Little Mexico in Dallas

Little Mexico is a neighborhood of 1,200 sf to 1,600 sf houses built in the 1920s to the 1950s, located just west of Highland Park and fashionable Oak Lawn.  The Medrano political dynasty created a voice for the Latino community and in many cases provided the housing for the Latino community as the largest property owner in this historic neighborhood.

Ron Wommack, Dallas Architect

Ron Wommack, who early in his career worked with two great architects, Frank Welch and Bud Oglesby, has been decorated with many AIA and TSA honor and merit awards for modern residences he has designed for his clients.

Architect Retains Himself for Modern Home

Ron Wommack was his own client on this modern home.  I am always fascinated when an architect designs his own home.  In this situation the only possible push back on the design comes from the person designing the home.  Internal arguments must be ferocious.  If an attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client, what is an architect who designs a home for himself?  Well, in this case, a brilliant client.

Contemporary Architect as Brilliant Client

Just as an investor might take a greater risk with their own money than they would for a client, an architect can take greater risk with the location, size and design of his own home, in this case a modern home in an obscure historic neighborhood.

Most important, an architect may be willing to spend a greater percentage of the total budget on design fees.  On most contemporary residential projects an architectural fee is going to be somewhere between 10% - 20% of the total cost of the home.  On a 1,600 sf home designed by a top architect, the design fee might be 30% - 50% of the total cost of the home.  In this case, the client can’t grumble about the architectural fees because he is paying himself. 

Small Modern Home Design & Materials

Ron Wommack chose a 50’ x 125’ corner lot on the corner of Douglas and Sylvester for the site of his own modern home in Clifton Place.  The 1,600 sf house is separated from a detached 700 sf garage, but the design does not hide the garage, but makes it an integral part of the visual appeal of the home.  The alignment of the home creates a linear garden with a transparent wall capturing the garden, and a concrete block wall on the Sylvester frontage defining the edge of the garden.  The bath, closet and pantry are contained in one walled element, allowing the home to be essentially one large space with concrete floors and 11’4” ceilings.  The house is constructed of 6’ concrete slab on piers, steel columns and wide flange beams with wood framing.

Design is Compatible with Neighborhoods and Recedes from Neighborhood

Ron Wommack designed a home in the spirit of the neighborhood.  It is precisely in scale with the 50 to 80 year old homes around it.  The garage is detached, as are most of the original neighborhood garages, and the hardy plank is white to relate to the other neighborhood structures.  A deep front overhang and sunscreen reflect the front porches of the 1920s bungalows.  The façade of 12” concrete blocks is a simple flat surface reflecting the simple facades of 1950s homes.

While this modern  home reinterprets the honest and modestly priced homes of the 20th century and blends into the neighborhood, it is also designed to occupy its own space and recede from the neighborhood, eventually engulfed by a mature garden.

The Smaller the House, the Larger the Garden

Sometimes I think of small houses as I think of small Mexican villages.  The smaller the village, the larger the festival.  I am convinced that often the smaller the house the larger the garden.
I recommend you drive by 2401 Douglas and enjoy this architect’s venture into a neighborhood most of us never notice.  You will see contemporary architectural themes expressed that are consistent with Ron Wommack’s award winning work done in the city and the country.  But here you will see it in a fresh way.

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Many people called me when it was discovered there was notification sent to the Texas Historical Commission of intent to demolish 10 Nonesuch Road, the home Stanley Marcus built.  I expressed to these callers that the Lovvorns were a lovely family, deeply committed to Lakewood, where Mark Lovvorn grew up, loved the home, its history and architectural pedigree.

My guess at the time was the Lovvorns had been told that it would be less expensive to build a new 7,000 or 8,000 square foot residence than restore a 10,000 square foot home and they would be able to site a new home to better take advantage of the site, and after wrestling with this decision for 15 years decided to give notice of their plans to build a new home on a property they loved.  It was also my thought that once the Lovvorns looked at the current interest in period modern architecture and the long term value of the existing home designed by Roscoe DeWitt, and the community’s latent affection for the home, they would abandon their plans to demolish the home which they have now done. 

My first visit to the Stanley Marcus home came at a Realtor open house 15 years ago.  I was handed a marketing piece that showed a development plan for over 20 houses on the site.  My next visit came a few years ago when the Lovvorns invited me to their home to look at it and discuss possible options.

At the time, I was impressed by their affection for the home, its history and their desire to protect the home if possible.  I remain impressed today with their civility in face of widespread and premature criticism, their willingness to search for an architectural solution that protects the home and achieves their goals for an updated home that takes better advantage of the site.  Lovvorn DMN op-ed response.

