Douglas Newby Insights - Page 25
Margaret McDermott Home?
McDermott home at 4701 Drexel is the most historically significant home in Highland Park. Many say it will be torn down. Here are some of the reasons one might assume it will be preserved. 1) There have been several years to find a buyer interested in preserving the home with the proceeds going to UTD. 2) I have sold two Scott Lyons homes in the last several years in the same price range as Mrs. McDermott’s home. Both of these Scott Lyons homes have been renovated. 3) This is the most important Scott Lyons home. It is the right size, has the right ceiling heights, enormous walls of glass, and the contemporary spaces people desire. 4) There is a history of Dallas art patrons involved with the DMA that have preserved homes including past DMA presidents. These DMA presidents include John and Jennifer Eagle who renovated their Edward Durell Stone architect-designed period home; Tim Hanley renovated his O’Neil Ford designed architecturally significant home; Catherine and Will Rose renovated their Edward Larrabee Barnes architect-designed home. There are other Dallas art patrons and those with a sophisticated eye for architecture who would love to renovate and live in this Scott Lyons designed home. There are also an increasing number of buyers moving to Dallas that have a keen interest in purchasing an architect-designed period modern home. 5) There has been no concern expressed about the future of this home by Preservation Park Cities or Preservation Dallas. This suggests that the preservation community has been told that there are already plans in the works for this architecturally significant home to be renovated by a buyer that intends to live in it. 6) Margaret McDermott loved this home, as did the thousands of her friends and visitors. She was a great friend of architecture and promoted the preservation of homes designed by her architect friends and other significant architects. Above all, it would be unfathomable for this fabulous home to be torn down. *Margaret McDermott Home?
#MargaretMcDermott #MargaretMcDermottHome #ScottLyons #Preservation #PeriodModern #HighlandPark #ArchitecturallySignificant #Dallas #Architecture #Architect #HistoricPreservation
Scott Lyons Blossoms
Architect Scott Lyons originally set up a mobile office in what is now the garden where he designed and oversaw the construction of this architecturally significant home in Mayflower Estates. When the large O’Neil Ford designed home of the Pensons on Armstrong in Highland Park was torn down and even a 14,000 square foot home only 20 years old was torn down in Mayflower Estates, I love Walter and Audrey Stewart’s vision, who groomed their Scott Lyons-designed home and garden. Their efforts were followed by another couple, cultural patrons, who elaborately renovated their Scott Lyons-designed home next door. The average size and price of these two Scott Lyons homes was approximately that of Margaret McDermott’s home at 4701 Drexel in Highland Park. When talented buyers recognize the architectural significance and quality of a Scott Lyons home, the enduring appeal of Scott Lyons architecture is confirmed. Having sold these two homes designed by Scott Lyons, I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of other potential purchasers who loved the warmth and modernity of the Scott Lyons Texas Modern design. Scott Lyons, who for a time worked in the office of O’Neil Ford, shared his affinity for continuous walls of soft, oversized, Mexican brick, quarter-sawn white oak and enormous walls of windows capturing the views of creeks or gardens. This enthusiasm for Scott Lyons-designed homes and the ability to make them current works well for the future of the late Margaret McDermott’s home in Highland Park. It would be disingenuous to claim there is no market for a Scott Lyons-designed home on expensive land as an excuse for selling the home to a buyer who will tear the house down. This home definitively demonstrates that a Scott Lyons home of the same size and on the same priced land as Margaret McDermott’s home can be sold to a buyer who will renovate it. *Scott Lyons Blossoms
#MargaretMcDermott #HighlandPark #Mayflower Estates #ScottLyonsArchitect #Architecture #Preservation #HistoricPreservation #ArchitecturallySignificant #DallasNeighborhood #ContinuousWalls #Dallas #TexasModern #MayflowerEstates #Design #EstateHome #Modern #Window #SoftMexicanBrick
Preston Hollow Edge
Sharing an edge with proper Preston Hollow is Mayflower Estates. Arbitrary boundaries can make a monumental difference in perceived prices and values of land and neighborhoods. Walnut Hill twenty years ago was one of these neighborhood edges, with the land in Preston Hollow south of Walnut Hill costing twice as much as land in Mayflower Estates, north of Walnut Hill. Now, Mayflower Estates is on the right side of this Preston Hollow edge with even more valuable land. Rather than fences, here White Rock Creek might delineate boundaries and privacy. Boundaries are blurred with extended views of several-acre estates with their lakes, creeks, and gardens. Whether a home is in a town, a city, or in an estate neighborhood, people love being surrounded by nature.
