It’s a Texas kid’s dream home or a Frenchman’s nightmare. Most of us just want a voyeur’s glimpse into the most talked about home in Preston Hollow.

The 4.3-acre estate on Strait Lane with 37,000 square feet of space and a water park in the back is getting a real-estate redo by Mehrdad Moayedi’s Crescent Estates Custom Homes. Once listed at almost $28 million, the developer plans to update the palatial property and resell it.

“This is a French-style house,” says Brad Oellermann of Crescent Estates Custom Homes. “We want to put today’s take on it. We want to tone down some of the finishes and ornateness.”

Photo credit: Danny Fulgencio
dfulgencio.com

How do you tone down a home with 10 bedrooms, 22 bathrooms, 10 living areas, four dining areas, a 10-car garage, two basketball courts, a tennis court, a gymnasium, hand-painted murals, two movie theaters, a ballet room, wine cellar, mahogany doors, a dog-washing room and a bowling alley? There’s a water park in the backyard with a lazy river and a grotto. Movie star Owen Wilson’s mom lives next door and can probably hear the grotto’s motion-activated skeletons emitting haunting sounds, just like the Walt Disney ride “Pirates of the Caribbean.”

Dr. Richard Malouf started building the home in 2003. It is one of the largest residential estates in North Texas. Allie Beth Allman & Associates first listed the property for sale at $27.9 million in 2017. Malouf raised three children there and ran into legal trouble with his dentistry practice. You can tell he loved his kids. (Hello? $10 million backyard waterpark!) The indoor basketball court reads, “Team Malouf.” Daughter, Sunny, who is now a singer/songwriter wrote, “Think outside the box” on the wall of her bedroom closet. One son’s room was inspired by the “Wolverine” movie.

The interior has intricate stonework and wood detail, including paneling, ceilings and cabinets. Nearly every room has elaborate chandeliers. The front is dominated by a sweeping staircase and vaulted ceilings with columns. Carvings of lions grace a fireplace. The home features more onyx — kitchen, showers, bathrooms, jacuzzi, countertops — than Dallas has ever seen.

Many of the tradesmen updating the home previously worked on the house and reported they had no budget. They did whatever they wanted.

“Dr. Malouf spared no expense,” Oellerman says. “Everything in there is top-notch quality.”

But do you need all that?

THE $10 MILLION BACKYARD WATERPARK

Only competition is Celine Dion’s.

A developer’s design checklist

Since Mehrdad Moayedi’s Crescent Estates Custom Homes bought the mansion, here’s what the developer has added:

A chandelier from the Statler

A spa with a steam shower, sauna, oxygen    chamber and cold-plunge tub

A Himalayan salt cave

A yoga and Pilates room

A meditation room

A full-size bowling alley

A DJ booth

A hair-cutting station

A soccer field

A renovated fountain in the front

More than 55 palm trees around the waterpark in the backyard

A beach entry to the backyard pool