• Skip to content
  • Skip to footer
Organic Urbanism

Organic Urbanism

Douglas Newby, national award-winning realtor, author, urbanist’s fascinating look at way forward for aesthetics, economics, health of cities

  • Architecturally Significant Homes – DougNewby.com
  • Follow Blog – DouglasNewby.com
  • Contact
  • Organic Urbanism
Organic Urbanism

Organic Urbanism

Organic Urbanism Allows Cities to Thrive

Douglas Newby, national award-winning realtor, author, urbanists, looks at Organic Urbanism as a way forward for the aesthetics, economics, and health of cities. Cities thrive when people thrive.

Origin of Organic Urbanism

My background brought into focus the concept of Organic Urbanism. Raised in a village of brick-lined and tree-tunneled streets, with triangle parks and neighborhood lawns to play in, I am extremely fond of the idyllic passage of time just riding a bike looking at the architectural nuance of historic homes along the way. While excitement was generated by Fourth of July parades and the energy of neighborhood block parties, backyard softball games, badminton or croquet contests, there was a lack of vibrancy that comes from a diverse urban setting of people from different parts of the world, economic strata, languages and cultures. As a child reading Hardy Boy books, I thought I was really “gypped” because there was never any crime in Hinsdale that I thought I could solve.

Neighborhood Revitalization Is A Significant Component of Organic Urbanism

Moving to Old East Dallas, which the city had proclaimed the worst neighborhood in Dallas, including the most dangerous bar two blocks away, made me rethink wishing for a little crime in the neighborhood. Nevertheless, my studies at SMU in anthropology, psychology, comparative religion, with an additional emphasis in art, led me to Munger Place by the invitations of artists that owned homes there. I considered Munger Place a cultural nirvana of vibrancy. I find it interesting that a grade school neighbor, Sunny Bates, who lived just around the corner from me in Hinsdale and that I later became reacquainted with at TED (she is often considered a co-founder of the modern era of TED), had a similar reaction to our idyllic childhood life. Sunny majored in Middle Eastern studies in college and then bought a house in Harlem that became revitalized much like Old East Dallas.

Nature Embracing Neighborhoods Is An Underlying Goal of Organic Urbanism

I approach my favorite neighborhoods with this deep appreciation for the embrace of nature and aesthetically pleasing fabric of architecture. I still crave the vibrancy of culturally diverse chef-owned restaurants, theaters, museums, artist studios, and cultural events nearby. I continue to have a dual desire for nature and vibrancy.

Organic Urbanism Encourages Diverse Neighborhoods

Over four decades I have seen my Munger Place neighborhood evolve. It has been revitalized and gentrified, but is not bland. It actually has a deeper and fuller contrast. Additional trees have been planted and one-way couplets have been returned to two-way neighborhood streets. Restaurants with Vietnamese, Italian, Laotian, and Mexican roots have been in existence 40 to 50 years that continue, and new restaurants from second generation Americans are being honored as one of the top ten new restaurants in the country. Crime is way down but diverse economic strata is still visible. Rejuvenated neighborhoods added an impetus to the creation of an Arts District downtown. Parks have been expanded and improved, attracting people from across the city.

Organic Urbanism Nourishes Neighborhoods

With love and nourishment, neighborhoods can flourish. As a real estate broker that began my business to help revitalize the neighborhood, it has evolved and is selling some of the most expensive homes in the city. The common denominator of the disparate neighborhood home prices, is the impact the evolution of the neighborhood has on their respective areas. I have a keen interest and understanding of the evolution of these neighborhoods and the importance of good sites and good architecture that delivers value and helps my clients successfully make on of the most important economic decisions of their life when they buy or sell a home.

Organic Urbanism Satisfies the Intellectual and Academic Rigors of Diverse City Stakeholders

When I thought about the tenets of Organic Urbanism, I thought it should satisfy the rigorous requirements of three influential groups of people in my life.

