Professional baseball player Michael Young and his wife, Cristina Barbosa, enjoy spending time with loved ones. In fact, they previously owned side-by-side homes to accommodate not only their own brood, which includes three young sons, but also a revolving door of friends and relatives. It was the desire to lodge everyone under one roof and have more outdoor space for their active offspring that prompted them to build a spacious new residence in Dallas. “Their first request,” says interior designer Allison Seidler, “was a dining room table big enough to seat 14 people, along with two guest suites and Murphy beds in the playroom to maximize sleeping quarters.”
The home’s style was next on the line of requests. “Being from California,” explains Seidler, who worked with design assistant Elizabeth Hudson, “they wanted a Mediterranean exterior and a clean but warm vibe inside for that West Coast ambience.” And while the couple agreed on many things, like the sizable guest quarters and well-equipped gym, Cristina–who heads the Michael Young Family Foundation–admits their tastes did not sync entirely. “He wanted Spanish and I wanted more contemporary,” she recalls. Their conversations with Seidler made them confident she could deliver both.
Seidler made her mark early on in the entry, blending openings trimmed in charcoal limestone for a Mediterranean feel with modern geometric shapes like those in the carved rift-cut oak ceiling. “We wanted to provoke grandness in the entry gallery by adding some wood and interest,” she says. A large-scale chandelier enhances the wow factor, while a minimal center walnut table complements rather than competes with the opening statement.
The entry’s stone floors transition to warm wire-brushed oak in the living room, where the mix of gray and taupe on the furnishings drove the home’s overall palette. “Warm neutrals in a variety of textures layer to create an inviting first impression,” says Seidler, referencing the linen sofa and nubby jacquard on the armchairs. A pair of exotic 11-foot Macassar ebony pocket doors opens to the study, further elevating the space. “It was heart-stopping installing those doors without damage,” she adds, crediting builder Phillip J. Fristoe–with senior project manager Mike Nisbett and junior project manager Kyle Petro–for his attention to special details like these. “He helped bring our vision to life.”
In the adjacent dining area, a simple yet elegant flat-cut walnut table provides ample seating, while hand-blown crystal clusters in the John Pomp chandelier form a backdrop for special family celebrations. Meanwhile, the kitchen, equipped with “a scullery with overflow space for entertaining,” Seidler notes, also easily accommodates get-togethers. However, its warm wood European-style cabinets and barstools in durable indoor-outdoor fabric along the quartzite waterfall island indicate a more casual space.
Throughout, items like tailored sofas in the family room and the strong graphic design on the study rug intentionally lean more masculine. An exception is the master bedroom, where a balance of feminine features that includes channel-tufted chairs signals a restful retreat. Also tempering this space, Seidler adds, is “a warm wood ceiling in lieu of a plain sheetrock one, designed to draw the eye up.”
The desire for a Spanish yet contemporary-style design conducive to family and guests also drove the work of architect Clint H. Pearson, evident in the Spanish red tile roof and stucco walls, the pool designed by Randy Angell Designs and installed by Pool Environments and the resort-like setting. And while traditional elements include low-slope roofs with elongated ridge lines and deep overhangs with wood-planked soffits and hand-carved corbels, modern steel windows and doors help fade the line between indoors and out–like a California coastal home, but with a Texas background. “I look for ways to frame views and create transparency,” says Pearson, who ensured a sight line that goes straight from the entry all the way through the house, past the pool and down to the cabana.
Underscoring the indoor-outdoor feel, all the key living areas enjoy vistas of the precisely articulated green spaces by landscape designer Thomas Fancher. In the family room, for example, a series of doorways captures views of the backyard, allowing parents “to stand in the kitchen with full views of their children playing in the yard and pool,” Pearson says. And in the adult game room–differentiated from the more kid-friendly spaces by a pool table and bar–a large sliding pocket door opens outside to further expand the already sumptuous space.
Last Thanksgiving, the owners entertained 30 people, and Cristina insists that’s exactly what they prefer. “People often tease that our house seems like Grand Central Station,” she says, “but we enjoy being home and having our loved ones here with us.” Achieving a California-Texas merger was an added bonus. As Michael says, “It’s the perfect combination of where we came from and who we are now.”