After virtually ignoring the home for 15 years, the community has expressed an outpouring of interest and affection for the house and the legacy of Stanley Marcus.  The Lovvorns have responded in kind.  Now is the time for the architectural community to step forward and help assess the most important elements of the home to preserve and the best way to accomplish the goals of the homeowners.  While it is fresh on our minds, now is also the time to learn more about the home, its architecture, its international modern style, how Stanley Marcus modified the home over the years and how this home impacted Dallas.

The AIA modern tour would be a great way to re-introduce this home to the public and meet the Lovvorns and see for themselves that they are great Dallas citizens and genuinely nice people.

Thank you to all in Dallas for your increased interest in architecturally and historically significant homes, and thank you Patty and Mark Lovvorn for continuing as the custodians for this piece of history.

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Turtle Creek Park, My Favorite Neighborhood

When the late Glenn Mitchell asked me in an interview on KERA Public Radio which neighborhood I would show an out-of-town client first, I replied without hesitation Turtle Creek Park, explaining that to reach this small neighborhood of 37 houses, a person crosses a stone bridge and proceeds up the hill on a winding tree-lined street to explore the architect designed homes framed by the Katy Trail, Rock Creek and Turtle Creek.

Neighborhood of Topography, Trees and Water

Topography, trees and water are the natural attractions of this hidden neighborhood that is walking distance to everyone’s favorite restaurants, parks and cultural attractions.  Now the neighborhood is even better.  The City of Dallas Parks Department participated with the homeowners along Turtle Creek to dredge this wide and now free flowing creek.  Some of the homes are perched high off the creek, others have lawns tapering down to the creek.

Rock Creek descends into Turtle Creek framing home site

One of my favorite homes is sited on two creeks, Rock Creek  as it descends into Turtle Creek.  This English style home with a façade of oversized brick has a strong rustic presence softened by its refined lines and abundance of windows and panoramic views of water, trees, and meandering creeks. 

When Dallas is sometimes confused with endless new homes of the suburbs, it is nice when people new to the city, like the AT&T executives being transferred to Dallas as part of the AT&T corporate headquarters relocation, can see a beautiful example of Dallas a city of distinct neighborhoods, rather than the just viewing the city as an endless, mind numbing tour of houses based on square footage prices.

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Highland Park Landscape

Landscape Architect Wilbur Cook emphasized parks, creeks and trees when he designed Highland Park in the early 20th century.  Architects skilled at designing the eclectic homes drawn from European precedents created block after block the most beautiful homes in Dallas.

Highland Park Architectural Styles

From the 1920s and 1930s both charming and majestic homes were built including Mediterranean style, Colonial, Georgian, Tudor and other English style homes.

New Highland Park Homes

Today we see new homes built in variations of these styles but in a much larger scale with heavier moldings and greater ornamentation to fill the voluminous space.  Simple Mediterranean homes are now being replaced with heavily ornamented Tuscan mansions. 

There is a grandeur and opulence conveyed with these newly - created Highland Park estate homes.  They are more the size and style of estate homes that are being built in the suburbs and across the country. 

Old Highland Park

All the new construction brings even greater attention to Old Highland Park and its sustained allure over the decades and its nationwide notoriety as an incredible place.  Visitors don’t ooohh and aaahh over the size of the houses, as large houses are ubiquitous.  Visitors are impressed by the bucolic quality, the beautifully designed homes, lovely gardens, azaleas along Turtle Creek and the tree moon lighting John Watson introduced to Dallas and the rest of the country, the parks and creeks and tree shaded streets that declared peace and prosperity and prestige!

Highland Park
New England Influence

While Highland Park was inspired by Beverly Hills, it also takes a cue from New England.  Many Highland Park residents attended East Coast prep schools and colleges.  Many Highland Park families have family homes and vacation homes in New England.

Highland Park Home Coming on Market

A Highland Park home that is coming on the market exudes the best of Old Highland Park and hints at the New England heritage of a certain part of Highland Park. 

This English style home at 3409 Princeton is beautifully designed.  Because it sits on a quarter of an acre of land and shares the street’s canopy of trees with other lovely and original Highland Park homes, a person has more of the sensation of a small New England town or the English countryside than being just a few miles from the Arts District downtown or a few blocks from the vibrancy of the retail and restaurants of Knox/Henderson.

