A mansion built by a billionaire real estate developer has hit the market for the first time. And it surely does nothing to mess with the notion that everything is bigger in Texas.

The 17,405-square-foot estate on Lazy Lane in Houston is currently the Lone Star State’s most expensive listing, at $34.5 million.

“It was owned by the late Gerald D. Hines,” says the listing agent, Cathleen Cagle. “Hines probably had a major impact on every major city in the world. He was an unbelievable developer.”

Hines, the company named for its founder, had $144.1 billion worth of assets under management in 25 countries as of June 2020.

Gerald Hines passed away in August last year, at the age of 95.

Along with the architect Robert A.M. Stern, Hines and his wife, Barbara, an accomplished artist, completed the Mediterranean style mansion in the early 1990s.

Cagle tells us that the exquisite residence is outfitted with the best of everything.

“Good taste is good taste, right?” she says when asked if anything needs to be done to the property. “When you first walk in, you’re surrounded by beauty.”

To ensure that the beauty is never experienced on an empty stomach, there are two kitchens, with one on the first floor and another on the second. For entertaining large numbers of guests, there’s plenty of dining and living space.

The five bedroom, 11.5-bathroom house is also in a prime Houston location. The best, according to Cagle.

“It’s Houston’s most exclusive street. You’ve got not only a home on that street, but 4.5 acres on that street,” Cagle says. “It’s a big parcel of land—you’re really in the best location in Houston, with the best piece of land.”

The huge home also has a breezy indoor-outdoor feel that allows for an easy transition between spaces.

“The grounds are obviously so beautiful. You just get a sense of the outside even in the grand entertaining areas. Doors open up into these beautiful gardens, so they tried to bring the outside in,” Cagle adds. “You’ve got this very grand house, but you’ve got these very beautiful gardens—and they didn’t forget that in the design and conceptualization of the house.”

For leisure activities, there’s a regulation tennis court with a “queen’s pavilion” for spectators. A large pool was designed to fit the humid locale. It has fountains and is enclosed in a two-story, air-conditioned, screened-in pool, Cagle explains.

“You still get some sun,” she adds, “but it’s just more filtered, because it can get warm here in Houston.”

There’s plenty of space for an owner who expects company or needs room for staff. An attached two-bedroom apartment can be used for guests or live-in help, Cagle explains, and a separate caretaker’s house could be used as a guesthouse.”

The home sits on Buffalo Bayou—a local waterway that flows out to Trinity Bay.

“Not only is it beautiful wildlife and beautiful plants and flowers, but you’ve got kayakers going down the bayou,” Cagle says. “They have the access to go in there.”

The home is named Adagio, from the Italian.

“I would say it means a beautiful way of living, at a slow tempo, in a relaxing setting,” Cagle says.

That dovetails perfectly with its address—on the coveted Lazy Lane.

“I think that the perfect buyer is somebody that is going to want to be on the street,” Cagle says. “It’s the best location in Houston. It’s just one of those streets.”

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