced it with something else. She knows what she likes and it has to be right.”

Their two grown sons, Austin and Dusty, now married with their own kids, can attest to that. “Growing up I think they thought I was crazy,” Jann says, laughing. “They’d say, ‘There’s mom, staring at the living room again.’ ”

From the looks of it, all the studying led to good results in this house, too. The couple credit Ross for her remodeling and savvy design skills, but were happy to take it on to completion.

Amazingly, their furniture seemed to fit perfectly. A wall in the den accommodates a long buffet-style cabinet they brought with them. A mammoth shelf unit they owned in Midland looks as though it was specially made for one wall in the upstairs gameroom.

With furniture in place, accessories were icing on the cake. Eugene E. White Interiors of Houston was a saving grace, Jann says, hanging art and setting lamps and other objects in place. “I don’t know what we would have done without them. They just helped with everything, all the placement of things.”

Thanks to a state-of-the-art sound system by Trademark Systems, music wafts through the house — and property. Indeed, this particular sunny day, music seemingly comes from the ground and trees, as if part of nature. “Speaker placement makes a difference,” says Gary.

Jann and Gary had a full house at Christmas with their sons’ families and Gary’s parents visiting. Granddaughter Blake, just a few months old, and 1-year-old John, kept things hopping. A cute nursery awash in soft linens awaits them whenever they visit.

The holiday experience revealed just how homey the place is, says Jann. It more than accommodated family. “My goal is for the house to be all about comfort. Elegant, but casual with a quirky touch here or there,” she says.

A recently acquired Pug dog sculpture in an upstairs guest room would be one example of a delightful curiosity. An oversized dog painting downstairs that says “You make me so dog-gone happy” is another.

Lately, the couple is enjoying their upstairs gameroom for a Netflix Mad Men marathon. “It’s so comfortable up there,” Jann says.

Gary jokes that the butler’s pantry might be his favorite place in the house, “because that’s where I go for my coffee.” That area received the “Jann touch,” too. She outfitted it in cute accessories and mugs from Anthropologie, mixed with other unusual finds.

The kitchen with oversized Calacatta gold marble is a vision too, and the perfect spot for family gatherings. “You ever see the movie, The Big Chill? It’s that kind of kitchen. You can just picture people all around the island, eating, laughing. It’s a great space,” Gary says.

As for women visitors, they might want to hang out in Jann’s closet — oh-so-cute with mirrored doors and a large vanity for jewelry and other fun baubles. An oversized painting of a Victorian woman overlooks it all.

Fun stuff, this house. Kind of French Country meets Casual Elegance with a Twist of Funky Romantic.

“Oh, I like that,” says Jann of the offered description.

“It’s what I was going for!”

TOP IMAGE: Their backyard paradise awaits with glimmering pool by Texas Pools and an expansive patio and eating area. A state-of-the-art sound system by Trademark Systems brings melody to the entire backyard.

For the Love of a House