More Chic than a Tudor, Larger Than a Cottage
While some of the neighboring Tudor homes look proud and stately, this home is balanced without the rigidity of cross-timbers or the urban privacy of small windows.

Large Divided Light Windows

The central design of this country English style home is the wide, bowed bank of divided light windows found in virtually every room:  the formal rooms, sitting rooms, sun rooms, informal living rooms and bedrooms.  Every room looks into a garden, view garden or flowing courtyard.

The two-story street presence and the wide dormers make the home much larger than a Tudor cottage, but the scale of this 4,000 sf, four bedroom home is more intimate and inviting than the homes with 2 1/2 story tall facades that share an English origin.

A Lovely Neighborhood is Highest Priority for Elengant Home Owners

Some neighborhoods just suggest old money, prestige, tranquility and aesthetic achievement.  Old Highland Park does and this English inspired home certainly contributes to the enduring appeal of this Highland Park community.

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Midcentury Modern Home in Dallas

Midcentury Modern Homes are often hidden and never seen in remote neighborhoods or obscured by the landscape of the site. Here is a 2,000 square foot midcentury modern home found in Dallas on a very prominent neighborhood street.

Dallas Architect and Home Owner Designs His Own Modern Home and Studio

Architect and artist Glenn Allen Galaway designed this modern home as his own residence and studio. Remarkably, it is architecturally demure and respectful, at the same time it is architecturally bold and dramatic. This modern home is demure - set back on the site and fully integrated in the rich landscape of the setting. It is bold – a simple structure, with a dynamic design so tightly organized that it seems to “explode off the page,” exuding energy and becoming a visual magnet just as a sculpture would in a park.

Dallas Architect Glenn Allen Galaway Protege of Architect Philip Johnson

Glenn Allen Galaway’s friendship with Philip Johnson and the recipient of his architectural influence is apparent from the large public room with a wall of glass doors and glazed openings to the rear garden. The scale of the home and the transparent wall are reminiscent of Philip Johnson’s Glass House. It was a space where the cultural leaders of Dallas, artists, museum directors, professors, art historians, and designers convened socially.

Midcentury Home Emphases View into Gardens

Successful midcentury homes, often small, have efficient space. Glenn Allen Galaway designed a home with no extraneous space, but increased the volume of the rooms with tall ceilings and visually expanded the rooms with full length windows looking into view gardens.

Glass Walls Extenuates Modern Home In University Park

The surprisingly commodious feel of the home is also accomplished by rooms with glass looking across the terrace into rooms with glass walls.

The detail is spare and elegant. The built-in desk and drawers are sleek and inviting.

The 105 foot width of the lot allows for an additional 2,000 foot structure to be built on a hidden corner of the rear garden, minimally connected to the original house, which will also enjoy full views of the garden.

Architecture Awards

The American Institute of Architects Dallas Chapter identified this midcentury modern home as the finest midcentury modern home in University Park, and it is one of the finest midcentury modern homes in the U.S. This Glenn Allen Galaway home was first recognized by a committee comprised of the city’s most knowledgeable patrons, professions, and civic leaders in art, architecture and design, including the presidents of the organizations and museums dedicated to art, architecture and design. This committee surveyed the city and identified 50 significant homes to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Dallas AIA Chapter. During the last year, the AIA Dallas Chapter awarded this home its rarely bestowed 25 Year Award for a home that is at least 25 years old and continues to inspire.

Midcentury Modern Home offered by Douglas Newby

Most important, this midcentury modern home, an architectural piece of art, is now available to purchase. Contact Douglas Newby of Architecturally Significant Homes for further information
214-522-1000.

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Modern homes often are able to create views of verdant gardens or emphasize features of the natural site by the ample employment of windows and by the configuration of the structure to take advantage of the site.  With two artists orchestrating the design and landscape who have resources like architect Max Levy and other pals like architects Frank Welch, Dan Shipley and Ron Wommack, one would expect something special.  I did and it was a real treat when I visited the home Saturday morning.

Landscape Design

Just as Frank Lloyd Wright consistently fiddled with his Oak Park home, using his own residence as a laboratory, Dave Rolston will rework areas of his garden, a small creek will become a pond, sight lines will be improved.  Dave Rolston has created a garden of paths, ponds, quiet sitting areas, terraces and broad lawns for entertaining.  From every approach, new spaces become evident.  There is no single landscape feature that jumps out at you, but a series of pleasing surprises that leave the visitor exhilarated.

 
I might also note architects often find the best sites.  Who would ever know walking down Tokalon that behind this home is a several acre greenbelt separating this rear garden from White Rock Lake Park.

