As you set foot into 1802 Forest Gate Circle, an 11,500 foot estate,you are called back in time to the English countryside to a home of a wealthy member of the King's court. The polished Mahogany panels whisper to you the history of a time gone by and beckons you to remember the elegance of the English Castles of the nobility. The beauty is not just in the geometry of the wood panels that stun you but in the painstaking skills that were shaped by hands chosen from artisans who do not lend their names to the ordinary. This wood craftsmanship is in display throughout the house. The Mahogany that adorns this house came from Honduras straight to the House and there it was milled and crafted on site. The Devil may be in the details but the details are heavenly. The original owner, a construction aficionado himself, made workers do and redo a hundred times until they got it right. The floors, the ceilings are stubborn reminders of the English pride of its imperial days!
As you leave the foyer noting the formal dining room to your left and a grand staircase to the right rising to the second floor guided by a banister crafted by one of the finest artisans in the country, gently lit by stained glass panels from above, you are invited into the formal living room that challenges the best of them any where in the world. The mahogany panelings, the hand made strips of flooring, and the beams above defy the 21st century home building. Here right in the dawn of the 21st century, a man has paid an uncanny tribute to a style thought to have been extinct. From the living room a $500,000.00 swimming pool will grab your attention. If the fountain is bubbling you will want to linger a little bit and walk over to see what might be the largest pool in Fort Bend County. The pool is wired for all the things you will want including the aesthetics which complements the house.
Once you slide one of the two stained glass doors in the formal living room you will enter a large kitchen with Viking appliances and a granite island where 5 chefs can work at the same time. A breakfast area and a breezeway will lead you to a hobby room and then to a 4 car garage. Step out of the garage onto the 1.4 acres of land on which the house is built. You will then be dwarfed by 30 plus pecan trees towering over the house. They stretch their arms around the house to shield it from the Texas summers. If you sit outside between dawn and dusk you will see a variety of birds seeking a variety of things in these trees. Mocking birds fiercely chasing a spotted hawk, or a swam of Texas Blackbirds sharing the trees with another swam of chipping sparrows or the chickadees. The inseparable cardinal pair will visit you sometimes attempting to oust the Blue Jay from its perch. And then you will hear the knock-knock and look up to find the red breasted woodpecker chopping at a branch as his mate supervises his work. If you have a quick eye and you were near the bottle brush tree, the step-child of the garden, you will see the humming birds feast on the red flowers as they pass through in spring and fall. The squirrels of course own the pecan trees and you will see them play and fight and bury the nuts.
Walk up one of the 3 stairways to the second floor. The charm continues. A large master bed room facing the east to remind the sleeper that the dawn has come. Right next to it is an imposing library. Walk across the bed room to a large men's dressing room and bathroom. Paneled again with four separate closets with four different doors. The Master of the house has been given his due respect. Next to this man's enclave lies a dressing room, closet and a bathroom for the mistress of the house. No cost has been spared. The closet has been built for a woman of taste, extravagant taste. The closet leads to a small room currently used as a Yoga room. Exit the Yoga room into a very large game room. Whatever your desire in indoor sport, you can indulge it here.
There are 3 more bedrooms with fixtures that are best in that class and yet the feel of the manor is never lost. The third floor is a large hall. Currently used as an office but wired for a theater. In the closet of the third floor lies the brain of the house. Crestron Home automation system, Light Touch lighting and the Hai alrm system all have been integrated into an indistinguishable manifold.
To see this house is to love it and more importantly respect it!