*Preston Hollow Edge
#MayflowerEstates #PrestonHollow #EstateArea #Dallas #EstateNeighborhood #DallasNeighborhood #LandscapeDesign #LandscapeArchitecture #Horticulture #Garden #Tree #WhiteRockCreek #EstateProperty #DallasEstateHome #ScottLyonsArchitect #WalnutHillLane
Urban Edge
Swiss Avenue is known for being the grandest street in Dallas and in the middle of rejuvenating neighborhoods, only 22 blocks from downtown Dallas. While the perfect proportions of these architecturally significant homes and deep uniform setbacks from the wide landscaped boulevard convey a majestic grace, many do not realize how the large lots and mature trees create a serene setting for these architect-designed homes. Many think of Swiss Avenue on the urban edge, I think of Swiss Avenue homes as having layers of trees, and gardens and paths, like this home that becomes one of the quietest, protected settings in Dallas. Swiss Avenue homes are also more embraced by nature because the historic ordinance design guidelines prevent the building of neighboring homes that could dominate the site or impair the views of nature. Swiss Avenue homeowners in the 1980s recognized early the historic value of the Swiss Avenue homes and how the neighborhood could be revitalized. The prices on Swiss Avenue have been tethered by this generation of owners who always have emphasized the historicity of the homes and almost a self-conscious proclamation that this is really a good neighborhood. As these long-time homeowners are moving, the next generation of Swiss Avenue homebuyers recognize the modernity of Swiss Avenue homes, the timeless grace of the architecture, and the abundantly green setting in the most vibrant neighborhood of Dallas. The last generation brought the street back. The next generation of homeowners will be the ones that realize the economic appreciation and full value of these Swiss Avenue homes and neighborhood. *Urban Edge
#SwissAvenue #Garden #Dallas #UrbanEdge #Landscape #LandscapeArchitecture #UrbanNature #Tree #DallasNeighborhood #Neighborhood #HistoricDistrict #Design #MungerPlace
Township Edge
A serene edge between the home of the late Margaret McDermott and the middle of, the epicenter of Highland Park—Highland Park Town Hall, Fire Department, library, and park. Here a few of Mrs. McDermott’s grandnephews and nieces and their children found a quiet corner of her garden in the bustling celebration across the rest of the landscape following the packed memorial service at the Meyerson Symphony Hall a year ago. Arthur Berger created the landscape design for Mrs. McDermott’s Scott Lyons-designed home. This landscape design allowed her to be in a peaceful environment as she welcomed and incesssantly entertained guests from Dallas and around the world. Margaret McDermott loved gardens and flowers—flowers she grew or arranged, wildflowers along the highway or at her farm, or flowers planted at the Dallas Arboretum. Margaret McDermott helped inspire, cultivate and massage gardens much like she cultivated and groomed Dallas, always encouraging, nurturing, and giving credit and acknowledgement to others. *Township Edge
#HighlandParkDallas #Dallas #HighlandParkTownship #TownshipEdge #Landscape #LandscapeDesign #Garden #ArthurBerger #LandscapeArchitect #HighlandParkNeighborhood #OldHighlandPark #HighlandParkTownHall #Architecture
Van Gogh → McDermott+Berger → DMA+Dior
Dress for Painting II. This pairing at the Dior exhibition at the DMA reminded me of Mrs. McDermott’s love of gardens and architecture. Margaret McDermott gave this Vincent Van Gogh painting Riverbank in Springtime to the Dallas Museum of Art in memory of the fabulous landscape architect Arthur Berger. I have always associated Arthur Berger with his exquisite landscape design and siting of a small, exquisite, modern home O’Neil Ford designed on the Turtle Creek Bluff at 3900 Stonebridge in Turtle Creek Park. It was fun for me to hear her reminisce about O’Neil Ford, Arch Swank, and Arthur Berger who were some of her earliest and favorite friends. She became a patron of them and their work and remained friends through their lifetimes. It is nice to be reminded of their friendships with the gift of the Van Gogh painting that she made in memory of Arthur Berger. It is perfectly paired with a Dior dress at the Dallas Museum of Art exhibition Dior: From Paris to the World. If you slide to the next image, you will see an earlier post of Beverly Freeman in a green coat that matches perfectly with a Jonas Wood painting shown in his exhibition that opened earlier in the year at the DMA across from the Dior exhibition. Both pairings of Dress for Painting, one curated, the other spontaneous, show the impact and correlation of landscape on painting and fashion. *Van Gogh → McDermott+Berger → DMA+Dior
#Dior #DiorFromParisToTheWorld #DallasMuseumOfArt @DallasMuseumArt #MargaretMcDermott #VincentVanGogh #VanGogh #RiverbankInSpringtime #Museum #MuseumOpening #MuseumExhibition #Gallery #ArthurBerger #Landscape #LandscapeArchitect #Art #Artist #Design #Fashion #Designer #OpeningNight #ArtsDistrict #Dallas #Neighborhood @JonasbrWood #DressForPainting #joyspotting
Arboretum Point