Economists Embrace the Tenets of Organic Urbanism

The first group are economists like the late Gerald Scully, one of my thesis advisers at SMU. Dr. Gerald Scully was a libertarian economist who lived in Junius Heights in the early years of its resurgence. He was the first economist that I worked with who understood that single-family zoning was a property right. He recognized the economic advantages of taking away multifamily zoning privileges to gain an even greater economic property right, the privilege of single-family zoning. He approved my premise that single-family zoning brings economic advantages to all constituencies in a distressed neighborhood as I discussed in my thesis, “Economic Incentives to Reverse Migration in an Inner-City Neighborhood.” He also sent me many economic articles over a range of subjects and introduced me to economist John Goodman of the Goodman Institute, who has also had a profound impact on my thinking of public policy issues.

Organic Urbanism Appeals to Ph.D’s in the Humanities Who Have A Cultural Approach Urbanism

The second group that has influenced me is best represented by Dr. Gail Thomas, the founder of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, and the greatest force in changing the Trinity River that had been made into a channel flanked by toll roads to become a meandering river through hardwood forests, embracing and encouraging neighborhoods on both sides of the river. For over three decades, Dr. Gail Thomas held major conferences, symposiums, and small salons discussing the city. Gail understood, taught, and promoted the idea that there was a soul in places, neighborhoods, and the city. Gail led the way in thinking of how to heal damaged parts of the city, explore untapped resources in the city, and create new opportunities in the city. I have always thought places have energy and Gail Thomas, through her lectures, writing and guest speakers like Jane Jacobs, reinforced this belief.

Homeowners Who Choose To Live In A City Are Most Sensitive to Organic Urbanism

The third group that has influenced my thinking are my clients that I have worked with. I am maybe the most fortunate real estate broker in the country, because my clients have selected me because we have a shared passion for good architecture, the best neighborhoods, great sites, and for the city of Dallas. My clients understand the importance of architecture, the merits of a site or a neighborhood, and a home beyond its MLS specifics. I have represented my clients as they have purchased and sold many of the most architecturally significant homes in Dallas. Even more important and impactful, they have shared with me what they loved about their homes and what made them happy living in their homes for many years. The awards that their homes received might have been fun for them, and the academic applause for their home’s architecture satisfying, but the accolades is not what made them happy living in their home every day. My different clients kept repeating the same themes and mentioning the same characteristics of their home that made them happy. The themes were the same whether they lived in the largest estate home, a small historic cottage, or a modern townhome. Organic Urbanism recognizes what homeowners desire in a home, a site, a neighborhood, and a home that makes them happy.

Organic Urbanism Allows An Individual, A Neighborhood, and A City To Flourish

The themes of Organic Urbanism allow an individual to flourish, which allows a neighborhood to flourish, which allows a city to flourish. Organic Urbanism provides a rational economic platform and principles to reach its goals. It also embraces the concept of neighborhood and citizens having a collective soul that resonates or reverberates across the city. Organic Urbanism allows a city to be nurtured, not rigidly manipulated.

New Urbanism Is A Threat to Cities

Dallas has always been vulnerable to New Urbanism trying to copy the older industrial models of cities from the Midwest like Chicago or the East Coast like New York. Fortunately, Dallas has always had an underlying sense of independence, individuality, and personal expression that has allowed Dallas to resist some of the rigid calls for density and new development. Dallas has succumbed to New Urbanism in some ways but has avoided it in other ways. Just as one doesn’t need to outrun a tiger, only the person next to them, Dallas doesn’t need to outrun the tiger, just do better than the other failing cities across the country.

Organic Urbanism Is the Solution

An Organic Urbanism approach would actually let Dallas outrun the tiger. Organic Urbanism will allow Dallas to tap into its existing resources of people, places, structures, and energy and organically flourish.

Organic Urbanism Nurtures a City

Neighbors Celebrate Community in Greenway Parks

Organic Urbanism is a positive way forward for cities in peril. Organic Urbanism recognizes that people enjoy vibrancy but seek sunlight and low-density neighborhoods. Technology loosened the shackles of the industrial cities’ conventional time and space, and the pandemic is breaking the shackles. Organic Urbanism fully embraces nature and technology and their importance for a city to flourish. This is much different than the traditional New Urbanism that promotes industrial age techniques to streamline an industrial city, and then add a dollop of nature. Organic Urbanism recognizes that technology increasingly allows people to respond to their own daily rhythms including where they live and work.

