This Chateau-Style Estate Is the Most Expensive Home Sold in Houston So Far This Year
They say good things come to those who wait. A lavish estate on Willowick Road in Houston’s River Oaks neighborhood that spent nearly a year on the market has finally sold, topping the list as the city’s most expensive residential deal of 2024 to date. Last listed for $24.75 million with Rachel Solar of Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Realty, the deal bests the previous record set in March by a nearby home, which last carried a price tag of $20 million. The transaction also notches in as the second highest amount ever paid for a private residence in Space City, after a big spread in the Memorial area went in 2022 for a reported $21 million. Because Texas is a non-disclosure state, the exact sale price of the properties is not available.
The buyer of the Willowick Road residence remains unknown, but the seller has previously been identified as Lori Krohn Sarofim, the daughter of billionaire oil executive and racecar driver Tracy Krohn and the ex-wife of Phillip Sarofim, who went on to date singer Avril Lavigne. Interestingly, Lori’s mother, Susan, later married Philip’s father, Fayez, after her divorce from Krohn, making their kids stepchildren as well as spouses.
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Set on one-and-a-half acres adjacent to the manicured greenways of the River Oaks Country Club and measuring a whopping 15,000 square feet, the home was built in 1995 but recently underwent a painstaking four-and-a-half-year overhaul, Chron reported when the property was initially listed for $29 million. The extensive remodel elevated elements of the original design, which now features intricate ironwork, custom millwork, chevron parquet flooring, trompe l’oeil ceilings, and antique Parisian fireplaces. “The amount of detail and deliberation that went into every space was overwhelming, but well worth it for the end result,” Sarofim told Mansion Global.
Some parts of the house have a more modern flair to them, including the third-floor gym, which holds a wet bar and built-in speakers. There’s also a 500-plus-bottle wine room, a dark blue dining room with a Baccarat chandelier hung from a hand-painted ceiling, plus a kitchen that can quite correctly be called glamorous and is equipped with a rotisserie oven. Elsewhere, the primary suite, one of five total bedrooms, includes a private patio, not one but two baths, and a bi-level closet complete with a spiral staircase.
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The grounds, dotted with crepe myrtle trees, weeping willows, and magnolias, are just as dramatic as the extraordinary interiors and come decked out with a swimming pool, a koi pond, perfectly groomed gardens, and picturesque vine-covered pergolas. The reason Sarofim is selling? She told Mansion Global she’s parting ways because she plans “to travel more and spend time at other residences.”
Click here to see more photos of the Houston mansion.
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