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Identifying and discussing neighborhoods has been a life-long passion of mine.  In 1986, to celebrate the Texas Sesquicentennial I wrote and produced the book A Guide to the Older Neighborhoods for the Historic Preservation League.  Since then, hundreds of neighborhood associations have formed.

Developing the Dallas neighborhood section of Architecturally Significant Homes was my follow-up initiative.  Now adding street view maps to the neighborhoods will bring even greater understanding and enjoyment to those discovering and or learning more about Dallas’ finest neighborhoods like Highland Park.  One of the reasons I have had such an interest in neighborhoods is because all of the great homes are usually found in the great neighborhoods.  A great home might be one found on Beverly Drive and Preston Road in Highland Park,

obviously a great neighborhood, or it might be a Hal Thomson designed home on Swiss Avenue, the city’s first great neighborhood,

or Mayflower Estates, a mostly unheard of neighborhood but one that includes Dallas’ most important home, the Crespi/Hicks estate.

When one understands a neighborhood it is much easier to understand and appreciate a home, its context, intent, and achievement.

Neighborhoods are like the rings of a tree, concentric circles of development indicating the pattern of grown of an emerging city. 

The midcentury modern home designed by architect William Benson reflects a neighborhood being developed in the 1950s in Preston Hollow when Mockingbird Lane was the 1950s boundary of Dallas. 

The midcentury modern home designed by Glenn Allen Galaway (above) was one of the latter homes built in University Park,  but at 2,000 square Feet, it was a size popular with university professors, museum directors, and architects associated with a college community.  Now you can go to Architecturally Significant Homes/Neighborhoods and pick which neighborhood you would like to use Google street view maps.

You can see the boundaries of the neighborhood and enjoy a 360° view of each street.  So when you see a home you like you can see what is around it.  For example, 4421 Beverly is an original 4,200 square foot 1920s Highland Park Mediterranean style estate home offered for sale.  With street view you can see if this home is dwarfed on four sides by builder houses twice as large or if the neighboring homes are also original Beverly Drive estate homes.  In this instance, you can see 4421 Beverly enjoys looking at original Highland Park homes shaded by tall trees.

Since we were the first real estate firm to identify and write about Dallas neighborhoods, we are pleased we are the first real estate firm to offer street view maps with a discussion of Dallas neighborhoods.  I hope you enjoy using this neighborhood tool as you further explore Dallas’ finest neighborhoods.  Why don’t you first visit Highland Park and try it out.

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Your brain says New Canaan or Palm Springs – but the map assures you it is (believe it or not) University Park. Tucked in a secluded greenspace of its own – amid UP’s Tudors, Tuscans and traditionals – sits a clandestine find we couldn’t believe ourselves: a stunning modernist masterpiece by the architect Glen Allen Galaway built in 1966 for himself, not only as a home, but as a gathering place for his cronies, who included artists, architects, museum folk and aesthetes – a salon for the ‘60s, you might say. It gets better: The 2,000-square-foot house is for sale, untouched since 1966, all lofty volumes, tall windows and marble floors. Even Galaway’s office is intact, with built-in flat files for his blueprints and views across the rear garde, a tranquil space just begging for a Henri Moore or two. We love the quit elegance of the place, with its Miesian moments Galaway was a pal and protégé of Philip Johnson, for whom Mies was a mentor) and its subtle mid-century swank. We’re not the only ones: In 1966, the Dallas chapter of the American Institute of Architects named it one of the city’s 50 most significant homes, and just last year, the house garnered the AIA Dallas Twenty-Five Year Residence Award, given to “only one residence a year” says Realtor Douglas Newby, “that continues to teach us about good design[and] great Architecture.” Current owners Eve Reid and Warren Weitman bought the house ASAP when they learned it was for sale by Galaway’s family, to protect it from teardown and preserve it for the next lucky owner. “An absolute gem,” Reid says of the house, “ in great tradition of Philip Johnson’s Glass House, Richard Neutra’s house in Palm Springs for Edgar Kaufmann and Georgia O’Keefe’s home and studio in Abiquiu, New Mexico.” Might it be you who moves into this local – and equally architectural – masterwork?

7010 Airline Road, information 214.522.1000 - dougnewby.com

Rob Brinkley

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Arnold Wayne Jones addressed modernism for the Dallas Voice, a newspaper with a strong following in Oak Lawn, a neighborhood with a rich history of modernism, from Bud Oglesby and Jim Wiley designing midcentury townhouses and condominiums in Oak Lawn Place to Lionel Morrison, Cliff Welch, Frank Welch and other modernist architects designing single-family attached homes in Northern Heights. 

