Mansion in Dallas’ Highland Park Listed for $13.5 Million

The most expensive listing in Texas this month is an ode to New England in Dallas, according to the Houston Association of Realtors.

The four-bed, six-bath property at 3636 Stratford Avenue in Highland Park hit the market this week for $13.5 million, or about $2,000 per square foot. The main house, built in 1989, shares a third of an acre with an accessory dwelling unit and converted three-car garage. As part of a remodel in 2023, architect Jerry Coleman and Barringer Custom Homes traded the brick veneer of the second building for cedar shakes, a classic Cape Cod siding style.

Although the owners converted the garage to a basketball court with a striped and varnished floor, listing agent Michelle Wood of Compass RE Texas said the space can still accommodate cars — and, of course, pickleball.

The sellers are Timothy and Maria Beckett, who acquired the property in 2021, according to Dallas County records. The sale price wasn’t disclosed, but the listing price has almost tripled since then; when the home sold in March 2021, it was listed for $4.8 million, and the Becketts borrowed a $3 million mortgage to buy it.

Until 2003, the property was owned by HEB scion Stephen Butt and his wife, Susan. Stephen Butt is president of shareholder relations for the Texas grocery chain and great-grandson of its founder.

Highland park regularly takes the top spot in the ranks of Texas’ most expensive listings.

As the market becomes more favorable to buyers, agents around Texas have said that submarkets can vary significantly between cities, or even between neighborhoods.

There are pockets where North Texas is a buyer’s market,” said Jim Fite, CEO of Century 21 Judge Fite. “But there are pockets where it’s still a strong seller’s market,” he said.

Meanwhile in West Texas, Husam Jallad, one of El Paso’s top brokers, said sellers have totally lost the advantage.

“It is a buyer’s market,” Jallad said. “Certainly in the new builds, there are so many incentives. For God’s sake, builders, they are giving the home away, almost.”

The head of Austin’s biggest brokerage said the inventory of luxury homes and condos is mounting in the Austin area, while cheaper homes in the exurbs are selling more easily.

Dallas is different, Wood said.

“The luxury market has remained just as strong for me in 2025. I’ve sold a couple of properties over $20 million and a few in the $15 to $20 million,” Wood said. “The luxury market is less impacted by interest rates because most of these people, if they need to, can pay cash or borrow against liquid assets that they already have.”

Wood attributes the hollowing luxury market in Austin to social rather than economic changes.

Many Californians who moved to Austin during the pandemic, especially those in the tech industry, are now leaving, Wood said.

“Dallas has attracted a lot of Californians and New Yorkers, but not as many from the tech industry,” she said. “It’s just a different type of buyer.”

Of the 10 most expensive listings in Texas for this month, the only one that’s had a price cut is a Dallas home: 4625 Walnut Hill Lane, which dropped from $10.5 million to $9.3 million last week, according to HAR.