Douglas Newby Insights
Neighborhoods, Architects, Architecture, Design, Dallas, and Organic Urbanism
Preservation Victory
Dallas has had sad moments but many preservation victories. Preservation writer Karen Eubank called 3925 Potomac that Hal Thomson designed for his family, “the most important home in Highland Park.” It will be preserved! The owners of 44 years, Dan and Cookie Owen, have been longtime lovers of architecture, Highland Park, Hal Thomson and preservation. Cookie grew up in a Highland Park Hal Thomson home and loved sharing her and Dan’s Potomac home with friends. Their 3,000 sf home, placed on one of the most beautiful .3-acre sites in Highland Park with a view of Turtle Creek and its backdrop of Dallas Country Club golf course, made it a target of lot buyers. Recognizing this, Dan Owen, as a tribute to his late wife Cookie and reflecting his own appreciation of architecture and history, adopted a strategy to preserve the home. Dan retained me to sell the home with a preservation front facade deed restriction to ensure it would not be torn down. Dan knew lot buyers only need lot dimensions to quickly buy a lot and home buyers need more information. Dan facilitated buyers understanding the home. A current survey was completed to clarify setbacks for additions. Floor plans were drawn to illustrate the glamorous current floor plan and proportions. Architect Wilson Fuqua, known for design work on Hal Thomson and other Highland Park homes, created several iterations of proposed plans. With Wilson’s inspired plans, buyers could easily begin visualizing configurations for themselves.
Most encouraging was a pool of potential buyers that emerged, from young couples to empty nesters, from historic homeowners to those just realizing historic homes were more elegant than new homes, from those in the market to those who were not even in the market. There is a much bigger demand for historic homes in Dallas than anyone realizes—they just need a chance to buy one. Dan Owen selling his home with a facade restriction was a gift to Highland Park and Dallas. Architecture is our public art and our history. Thank you, Dan! *Preservation Victory
#Preservation #HalThomson #Architect #ArchitecturallySignificant #Architecture #HistoricHome #HighlandPark PreservationParkCities #Dallas
Trail of Tears
An architectural trail of tears should start at 4101 Beverly Drive where the Cox Mansion recently stood. There have been several architecturally significant homes preserved in Highland Park and several destroyed. The Herbert M. Greene architect-designed home torn down is the most monumental. This is because 4101 Beverly was a residential monument. Architect Herbert Greene designed this home in the Beaux-Arts style, used at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century for monumental public buildings. The location chosen for this magnificent home was the middle of Highland Park on Beverly and Preston. Across from the Dallas Country Club, it anchored the largest homes in Highland Park. New York has its Gilded Age homes on Park Avenue. Dallas had its Gilded Age home at 4101 Beverly. This Beaux-Arts style home was the beacon of opulence and good taste in Highland Park. It announced the early aspirations of Highland Park which came to fruition. This Gilded Age mansion was conceived in 1910, when Main Street was paved with Bois d’Arc wood. In the 20th century Dallas went from a successful outpost to a thriving modern city. The glorious Victorian mansions from the late 1800s on Ross were replaced with modern homes. Munger Place in 1905 became the first planned development of architect-designed homes. Dallas continued to boom throughout the 20th century and still thrived in the 21st century — many historic homes preserved and architecturally significant homes added. Preston in Highland Park is our Gilded Age street of mansions. All original mansions on Preston will or have been replaced except Harlan Crow’s Anton Korn designed home. The 21st century homes will include one designed by British architect Quinlan Terry that replaced Governor Clements’ C.D. Hill designed home; an extraordinary Scottish architect-designed home will replace the Tudor of Trammel Crow; a NYC architect-designed French Home will replace the Herbert Greene designed home. The Gilded Age homes of the 20th century are gone. Can Preston Road turn into a street of 21st century Gilded Age homes? Hope so! *Trail of Tears
#GildedAgeHome #CoxMansion #4101 Beverly #HighlandPark #Preservation #BeauxArts
My Favorite Cover
