Turtle Creek’s Own Blue Tile Cupola

I just got to see perhaps the most beautiful home in Dallas. Big statement, but I am talking about the Crespi estate–you know the one, it’s the blue tile roof with the cupola that you see from Turtle Creek Boulevard. It is now owned by author and art collector Robert Edsel, and being designed by Ike Isenhour. Ike has been working on it for two years, not adding, but taking away layers of walls and paneling that have been added through the 81 years since it was originally built on the banks of Turtle Creek–the only home on the creek to have its own boat slip. And what he has dealt with is solid concrete walls. Since Edsel’s collection of Renaissance art is all wired to the security system, every place where a painting is to be had to be saw cut through the concrete to install the wiring. You’ll see none of that, just a perfectly pared down interior with outstanding architecture and world-class art. Well done, Ike. Now we know what you’ve been up to for the last two years.