A basement music studio adds a new dimension to a mansion in a Dallas suburb that was the most expensive house listed in Texas in August.
The 31,234-square-foot residence in Southlake, Texas, listed for $27.5 million, has a bowling alley, basketball court, waterslide and backyard artificial turf expansive enough for a helicopter pad. The current owner installed a state-of-the-art, soundproof recording studio and stage in the basement this year.
Owner Dirk Ulrich, who bought the house at 1469 Sunshine Lane in 2023, founded Germany's Brainworx, an audio engineering firm, and California's Plugin Alliance, an online store for tools used to master tracks on a recording.
The house's music studio uses surround-sound technology that makes the space feel like an Imax theater, according to listing agent Michael Hershenberg of the Hershenberg Group, an affiliate of the Real Brokerage. A music producer can use the studio to record a band playing live on the adjacent stage.
Ulrich "thought someone who is in the music or movie editing space might have a use for a studio at this caliber,” Hershenberg told CoStar News. “He saw it as a great, showstopper property that had the right location.”
The eight-bedroom, Mediterranean-style house sits on 3.6 acres in the affluent city of Southlake, eight miles northwest of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
The house that was built in 2016 has smart home features that allow someone to pull into the driveway and use their phone to turn on lights and set the music throughout the property, Hershenberg said. The elevators linking the 8,000-square-foot basement and the other two floors are also a big selling point, according to Hershenberg, along with the fact the primary bedroom and guest apartment have their own entrances.
Behind the house is the waterslide emptying into a pool, a baseball diamond and a soccer pitch. Most of the rear yard is covered by artificial turf. During a recent event at the house, a helicopter was used to bring in some of the estimated 300 visitors, Hershenberg said.
The listing agent said the addition of the music studio that makes the residence “America’s best-sounding home” brings significant value to the property.
“I think it was the most unique home in Texas prior to the renovations," Hershenberg said. "It’s just more so now, and adds" to the pool of potential buyers.