May-14-2012
Fernando Alva, Dear Dallas Realtor Friend, R. I.P.
Posted by Janice Kern under Home Improvement Guide
Fernando M. Alva was a dear friend. I had not seen him for about nine months, but on Wednesday afternoon, May 9, I had a fleeting vision of him in my mind as I worked on a blog post. Call him, I told myself, call him later on today and connect.
I was too late.
Here is how I met Fernando: he wrote me a letter, typed actually, correcting information I had written in a magazine article on real estate that was inaccurate. Imagine that. I called him, asked for an explanation, asked to meet him for lunch. We became fast friends. Over the years I entrusted him with deeply personal thoughts, my home, aspirations and pain.
I have been on pins and needles waiting out this auction, bugging Robbie Briggs and Laura Brady at Concierge Actions all day yesterday. At about eight p.m. Friday night Robbie Briggs emailed me that “It was a fascinating process, and it appears to be successful.” Saturday morning I heard from Laura Brady who said — “we haven’t released details to anyone… the high bidder has formally requested confidentiality about their name and the high bid amount.” Which means the house did sell, we just don’t know for how much and who it sold to.
This is a very special ranch, probably one of the most unique youve ever seen dear in more ways than one. Even better: I can talk about it from total personal experience! This is the Benini Sculpture Ranch in Johnson City, Texas, 142 acres of beautiful Hill Country terrain enhanced with gorgeous, artistic sculptures. The prevailing story is that it was once owned by former President Lyndon Baines Johnson, a Texas legend of course and the 36th president of the U.S.