A rendering of the 2025 Dream Home in Montrachet.
With the foundation laid and timber going up, construction of the 2025 Fort Worth Magazine Dream Home, a multimillion-dollar mansion stacked to the hilt with the latest in home design trends and technology, has commenced.
The project, which will include nearly 7,000 square feet of living space, brings together some of the area’s top industry professionals to construct one of the most jaw-dropping residences you’ve ever seen. And when the luxury home opens for touring in May 2025, it will mark 25 years since the construction of the magazine’s first Dream Home, a European country-style house that resides in the southwest country club community of Mira Vista. Yes, we’ve been at this a while.
The 2025 project, meanwhile, is being built in the west Fort Worth development of Montrachet. This will mark the second time Fort Worth Magazine has teamed up with the development, having previously been the site of the magazine’s 2022 Dream Street — a three-home project. Developed by brothers Donnie and Colby Siratt, Montrachet lies just to the west of their other residential development, Montserrat. With rolling hills and giant live oak trees, both developments provide an escape from the plains and a taste of the Texas Hill Country. And, perched on a hill, the lot for the upcoming Dream Home provides a panoramic view of downtown Fort Worth from the home’s backyard.
Dream Team
Like any project that requires a team, the most important first step is finding the ideal teammates. In this case, it’s recruiting the right builder and interior designer. This pair will work in tandem to create a home meant to inspire. Meant to drop jaws. It is called the Dream Home for a reason.
To make this a reality, for 2025, the magazine is teaming up with homebuilder Scott Sangalli of The Morrison Group and interior designer Susan Semmelmann of Semmelmann Interiors.
This marks the second time Sangalli and The Morrison Group will be taking part in a Dream Home project — The Morrison Group was the builder on the very first Fort Worth Magazine Dream Home 25 years ago. While it’s been a while since their last Dream Home build, Sangalli and The Morrison Group has been hard at work building both homes and a stellar reputation for constructing high-quality, livable homes. Founded by Bryce Pool and Scott Sangalli in 1993, the company has built nearly 80 houses in the upscale Mira Vista neighborhood and dozens of others in Colleyville, Southlake, and other parts of Fort Worth, all of which the company counts as its homebuilding stomping grounds.
Teaming with Sangalli and The Morrison Group is multiple-time Dream Home alum Susan Semmelmann of Semmelmann Interiors. A veteran of the project, Semmelmann has six previous Dream projects under her belt, and she’s participated in each of the past three Dream Streets.
Semmelmann has been in the construction and interior design world for over 25 years, and her popularity and sought-after services led to the opening of her own design studio in 2019, which has a brick-and-mortar off W. Vickery Boulevard.
Despite her years of experience and hands-on approach, Semmelmann clearly hasn’t grown tired of these massive undertakings, and she’s particularly enthusiastic about the 2025 Dream Home.
“It is bad to the bone,” she says about the house. “And what I love about it is you have not seen us do anything like this before.”
A House With No Name
As a writer, I was once told to avoid certain words. Some words one should avoid using because they’re overused to the point of being a cliché. And others, we should avoid using because they could be triggering and offensive.
Yet, two words keep popping up when trying to define Fort Worth Magazine’s Dream Home 2025 that would put either my journalism professor or my fellow Fort Worthians in a tizzy: unique and California.
The former word is, indeed, overused. But it does so clearly define a home that, at the moment, feels somewhat undefinable (and we mean that in the best way possible). Distinctive and peculiar don’t seem to do the trick.
The latter, California, is not a favored word in Fort Worth — springing to mind smog, traffic, killer earthquakes, and smug personalities. It’s what Susan Semmelmann called the “CA word” during a recent interview. But, this “CA word” could also remind one of Napa Valley, golden sunsets, and pinot noir.
Regardless, there are no two ways about it, this distinct home has some Napa Valley influences.
Every home’s style has a name. Ranch, Tudor, Tuscan, Hill Country, Hill Country Modern, Ranch Modern, etc. Every previous Dream Home or home within a Dream Street has very easily categorized. But, if a home’s style isn’t easily categorized and doesn’t have a name, then one must take it upon themselves to christen the new style.
This is the situation in which we find ourselves. And, while suggestions have been made, nothing has quite felt like it encompasses this home’s ambitious design.
In our conversations, Semmelmann has used several monikers for the soon-to-be-build mansion, including Taste of Napa and a Farm-to-Table-type home.
“It’s got rustic stones, some distressed woods, but we’ve got to put our modern twist on it.” She goes on to tell me that each room is going to be themed with coloration from a vineyard. Rooms will be called Chardonnay or Merlot or Cognac.
Modern and rustic and earthy and contemporary. The home sounds like a beautiful synergy of dichotomies.
Both the exterior and interior will have lime washes, which will give the home a soft, antique finish. Elsewhere, the exterior lines will be clean, and the windows will be very modern and a little more contemporary with metal on the outside.
For the interior, Semmelmann is going with a cozy, lived-in feel. “The furnishings will all be very comfortable with all organic textures. There will be a little bit of nature in every room.” So, expect a lot of greens and earth tones in Semmelmann’s final design.
As far as what to ultimately call the home, we’re admittedly no closer to coming to a decision. But, with touring a full nine months away, we figure if someone can name a baby in that time, we could surely name a house.
Home Details
Address: 4557 Saint Estephe
- Lot Size: 68,784 square feet
- Square feet: 6,931 square feet
- Style: TBD
- Stories: 1
- Bed: 4
- Bath: 4 full, 2 half
- Garage: 3-car
For a Cause
While the completion of the home itself will no doubt be a triumph, the Dream Home is about far more than building homes or inspiring interior designers. One of the program’s most important objectives is raising money for a Wish with Wings, a nonprofit organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions.
Last year, a Wish with Wings set new records by granting 77 wishes to kids. And, over the past 40 years, the organization has granted more than 1,800 wishes to children and their families. Last year’s list of granted wishes includes 60 Disney World wishes, three Hawaii wishes, organized a unicorn photo shoot, and took one lucky kid to a Harry Styles concert. From trips to a simple requests to spectacular birthday parties, no wish is too big, too small, or too weird.
Once the Dream Home is complete and all fixtures, rugs, tables, and lamps are in place, it will be open for touring. Proceeds from ticket purchases will benefit the 501(c)(3).
Touring
Touring the Dream Home is slated to begin in May 2025. We will continue to update our readers in both our monthly publication and online at fwtx.com.