Favorite cover! While many of my clients have had their home published, this is my favorite cover. This D Home cover features an architecturally significant home, a fabulous family, wonderful friends and extraordinary clients of mine, and an example of a 5,000 sq. ft. home on three highly desirable acres that has been preserved, not torn down. There is something else about this home owned by Bryan and Megan Fears at 4321 West Lawther Drive overlooking White Rock Lake that is so extraordinary and revealing about good architecture. This Georgian style home was designed by the famous modern architect Howard Meyer. We would not expect one of the finest Georgian style homes in Dallas to be designed by a modern architect, but we should. Howard Meyer, so adept at proportions, sightlines through the home to the outside, and finish details in his modern homes, applied his architectural deftness to this Georgian home. Just walking into this home, one knows it is special. Bryan and Megan Fears are the perfect owners for this 1939 home. They honored the exterior and did not reconfigure the interior to create more utilitarian spaces. Working with architect Eddie Maestri, they kept the refined finish details and the coolest bookshelves ever—they open up to become a walk-in bar. They have made the pool house into a lovely retreat and added a flourish of opulence with timeless Gracie wallpaper depicting their home, White Rock Lake and family pets.
Renovated, the home is still about the architecture and setting. Sited on top of the hill, Megan and Bryan and their sons love the rolling front lawn down to the lake in the front and the rolling rear lawn down to a park. This D Home cover and article showcases the best of Dallas, a fabulous family, great architecture and White Rock Lake. *My Favorite Cover
#MeganFears #BryanFears @RMegan79 #HowardMeyer #ArchitecturallySignificant #Dallas @DHome #WhiteRockLake #DallasNeighborhood #Architect @EddieMaestri #Preservation #HistoricHome #Magazine Cover #GeorgianHouse #ModernArchitect
Ice Cream Express
Summer always makes me think of ice cream, no matter how it is made, delivered or consumed. While now I sometimes think I exist on gelato at Botolino, I associate ice cream and summer in so many ways. These include memories of ice cream sandwiches at the country club snack bar, soft-served ice cream cones after swimming meets, Sunday ice cream socials, occasionally even making homemade ice cream, ice cream shops dotting beach towns visited in the summer, cartons of ice cream consumed at home growing up, lavish sundaes at ice cream counters, a pan of homemade brownies heavy on the a la mode consumed with a school friend at one sitting, parties where ice cream bars on a stick are plentiful, and I almost forgot root beer floats. Also, what better way to enjoy fresh picked or sourced blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or peaches scattered on mounds of vanilla ice cream. My choice of flavors have maybe evolved from mint chocolate chip to salted caramel, white coffee, pistachio and others, but how can one deny the appeal of the all-time favorite flavors, chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. These three flavors almost sound patriotic. I know I feel like a better American when I am eating ice cream. *Ice Cream Express
#icecream #DallasNeighborhoods #Summer #Gelato #Dallas
King of Gallerist@BarryWhistlerGallery
Gallerist Barry Whistler reminded me a bit of a younger King Charles at the opening of Reed Anderson/Flagworks 2017-2024. I thought it was fitting for Barry Whistler, who is a Leo, to have a royal comparison as he approaches his birthday. Barry Whistler is the link to the great Dallas gallerists of the past like Murray Smither, a mentor of his, and the new gallerists that add additional vibrancy and depth to the art world of Dallas. However, Barry Whistler and his gallery at 315 Cole Street in the Design District remains the key gallerist and gallery in Dallas. Every show is a great exhibition of beautifully curated works by important artists who are either emerging or experienced, but always who have staying power and create art with lasting value. Barry Whistler, the artists he represents, and the clients he consults with are a major part of the sophisticated art collections found across Dallas. *King of Gallerist
@BarryWhistlerGallery #Art #ArtGallery #BarryWhistlerGallery #DallasDesignDistrict #BarryWhistler #Dallas #ModernArt #ReedAnderson #ArtOpening
Cool Space@ThePoloBar @Nellcan
On a hot summer day it is easy to think about cool places. Distant locations come to mind but also do dark wood-paneled restaurants and bars that bring relief from the sun and heat. In New York, what is cooler than the Polo Bar. What I find interesting is that in the winter these dark wood spaces feel warm and cozy, protecting us from the bitter cold of winter. Maybe that is why in the spring and fall I often gravitate to lovely patios and terraces for lunch and dinner. The Polo Bar is an extension of the Ralph Lauren international brand. The Polo Bar has also become a New York institution because of the number of celebrities and friends of Ralph Lauren who join him at the Polo Bar. The incredible Nelly Moudime, the maître d’, contributes to the Polo Bar becoming a New York institution as she extends the warmth and style of Ralph Lauren himself.
