Zach Paulsgrove and Dayna Mendez met in Las Vegas, in 2016, over gin and tonics while on a work offsite. Zach’s sister, who worked with Dayna, made the introduction, and Zach’s request for a slice of lemon, not lime, caught Dayna’s attention. Zach says his preference for the atypical garnish resulted from a holiday trip to Prague during a deployment. Also atypical: how he ended up serving as an infantryman in the Army at the ripe age of 26.
“I had a nice upbringing,” he says. “I had gone to college. I had gotten my MBA [at UTA]. And I was like, I need to pay back some of the things that I have gotten in my life. And then I also wanted to become a better leader, and there’s no better leadership school. So I joined the military, and I chose not to go to officer candidate school so I could get some respect.”
Dayna is glad that Zach’s Afghanistan service was over before they met (“I probably would not have been able to handle it”), and Zach is glad he served (“I’m a much better person because of it”). They got married in Marathon, Texas, and moved into a cute little house with Dayna’s son, Jude, in Lakewood. But during the pandemic, after the birth of their now 4-year-old daughter, Maeve, they began to feel the squeeze. Zach, a software developer, and Dayna, a sales partner for Spotify, both work from home. “It was just too many people in one house,” Dayna says.
She asked her friend, real estate agent Richard Graziano, to begin the hunt. Initially the couple wanted to focus on Lakewood, but they couldn’t find something with the space they needed in their price range. “So he found this gem for me,” Dayna says. “He’s like, ‘I think this is the Dayna house. I really feel like this is your vibe.’ ”
“We just fell in love with the layout and the architecture and uniqueness,” Zach says. “All the light—we love the big windows around the back. And the pool is a nice addition. But just the flow—and definitely not that cookie-cutter kind of vibe.”
The house was in pretty good shape, having been previously updated in 2004. But it became apparent that the closed-off kitchen didn’t fit their lifestyle. “We like to cook,” Dayna says. “We eat as a family every night.” They removed a couple of walls to create an open flow between kitchen and den, and Dayna took the opportunity to put her own stamp on finishes, adding drawer pulls from Etsy (which she hand-stained to match the custom woodwork) and cork walls and burnt-orange tiles that infused some era-appropriate funk.
“The house was built in 1978, which is the same year I was born,” Dayna says. “So I was like, great—we’re the same age! Only I’ve not gotten a facelift like this one has, unfortunately.”
Much of the house is furnished with Dayna’s vintage finds, which add artful character along with a pre-worn, kid-friendly sensibility. Leslie Pritchard at Again & Again has become a good friend, supplying a number of items, including the scroll coffee table. Wall art was sourced from Dallas-based Wrecking Ball Collective.
The eclectic patio furniture is mostly from Tuesday Morning and West Elm, with a few items mixed in from CONTEXTvintage in Allen. “I wanted to be an interior designer when I was younger, but I took myself too seriously,” Dayna says, laughing. Now she has a home that fits her life and style in a neighborhood that has embraced her growing family.
“The neighbors gather at the highest point on the street with lawn chairs lined up to watch any time the Royal Oaks Country Club has fireworks,” she says. “And the neighborhood association has parties at the local playground a few times a year. It’s a very sweet, small-town feeling.
“Last night we were sitting at our dinner table, and we could see somebody in our driveway. And it was just like the neighbor’s kid from one street over who was playing basketball [with some friends] in our driveway. They were comfortable enough to just come and play basketball. And my daughter wanted to say hi, so we opened the door, and they were completely unfazed by it and just kept playing. I love that.”
Buy This Life
$949,500: Press-time listing for a nearby 4-bedroom, 3-bath, 3,000-square-foot 1977 home on Hilldale Drive with modern finishes, light hardwood floors, and a fully landscaped yard with a pool.
This story originally appeared in the July issue of D Magazine. Write to feedback@dmagazine.com.
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