Douglas Newby Insights - Page 14
Winter Pointillism
The winter point of Pointillism is to accentuate the design and capture the moment. On a morning bike ride through Dallas neighborhoods, what better way to convey a season, capture a home, and express a feeling than with full, soft, white snowflakes falling against the backdrop of a home painted in a graphite tone trimmed in white. This city home surrounded by nature on a rolling block was transformed by one of my favorite artists, Allison V. Smith, and her husband, the esteemed gallerist, Barry Whistler. They took a home with great proportions that was perfectly sited, but at a glance might look like many other brick homes of the Dallas period. Dramatic paint, landscaping, and a well-positioned porch bench make the home visually enticing and an inviting spot for a porch salon. Here is a home that captures the essence of every season and the vitality of the city interlaced with nature—Organic Urbanism at its best. Thank you, Allison @AllisonVSmith and Barry @BarryWhistlerGallery, for your many contributions to heightening the aesthetics of Dallas. *Winter Pointillism
#DallasNeighborhood #Architecture #Design #HouseColor #FrontPorch #Home #Winter #Snowflakes #Pointillism #OrganicUrbanism #HomesThatMakeUsHappy
Speed Reading
A Christmas tradition in our family started, not when I received this speed-reading mechanical bear, but when my father did when I was a child. He so enjoyed narrating and showing off this speed-reading bear to family, friends and neighbors stopping by over the holidays that he received a mechanical toy every Christmas from then on. On Christmas Eve presents were opened, and on Christmas Day all the previous mechanical toys received at Christmas were brought out and put under the tree. And what a collection it was—from Charlie Weaver mixing a drink, drinking it, and smoke coming out of his ears, to the Neiman Marcus nursing dog. The tradition continued after my father was gone and I began receiving a mechanical toy every Christmas. *Speed Reading
#MechanicalToy #ChristmasToy #Toy #Christmas #ChristmasGift #Bear #SpeedReading #ChristmasTradition #MechanicalBear #MidCenturyToy #Tradition #FamilyTradition #Father #Neighbors #Friends
Baton Passed
The wonderful thing about being a real estate broker is not just seeing great houses, but meeting and getting to know wonderful people. This Henry B. Thomson architect-designed house is a beauty. Every time I go inside, I marvel at its proportions and why it instills such a pleasing sense of awe in a greater way than other important houses. Just having the opportunity to revisit that feeling would have been motivation enough to represent the seller and offer this architecturally significant home for sale. What was really thrilling was to represent a Hal Thomson homeowner who I met when I was in my 20s, when the homeowner was first looking at homes on Swiss Avenue. I have watched her renovate the home, maintain the home and contribute in a friendly and meaningful way to the neighborhood. This homeowner exemplifies why so many Swiss Avenue homeowners live on Swiss Avenue for decades—the comradery and friendly atmosphere, the proximity to downtown with skyline views popping up over the trees that grace the boulevard, the nationally celebrated neighborhood chef-owned restaurants, and the close proximity to the Santa Fe Trail and White Rock Lake. While the sale of this home invokes sentiment, it also brings joy to see this architecturally significant home being passed on to another homeowner who also loves historic homes, gardens, Dallas, and Swiss Avenue. The great houses survive 100 years because of great owners. This Hal Thomson-designed home has another one. I always strive for gracious transactions. This important home was listed, sold and closed in 19 days with all the participants delighted with the outcome and the future of the home. *Baton Passed
#HalThomson #HenryBThomson #Historic #ArchitecturallySignificant #Architect #Architecture #SwissAvenue #HistoricDistrict #Dallas #Neighborhood #OrganicUrbanism
Residential Link to Downtown
The city trails are busy. The tree-lined neighborhood residential streets remain tranquil. Isn’t it remarkable that one can ride a bike from White Rock Lake to the downtown Arts District through four linked single-family zoned historic and conservation districts and the Wilson Block Historic District on Swiss Avenue? While the Sante Fe and Katy Trails also provide enjoyable links from White Rock Lake to the Arts District, can you think of another city where one can ride several miles through the quiet residential streets surrounding downtown? The conservation district of Lakewood, the historic district of Junius Heights, the historic district of Munger Place, and the historic district of Peak Suburban protect the aesthetics and scale of the homes. The single-family zoning protects the neighborhood, keeping the density, traffic and number of cars parked on the curb low. People are fleeing cities where there is no refuge from high density neighborhoods. Cities that have added density to their neighborhoods have experienced destabilization and deterioration like Dallas once had when the neighborhoods were zoned multifamily. In Dallas, this deterioration was reversed when the neighborhoods were rezoned single-family. There is a push by some at City Hall to allow ADUs and backyard rental houses on every single-family zoned lot in Dallas. This would have a devastating effect on our tree-lined neighborhoods. Cities are fragile. We need to continue to nurture ours. *Residential Link to Downtown
#ADUs #LowDensity #BackyardRentalHouses #TreeLinedStreets #BikeRide #Trail #Path #Dallas #Neighborhood #DallasNeighborhood #City #OrganicUrbanism
Neo-Classical Sacred Design