The most popular and successful restaurants in Dallas like Cafe Pacific and Javier’s are not extensions of a national brand but are Dallas institutions. Cafe Pacific and Javier’s are owned by Highland Park and Preston Hollow homeowners respectively. They attract celebrities and a prominent clientele with international reputations. Those at the front of the house express the quality, warmth and style of their owners as well. And, like the Polo Bar, they have dark stained wood featured in the interiors – that are cool in the summer and warm in the winter. They also both have glorious patios and terraces.
In the mean time I will head through Paris to cooler temperatures and maybe I will see some Ralph Lauren Olympic attire in transit. *Cool Space
@ThePoloBar @Nellcan #PoloBar #NewYork #IconicRestaurants @CafePacificDallas @JaviersGourmetMexicano
Aesthetic Eye
On the last week of Jeremy Strick’s 15 years of successful leadership as the Director of the Nasher Sculpture Center, we went to lunch and discussed his approach to the Nasher. I have always loved the exhibitions at the Nasher while Jeremy was the Director. Credit must also be given to the Jed Morse, Chief Curator. These exhibits were all very different and I never stopped to think what was their common denominator. At lunch I discovered that any potential exhibition first had to pass through two filters. The work had to have a point of view and the work had to be visually appealing. This might sound obvious. Modern art is known for having an edgy point of view, and art is of course stimulating and appealing. But how often has one gone to a modern art exhibit and you get the point the artist is making but aesthetically the work is lacking? Jeremy Strick’s aesthetic eye was drawn to powerful pieces that were presented as more than a concept; they were presented as art.
A protestor can shout a point of view, but an orator can entice and compel with radical ideas eloquently presented. I looked back at just how diverse the Nasher exhibitions were. One saw hard edges, soft edges, some were humorous, some were stern, subtle or exaggerated. However, they were all like visual oratory – graceful and lyrical as they presented a strong point of view.
While Jeremy Strick did not announce his plans for the future outside of traveling to Europe and both coasts this summer, I presume he will be advising on art in some capacity. What a good baseline for any collection – think like Jeremy Strick. Does the piece you are considering have a point of view and is it visually appealing? What a good baseline for any architecturally significant home – does it have an architectural point of view and is it appealing to live in?
Thank you, Jeremy, for what you added to Dallas and to my personal enjoyment and understanding of art. *Aesthetic Eye
#JeremyStrick #JedMorse #NasherSculptureCenter #CafePacific #HighlandParkVillage #ArchitecturallySignificant
Sketch Session
Architect Wilson Fuqua creates an architectural magic trick. In live time, before my very eyes, I was able to watch Wilson take the floorplan of the second floor of the Hal Thomson designed home at 3925 Potomac Avenue that has three bedrooms and two modest sized bathrooms and create a floorplan within the same footprint that has three bedrooms and three bathrooms including a new proper master bathroom and a new master closet with over 16 feet of closet hanging space. This was something I could have never visualized ahead of time, and from just looking at the space am still not able to visualize it in person. However, a talented architect like Wilson Fuqua can keep the loadbearing walls in place, work with existing footprint of the space, and after several sketching iterations create a modified floorplan that is brilliant. Architects and interior designers are underappreciated in how they can see things, sketch plans, and technically bring them to life.