Traditional Top-Down Central Planning of New Urbanism Adheres to Industrial Principles

Traditional New Urbanism’s top-down central planning for a 21st century city is still adhering to industrial principles which are currently killing cities—whistle-signaling fixed factory-like work shifts; fixed-rail trains getting people to work in concentrated fixed locations; dense housing zones and subsidized apartments on fixed rail lines; centralized education by zip codes; homeownership allowed for the rich and homeownership impeded for everyone else.

Organic Urbanism Allows a City to Evolve Like an Urban Garden

Organic Urbanism allows a city to evolve like an urban garden. There is a natural ebb and flow in cities. As housing ages, it becomes more affordable for different demographics. Lower-income homebuyers can now afford these homes, and higher-income homeowners can now afford to renovate these homes. Neither of these demographic groups should have to compete with government-subsidized developers to buy a home that the developers would tear down. If there are government subsidies for a neighborhood development, it should go to the neighborhood—new streets, curbs, sidewalks, streetlights, parkway trees, and better internet connectivity for the benefit of the entire neighborhood. The developers should not have their land acquisitions subsidized so they can build more apartments.

New Urbanists Want to Physically Integrate and Economically Segregate

Traditional New Urbanists want to physically integrate neighborhoods but maintain segregated economic strata of wealth by subsidizing low-income apartments. Organic Urbanism wants to integrate the economic strata of wealth with more homeownership.

Organic Urbanism Celebrates Nature

The Northern Hills Neighborhood Represents Organic Urbanism

A trademark of industrial cities is concentrated wealth. Density allows a concentration of power and control. Organic Urbanism naturally allows people to spread out across a city gravitating to naturally beautiful areas even if their current neighborhoods are deteriorated. Organic Urbanism wants to provide the freedom of physical movement, with less lanes of traffic and super highways, and economic movement by empowering people of all incomes many of the same benefits that traditional New Urbanists reserve for the wealthy—good doctors, good schools, good food, good jobs, and single-family homes. Organic Urbanism understands that tele-medicine allows someone of any income to have the same quality doctor at a cheaper rate than an office visit, and the doctors’ offices are often closer to a wealthy population than a low-income population.

Autonomous Vehicles, Uber, Air-Taxis Eliminate Two-Hour, Three-Transit Stop Commutes

Autonomous vehicles, Uber and air-taxis will eliminate the time needed for three transit changes and two long walks to get to a good job. School choice including charter schools, ISD academies, magnet schools, tuition scholarships, and home-schooling networks allow families to live anywhere in the city. Schools other than traditional ISD schools attract people of all incomes to lower-income areas to be close to these innovative schools, which organically integrate the neighborhood.

Organic Urbanism Promotes Community Involvement in Neighborhoods

Organic Urbanism is opposed to the unholy alliance of police and teacher unions with urban politicians that give legislative protections for bad police conduct and inept teaching. In addition, Organic Urbanism is in favor of empowering communities of color by encouraging Rent-a-Cop grants to be made to neighborhood homeowners so they can hire off-duty police officers and police cars for periodic four-hour shifts in their neighborhoods.

Single Family Zoning And Homes Create Wealth For Minorities

Traditional New Urbanists think single-family homes and single-family zoning is morally bad. Organic Urbanism thinks single-family homes create wealth and empowerment for lower-income groups.

Organic Urbanism Will Allow A City To Flourish

The city that traditional New Urbanism has touted for over 50 years is over. Organic Urbanism is for allowing people, homeowners, neighborhoods, and the city to organically flourish.

Organic Urbanism is a cure for New Urbanism.

-Douglas Newby

Organic Urbanism Articles, Insights and Proposals

Organic Urbanism is a Cure for New Urbanism

Organic Urbanism is a Cure for New Urbanism

New Urbanism is like a virus. For 50 year it keeps coming back in mutated forms. It needs a cure. First, the only thing new in New Urbanism is the new construction that tears down the organic city. A form of New Urbanism has been around for 50 years. Like I said, it is a...