This White Rock Lake site is a wonderful example of the point I made in my TEDx talk Homes That Make Us Happy, it is not how much land your home is on, but what you are next to or across from, a park, a lake, a meadow, a trail… This East Lawther lot is across from and next to all of the above. It is on 0.5 acres but it has a view very similar to the four-acre lot that I sold on the other side of the lake. This home site is on a point at White Rock Lake that was once owned by the Dallas Arborteum. The home with first and second floor porches wrapping around it is also embraced by Winfrey Point, a meadow, a trail, and a boat ramp at the edge of the lake. The friendly sounds of a baseball field further down the lake accentuate the atmosphere of a park setting. I love sites that are right in front of us but no one seems to notice. Locations come and go, but good sites are forever. *Arboretum Point
#WhiteRockLake #WinfreyPoint #EmeraldIsleNeighborhood #Dallas #Park #Architecture #Porches #Balconies #BikeTrails #GoodSite #Neighborhood #dallasneighborhoods
Woven Entanglement
Tangles create Clarity! Fierce conversation begets resolution. Savage binds in lyrical shapes and vivid color convey an animated conversation. Is there a French expression for—it is so messy it is beautiful? Artist Sheila Hicks puts one totally at ease with the sculptural mound of soft shapes and joyful colors that one first sees upon entering the exhibition at the Nasher Museum in Dallas. A primordial respect and attraction is then generated by this piece. Subliminally, the majestic colors and tactile beckoning of this tangled composition connotes beauty and optimism. As you walk in, or zoom in closer, and look deeper, the material becomes surprisingly fluffy and comforting. You will depart this work as when you first entered the gallery, with ascending joy! *Woven Entanglement
@NasherSculptureCenter @AtelierSheilaHicks @HastingsHicks #NasherSculptureCenter @TempleShipley #Artist #Art #Dallas #DallasNeighborhood #Design #ArtsDistrict #DowntownDallas #Museum #MuseumExhibition #SheilaHicks #ArtMuseum #Gallery #Sculpture #Weaving #Weave #Textile #Tactile #SoloExhibition # TanglesCreateClarity #HastingsNebraska #JoySpotting @GalerieFrankElbaz #NasherMuseum
Interpretative Weave
I am incredibly drawn to this Sheila Hicks piece at the Nasher. The more I look at it, the more captivated I become and visually pleased. Weaving created the medium—long, loose, narrow, textured banners of luscious color reminiscent of hand-fired glaze. These interlaced banners now serve as the palette and the design of this loosely woven piece that fills the room with energy. These two dozen interchangeable banners create a powerful design of rich color. It reminds us of the thousands of threads that create the subtle variations in color and texture that makes the medium and the effect of this piece so powerful. Whether you look at this work from a distance or in visual vignettes or up close, there is a majestic quality Sheila Hicks brings to her art. It is nice that those of us in Dallas don’t have to wait until October 21 to see a Sheila Hicks installation exhibited at the MoMA. *Interpretative Weave
@NasherSculptureCenter @GalerieFrankElbaz @TempleShipley @AtelierSheilaHicks @HastingsHicks #NasherSculptureCenter #Artist #Art #Dallas #Neighborhood #Design #ArtsDistrict #DowntownDallas #Museum #MuseumExhibition #SheilaHicks #ArtMuseum #Gallery #Sculpture #Weaving #Weave #textile #democraticdesign #Hastings
Hastings Origin
Dallas will forever know Sheila Hicks from her exhibition, opening at the Nasher this evening. Many now will always associate the Nasher Sculpture Center with Sheila Hicks’ vibrant work that makes one step back and admire, walk around and absorb, dive in closer, increasingly mesmerized by the visual tension of the details. I will always associate the avant garde brilliance of Paris-based, Yale-educated Sheila Hicks with Hastings, Nebraska, her birthplace. Many associate Nebraska with the swaying wheat and cornfields her grandfather pointed out extended as far as the eye could see, the reason America would never go hungry. I associate Hastings with the 2:42 a.m. Denver Zephyr trainstop in the middle of the country that both Sheila Hicks and I took in our youth to visit our respective grandparents. My grandfather owned the bank, her grandfather owned the general store, where I recall my grandfather buying important provisions when I discovered a squirt gun for sale. Hastings also was my introduction to culture, the Pioneer Museum/House of Yesterday and fascinating people. I recall Betty Kostle McBride, my mother’s closest childhood friend and Carleton College roommate, visiting Hastings where her father was the doctor. She glided across the living room of my grandparents’ architect-designed 1952 modern home with long hair, bare feet, and brightly painted red toenails. What I thought elegant as a child, my mother mentioned was a bit unusual. It made sense when years later I discovered the McBrides were managers of Allen Gingsberg’s City Lights bookstore in San Francisco, the epicenter of the Beat and counterculture generation. Tractor tire tubing with the McBrides gave me farm cred with Allen Ginbsberg when he visited SMU. Another Hastings contemporary of our grandfathers was Patricia Shinn’s grandfather, the owner of the Hastings title company. Patricia and James Shinn came to Dallas as Director of International Affairs after their prestigious and elegant postings in the diplomatic corps. The Nasher conveys the rich texture of Hastings and the magic of Sheila Hicks. *Hastings Origin
@AtelierSheilaHicks #Artist #Art #JoySpotting #Dallas #NasherSculptureCenter