Architect C.W. Bulger was part of early 20th century architectural royalty. Bulger came to Dallas in 1905 to design a prominent church. His classical architectural departure from the Gothic church style of the time prompted his invitation to design this neo classical church with Corinthian columns and a gold dome for the Gaston Avenue Baptist Church that is now Criswell College. His son, Clarence, who had just graduated from the University of Chicago, joined his practice and in 1907 they designed the first skyscraper in Dallas, the Praetorian Building. The father and son architectural firm went on to design elegant and refined homes on Swiss Avenue and in Highland Park, Lakewood and Northern Hills. The foundation of Dallas architecture was made up of great architects that included C.W. Bulger, Hal Thomson, Lang & Witchell, C.D. Hill, Marion Fooshee, James Cheek and others. *Neo-Classical Sacred Design #CWBulger #GastonAvenueBaptistChurch #CriswellCollege #Architecture #Architects #Neoclassical #Dallas #SacredSpaces #Design
Raised Eyebrow
As a contractor once said, “If you are going to give a home a facelift, start with the eyebrows.” While renovation will make this charming Craftsman cottage fresher and more elegant, this home is also a good reminder that gentrification is underrated. It is worth noting that working class homeowners, teachers, journalists, and artists bought and fixed up houses in the neighborhood and helped change the apartment zoning to single-family zoning. This prevented large apartment complexes to be built that would have had expensive rent and cause the affordable homes like this one to be torn down. Gentrification from renovation is a slow process. Gentrification started 45 years ago in the now historic districts of Munger Place, Junius Heights, and Peak Suburban Additions. It is nice that this Junius Heights historic district home is now taking its turn at renovation. *Raised Eyebrow
#JuniusHeights #GentrificationIsUnderrated #EyebrowDormer #OldEastDallas #SingleFamilyZoning #Neighborhood #Dallas #Architecture #Historic #Revitalization
Angle of Howard Meyer
The Howard Meyer angle makes an impact on architecture, neighborhoods and Dallas. This great architect did all three across Dallas. At White Rock Lake in 1939 he set the tone for classic estate homes overlooking the lake. On Turtle Creek Blvd. he designed 3525 Turtle Creek, a residential high-rise, that gave panache, style and elegance to Turtle Creek that became known for prestigious high-rises. In 1953, Howard Meyer with architect Max Sandfield designed Temple Emanu-El, a sacred space for a religious community, that became the pride of the Dallas community. In Greenway Parks Howard Meyer designed a midcentury modern home in 1950 that propelled the design of many other architecturally significant midcentury modern homes in Greenway Parks. In 1982 Jim and Carolyn Clark retained Howard Meyer to consult with on the home’s renovation. The result was a midcentury modern residence that renewed interest in midcentury modern homes in Dallas. The current owners’ further renovation maintained this modern home as a beacon for the best architects in Dallas to come to Greenway Parks and design architecturally significant homes here. *Angle of Howard Meyer
#HowardMeyer #Architect #Architecture #GreenwayParks #OrganicUrbanism #HomesThatMakeUsHappy #ArchitecturallySignificant #Modern #Mid-Century
September Dawn
Highland Park is associated with opulence, architecture, Highland Park Village, success and prestige. What is easy to forget is that the township of Highland Park is attractive in the way any small town or village is attractive. Highland Park is made up of tree-tunneled streets and tree-lined boulevards, perfect for riding a bike, running, or walking through the many serene neighborhoods linked by parks. During the pandemic one often sees more people than cars. One visits with neighbors and friends passing on the sidewalks and quiet streets. Highland Park is surrounded by the vibrant neighborhoods of Dallas; however, homeowners can still enjoy the timeless attributes of a gentle neighborhood and natural beauty. *September Dawn
#September #Dawn #HighlandPark #Village #Neighborhood #StreetScene #Landscape #Photography #Parkway #TreeTunnel #Dallas #JoySpotting #OrganicUrbanism
Masks Make All the Difference
My artistic loyalty was always to the Peruna IV statue on campus that served as a gravestone for the late SMU pony mascot. New stadiums, new arenas, new parking buildings, new Georgian buildings with wider columns, and the new large sculpture of three mustangs, all convey the rapid 21st century growth and current personality of SMU. A circle created for the three mustang sculpture in the new middle of campus surrounded by athletics facilities just seemed too much—until now. On a recent Dallas bike ride through the SMU campus, I broke into a huge smile when I saw these masked mustangs. A sculpture I had always thought was kind of trite and gauche became utterly adorable. It made me think that if I was an incoming freshman, my first stop at the SMU bookstore would be to purchase several SMU t-shirts with these masked mustangs on the front. What better way to exhibit school spirit, be socially supportive of masks and be fashionable. I say fashionable since my sartorial statement my freshman year was wearing a different SMU t-shirt to class every day. This was prompted by a couple of things – in the tumultuous times school spirit had a throwback feel to it. Isn’t a throwback style always in fashion in some sort of avant-garde way? Besides, I negotiated with my parents that they would pay my university bookstore bill. I was so excited to find SMU t-shirts were sold next to the books. The end of August always reminds me of arriving at SMU for my freshman year. I hope that the SMU freshman class has a great year and enjoys SMU as much as I did. *Masks Make All the Difference
#MaskedMustangs #SMU #Dallas #SMUtshirt #SMU_bookstore #schoolspirit #HighlandPark #UniversityPark #SMUcampus #DallasNeighborhood #joyspotting
Hawk on Henderson
Hawks have such a powerful presence. Havoc replaces tranquility when they arrive—songbirds disappear. Hawks are associated with hunting and domination. It was with great amusement that I watched this hawk patiently annoyed. I guess it is like sitting on a porch on a hot day with a fly or gnat buzzing around. While one could easily and violently dispose of this distraction, is it really worth the effort? *Hawk on Henderson
#HawkAttack #Henderson #OldEastDallas #Neighborhood #DallasNeighborhood #DowntownNeighborhod #OrganicUrbanism #Dallas #UrbanNeighborhood