Here is a link to article.

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You are probably wondering where the president is moving…

…so am I. This puts me in an akward position because as a real estate broker specializing in Highland Park, Preston Hollow and Dallas estate properties, I am often asked by friends and clients if I know where the President will be moving. Sometimes when I say no, I will be told by these same people where he is moving. Other times I get a strange look, questioning why I wouldn’t know, when everyone else seems to know where President Bush will be moving. Let me explain. When rumors first began, I spoke to the person who I considered closest to the President’s family and who I trusted most. I didn’t ask if the rumors of where he bought a home were true, but only if it was true that President and Mrs. Bush had already bought a property in Dallas.

Rumours proven to be untrue

I was told with certainty that they had not bought a property and had not yet begun to look. I decided then that eventually a rumor of a presidential purchase would be true, but I would rather be wrong once than wrong a dozen times jumping on every attractive rumor. That said, I think the President, at this time, may have already bought a property or is seriously considering his options. So I am going to do two things. First, share with you the least publicized rumor, one I heard 20 months ago, and my favorite, because it would have been a pretty good location for the President. This is a property on Meadowood, around the corner from Rockbrook. Here, there is a lot of land and a couple of structures that would work well for security. It is in Preston Hollow, his old neighborhood and where he lived when he launched his business and political success.

Dallas home most suited for George and Laura Bush

The second thing I will share is the property in Dallas that I think is best suited for George and Laura Bush.
In other words, if they were to call me and say, “We would like to buy a property in Dallas, what would you recommend?” After I assured them that it will be manageable for them to buy a property without word leaking, I would normally ask relevant questions about their lives, tastes, background, desires, previous homes, schools, interests, and family so I would have an intellectual and intuitive idea about what they would enjoy. Since this is the President and First Lady and we all know much about them, and since they are presumably busy, I would make the following recommendation right out of the chute.

Preston Hollow Estate Area

The house I would recommend is located in the Preston Hollow estate area on a hidden, little traveled street within a few blocks of major transportation arteries with quick access to airports, medical facilities or to Crawford.

Texas Modern

The home is architect designed which would be particularly attractive to Laura Bush as she is very interested in art and architecture.

The Texas Modern style, unassuming but aesthetically relevant, has over 10,000 square feet so it can handle fundraisers for the Bush Library, and is a gracious space for foreign dignitaries, or reunions for the extended Bush family.

Scott Lyons Architect

It has an architect designed 3,800 square foot guest house that would work perfectly for security detail or secretarial staff. It is built on bedrock with piers drilled deeply in the rock, in contrast to so many houses in Dallas sitting precariously on expansive Dallas soil.

Architect Scott Lyons, a protégé of David Williams and O’Neil Ford, designed the home, appealing to the indigenous qualities of early Texas homes. Scott Lyons is an architect responsible for some of the most important architect designed residences in Dallas, including the Highland Park home and the country home for the city’s leading philanthropists and civic leaders, Margaret McDermott and her late husband Eugene McDermott.

2.63 acres of trees, creek and lake

The potential Bush home sits on over 2.5 acres of land along a creek and next to a small lake. This beautiful site is also benefited by the neighboring 15-acre and 25-acre estate properties owned by supporters of the President. My thought is the neighboring estate owners would allow the President to develop an off-road biking trail through the woods of their property.

Ideal Space for Art Collection

The interior space is perfect for President and Mrs. Bush’s art collection. The ceilings are tall, walls of windows allow voluminous rooms to be filled with light, continuous interior and exterior walls of soft Mexican brick reflect the region, cross-cut white oak panels add warmth to the rooms and white gallery walls are ideal for the vibrant and colorful art collection by artist Pamela Nelson. This elaborately engineered and incredibly built home has been meticulously cared for by the original builder, who inspects the house twice a week to check on and maintain its condition. President and Mrs. Bush would enjoy this home, and their friends and family would enjoy them living here. It is a home that is pure Texas, modest but substantial, well-built and aesthetically refined, designed in an indigenous Texas architectural style, on plenty of land, and looking over ravines, creeks, lakes, and a distant view of residential private park land.

Can you think of a better home for George and Laura Bush?

There are many people who know the Bush’s better than I, but I remain confident that these people will agree that this would be the best home in Dallas for President and Mrs. Bush. However, so as not to close the discussion, I would love to hear from anyone who has an idea of a house that would be more suitable than the one that I have just discussed.

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