An ornate lakefront estate on property once owned by infamous Dallas mobster Herbert “The Cat” Noble has gone on the market for the first time. The two-story mansion at 1213 Noble Way — yes, same Noble — overlooking Lake Grapevine in North Texas is listed for $3.7 million with Jim Striegel with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.
Noble lived on the stretch of land he bought up around 1941, before there was a Lake Grapevine, in southern Denton County. Officially, it's listed as Flower Mound, Texas.
Suffice it to say, Noble wouldn’t recognize the extravagant estate that sits there now. When he lived there, there were two cabins and a 280-acre farm, and no lake.
“This was long before there was any announcement that the Army was considering a dam on Denton Creek to create the lake, but Noble ‘doubled down’ on his investment and bought an adjoining 195-acre tract three years later,” Jim Morriss wrote several years ago when recounting the history of the time two mobsters — Noble and Lester “Benny” Binion — clashed violently, ultimately bringing about Noble’s death in 1951.
Noble and Binion operated gambling businesses and were part of organized crime operations, though little is known about their dubious pursuits. "They were participating in all kinds of illegal activities but awareness of them was not likely to see the light of day," Morriss wrote. "It was like magic; any insider who was willing to talk about it would disappear."
Noble got his nickname because it took 12 tries for Binion (or rather, Binion’s men) to kill him. And Noble, according to the Texas Monthly, was “was everything Benny wasn’t — suave, debonair, a dashing figure who wildcatted in the oil patch and flew his own small fleet of airplanes.”
The juicy details of Noble and Binion's infamous feuding, racketeering, and hits on each other are detailed in Morriss' story here.
Nowadays, aside from two cabins that date back to the 1930s that are still maintained on the sprawling two-acre estate, the only other indicator that Noble was prescient enough to buy up all that pre-lake land is the fact that the upscale Point Noble is named after him.
And oh, what a mansion it is, built and owned by the award-winning Ken Hodge. Hodge (who is the namesake of Ken Hodge Custom Homes) built the 9,334-square-foot estate with a keen eye toward preserving the views and scenery surrounding Lake Grapevine, but also providing a luxurious (and private) place to relax and entertain.
The home has five bedrooms, five full bathrooms, and two powder rooms.
“The quality, elegant details, and meticulous design of this property are of the highest standard,” says Striegel. “Three of the bedrooms include private balconies overlooking the lake, and the property provides privacy and a tranquil environment from which to enjoy the spectacular sunsets.”
The home is replete with luxe touches like Corinthian columns and crystal chandeliers, as well as frescoed ceilings and a grand entry with a floating iron staircase.
Multiple living rooms and a piano bar provide plenty of space for entertaining, and a grand room with a Napoleon III fireplace, French-ceiling molds, and a bar with carved hardwood Enkeboll moldings punctuate the opulent homestead.
And if you didn’t already have enough entertaining space, there’s also a fresco-ceilinged, velvet-walled theater room and a covered deck with an extensive patio and pool.
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A version of this story originally was published on CandysDirt.com's sister site, SecondShelters.com.
The home was built and owned by the award-winning builder Ken Hodge.