My fascination with the magic architects can do came at the beginning of my career. I would ask an architect to take what could be aptly called a jungle of rooms in a home that had been converted to four or five apartments with front doors placed on all four sides of the house. Again, like a magic trick, an elegant floorplan would emerge from the architectural chaos. One of my favorite floorplan sketching discoveries was finding an original, elegant, 8 foot wide corridor running the length of the home. No one would have ever known that corridor existed by just walking through all the apartment units. Also, during renovation of this home, 9‑1/2 foot ceilings became 11 foot ceilings with the original stained wood beams uncovered and intact. Sometimes renovations destroy the historic character of a home, sometimes with a good architect the historic character is revealed and enhanced. *Sketch Session
#WilsonFuquaArchitect #Architect #3925Potomac #HalThomson #ArchitecturallySignificant #HighlandPark #DallasArchitect #DallasArchitecture #HistoricRenovation #HistoricDesign @WilsonFuquaArchitects #HighlandParkHome #historichome
Architectural Family Tree
Ron Wommack, December 4, 1950 – June 30, 2024, is part of an architectural family tree that has grown to provide the best 20th and 21st century architecture in the country. Ron Wommack has joined the past modern architects of Dallas who continue to influence great architecture in the future. Ron’s career took root in both the offices of legendary modern architects, Bud Oglesby and Frank Welch. The influence of these two architects can be seen in Ron’s work. One of my favorite homes Ron designed is the modern home at 1810 Bermuda pictured above in which you can see the influences of Frank Welch and Bud Oglesby. One is also able to see the architectural influence that Ron Wommack had on young successful architects and his contemporaries. Maybe just as important is Ron Wommack’s influence on the Dallas community as a past president of the Dallas Architecture Forum, AIA award winner, Preservation Dallas award winner, a frequent architecture panelist, and a great contributor to the conversation on architecture in Dallas. Architect Ron Wommack will continue to be remembered.
*Architectural Family Tree
#Architect #ModernArchitect #Architecture #DallasArchitecture #DallasModernHomes #ArchitecturallySignificant #ModernHomes #ModernDesign #AIADallas #DallasArchitectureForum #RonWommack #RonWommackArchitect #FrankWelch #BudOglesby
Bucolic Highland Park
There are many reasons to love Highland Park. The pragmatic reasons include great schools, police and fire departments, safety, and beautiful homes with economic appreciation. Maybe the best reason to love Highland Park is the emotional satisfaction of living in a bucolic township just a couple of miles from downtown Dallas and the Arts District. My favorite Highland Park residential site has become the one at 3925 Potomac Avenue in the Mount Vernon neighborhood. This street ends at Turtle Creek, which eliminates traffic. Rush hour in front of the home might mean that one or two housekeepers in the afternoon are leaving for the day. While photographing the architecturally significant home architect Hal Thomson designed at 3925 Potomac, I found myself in the middle of the street for over an hour without a single car going by. Highland Park is filled with beautiful parks and homes with acreage that contribute to the bucolic atmosphere of Highland Park. We sometimes forget how nice it is to have Dallas’ oldest country club and golf course in the middle of Highland Park just around the corner from Highland Park Village. Arriving at the home at 3925 Potomac, one is greeted by a backdrop of Turtle Creek, pictured here, lined with layers of large and ornamental trees that allow a filtered view of expansive green of the golf course behind it. This view continues from the front yard, dining room and upstairs bedroom. Highland Park is one of the few locations that offers so many city amenities and residential sites totally embraced by nature. *Bucolic Highland Park
#PotomacAvenue #3925Potomac #HighlandPark #TurtleCreek #HalThomson #Architect #Landscape #Bucolic #Dallas #Neighborhood #DallasCountryClub #DallasGolfCourse #ArchitecturallySignificant #MountVernonNeighborhood