Dallas Mansions You Can Book as Vacation Rentals

A pandemic-prompted remote-work trend has folks scouring the country for spacious, comfortable real estate, but with house prices at approximately stratospheric, the market favors the rich. There are ways, though, for the more fiscally limited to sample the dream, sans the commitment of a second-home mortgage. A big family or a group of traveling friends can land a Wi-Fi-enabled villa with surroundings so luxe that relaxing, playing, writing that romance novel, or even catching up on emails comes easier. The bright side to Dallas sprawl? Rural retreats, state parks, lakes, and rambling acreage is generally just minutes from uptown estates, city-center party scenes, museums, historical sites, sports venues, and world-famous restaurants. Upon surfing the surfeit of Dallas area vacation rentals, these offer the best of both worlds and the most room to spread one’s wings at per-person costs that, by far, beat the expense of posting up at a relatively cramped bourgeois hotel.

Sleeps 16 | Check prices and availability

Without leaving the site, this property perchance meets the R&R-related desires of every weary traveler in the gang. From the ping pong-, foosball-, air hockey-, and double poker table-equipped game room to a fully appointed kitchen and outdoor dining area plus firepit, each lavishly rustic room of the 5,100-square-foot estate tempts one to stay and savor the amenities.

Nevertheless, charming Downtown Celina, Texas, with its precious boutiques and bistros, located just outside the three-acre ranch, beckons. And downtown Dallas is but a half-hour jaunt.

Sleeps 18 | Check prices and availability

Reunions, fancy fishing trips, quality time with one’s horses — this sprawling estate pleases vacationing humans and equines alike, featuring a separate fenced-in yard and an open barn for stalling.

Guests who can bear to part with the prepossessing property and its toys (trampolines, a pool, hot tub, a half basketball court) will find Cedar Hill State Park, with its rugged limestone hills and hiking trails, and Joe Pool Lake, less than five miles away, not to mention Texas’ largest zoological experience, the Dallas Zoo, within 10.

Sleeps 10 | Check prices and availability

Guests who come prepared with paddle boat, canoe, jet ski, or fishing rod will find fun and recreation exceedingly convenient — the sweeping four-bedroom estate is just a few steps from the shore of Lake Lewisville, a Dallas-area water-sport hotspot.

Or, for a more-chlorinated hydro-therapeutic experience, there’s the swimming pool, and after a swim, guests can challenge each other to a round of billiards.

Sleeps 8 | Check prices and availability

The Mediterranean milieus of Morocco or Croatia may be out this season, but this palatial getaway with lofty domed ceilings and five fireplaces for optimal coziness is tucked inside a quiet gated neighborhood just a few convenient miles from Dallas-Fort Worth International airport.

Minutes from Dallas Cowboys Stadium, the pool, movie theater, a state-of-the-art kitchen, plus office/media center for working or playing makes this getaway fitting enough for an NFL star.

Sleeps 18 | Check prices and availability

So baronial is this five-bedroom property that one guest chilling in the pool, dining al fresco on a covered patio, or snapping selfies in the pavilion won’t even hear the racket coming off the game room and its 14-foot shuffleboard, air hockey, big-screen TV, and poker tables.

Should on-site amusement run its course, the original Six Flags Over Texas theme park, woodsy River Legacy Parks, and the Living Science Center — with aquariums, terrariums, and interactive exhibits — all are right around the corner.

Sleeps 16 | Check prices and availability

Visitors want for nothing while watching movies on their choice of multiple Disney-and-Netflix-loaded 4K TVs or playing pool in the cheery game room of this North Dallas area Tuscan-style manse.

From the moment they enter the wrought-iron front doors to the time they nestle under exquisite linens on memory foam mattresses, the pampering game here is on point. The nearby North Dallas Tollway makes for lickety-split trips to Downtown Dallas, the Design District, or the restaurants of Trinity Groves.

Sleeps 18 | Check prices and availability

While faithful to its historic neoclassical style, this mini-mansion in the heart of East Dallas offers all the modern amenities a wandering soul could desire — blazing-fast, high-capacity internet; outside kitchen aside a heated lagoon, waterfall, and heart-shaped spa; and an old-fashioned wood-burning fireplace, all just a block from brand-new public tennis and basketball courts.

A two-mile jog/pedal to the paved hike and bike trails surrounding White Rock Lake, it is tough to go wrong with this castle in the heart of the city.

Sleeps 16 | Check prices and availability

Guests determined to engage in fruitless Facebook arguments with distant relatives while traveling should at least do so from the comfort of a mansion nestled in a private neighborhood far from the noise, with an option to detach with a rom-com in the upstairs theater or soak in the jetted jacuzzi?

In this wide-open manse on a full acre of yard, the word of the day is “namaste” — settle into a nook or join the group for dinner in either indoor or outdoor dining areas.

Sleeps 19 | Check prices and availability

Like a castle, near a nature preserve, close to both a small town and a big city — the welcoming, magnificent façade offers up a preview of the good things inside. Expensive hardwoods amid wainscoted walls take on natural brilliance let in by loads of ground-to-ceiling windows. A kitchen nook overlooks a far-as-eyes-can-see luscious lawn and an oasis that includes a colossal pool and firepit.

It’s all 15 minutes from Downtown Dallas and even closer to Rowlett Creek Preserve and Lake Ray Hubbard and the world-famous Bass Pro Shop.

Sleeps 15 | Check prices and availability

Cornhole, foosball, a playground for the kids, state-of-the-art outdoor speakers, or a soak in jetted bathtubs — it’s all possible here, with historic Downtown McKinney a 10-minute drive and Downtown Dallas about 40 minutes away.

The 33-acre property offers scenic serenity and Insta-worthy aesthetics in a private setting. Outdoor amenities include a refurbished gazebo, a stone fire pit surrounded by plush patio chairs, and even a golden pond.

Sleeps 16 | Check prices and availability

Situated on 10 acres in the Dallas suburb of Mansfield, this eye-popping three-story Victorian-style villa promises an outdoor pool, generously equipped game room, and nearby bike trails all amid rolling topography, sounds of nature, and not much else.

Off-grounds, the town is home to Elmer W. Oliver Park which, during Texas spring or even a warm-ish winter, offers the ideal setting for a quintessential family photo in a field of bluebonnets, the state flower.

Sleeps 12 | Check prices and availability

Watch movies on a 120-inch screen or the sunrise from a private balcony, warm aching muscles in a hot tub, or fish in a private pond without leaving the homestead.

This ranch manse is on 16 acres just north of Dallas. From here, it’s a quick jaunt to horseback riding at Black Mustang Ranch or boating on Lake Lewisville.