Continue Reading →

Organic Urbanism Encourages Community, Embraces Nature

Organic Urbanism Encourages Community, Embraces Nature

The pandemic has us focusing more on the criteria for choosing a city, a neighborhood and a home. It comes down to aesthetics, economics and future happiness — the foundation of organic urbanism. Aesthetics drive the economics of a neighborhood and a home. The health of a city and neighborhood contributes to the happiness and...

Continue Reading →

Patchwork Quilt of Backyards is Dallas’ Central Park

Patchwork Quilt of Backyards is Dallas’ Central Park

In 1990, when Dallas was going through its great economic depression, it actually had a chance to have more than just backyards and trees. It had a chance to have a version of New York’s Central Park. Southland Corporation had assembled 200 acres one small lot at a time. After the devastating economic downturn, this...

Continue Reading →

Inspired Architecture Benefits Shelter in Place

Inspired Architecture Benefits Shelter in Place

Shelter in place has us focused on the characteristics of a home that makes us happy. What makes us happy in a home has not changed, but since we are spending more time in a home than ever, we are focused on what makes us happy in a home. Neighborhoods become more important during shelter...

Continue Reading →

Home Sweet Home? How Shelter in Place Changes the Way We Think About a Home

Home Sweet Home? How Shelter in Place Changes the Way We Think About a Home

The recent challenges from the coronavirus force us to shelter at home and think of our home in whole new ways. Traditionally, when a buyer looks for a house to purchase, they are usually thinking about practical and financial criteria, like the square footage cost of the investment, how much house can they afford, are...

Continue Reading →

The Characteristics of Homes People Love

The Characteristics of Homes People Love

We have all been taught that owning a home is the American dream. We know that the purchase of a home is one of life’s most significant decisions and one’s most significant design decision. (Well, maybe you have just heard that from me.) We all know America and its culture are founded on the pursuit...

Continue Reading →

Inclusive Urban Growth: Dilute the Strong or Fortify the Weak Neighborhoods

Inclusive Urban Growth: Dilute the Strong or Fortify the Weak Neighborhoods

As cities increasingly become enclaves for the rich and reservations for the poor, the debate rages on how to create inclusive urban growth to make cities less economically segregated and more vibrant. In Dallas, the Trinity River gives a geographic definition to the high income and low-income neighborhoods, dividing the historically prosperous northern half of...

Continue Reading →

Architect Reinterprets Location

Architect Reinterprets Location

What Ron Wommack and his client realized was this rather dowdy spur of houses on very high ground adjacent to an abandoned railroad track would soon be a site overlooking the Santa Fe Trail, a running, walking, bicycling trail from White Rock Lake to Fair Park. What was a lesser street now became a very...

Continue Reading →

Backyard Rental House/Granny Flat Zoning Threatens Trees, Breezes, Birds and Neighborhoods

Backyard Rental House/Granny Flat Zoning Threatens Trees, Breezes, Birds and Neighborhoods

The Dallas city manager and housing director are proposing a devastating blanket zoning change: allowing ADUs (additional dwelling units), better known as granny flats, actually backyard rental houses, in single-family zoned neighborhoods. This change would allow a 44-foot wide by 30-foot tall rental house to be built on the back of a standard 50‑foot wide...

Continue Reading →

Adding Density Destroys Neighborhoods One House at a Time

Adding Density Destroys Neighborhoods One House at a Time

Density is the Holy Grail of New Urbanism, from creating new zoning for granny flats, rooming houses, townhouses, duplexes, fourplexes and backyard two-story rental houses in established neighborhoods to encouraging dense mixed use development on undeveloped or redeveloped land. The advantage of urban density and the idyllic effect of density has been the battle cry...

Continue Reading →

Strongest Property Rights Mayor Was Also Strongest Preservation Mayor

Strongest Property Rights Mayor Was Also Strongest Preservation Mayor

I fondly remember preservation/property rights mayor Robert Folsom, who died on January 24 at age 89. Mayor Folsom was also the strongest proponent of the neighborhood’s preservation request for single-family zoning and to become a historic district.

Continue Reading →

  • Architecturally Significant Homes – DougNewby.com
  • Follow Blog – DouglasNewby.com
  • Contact
  • Organic Urbanism

Footer

Douglas Newby – Thought Leader, Author, and Neighborhood Advocate

I hope you enjoy my thoughts on Organic Urbanism and how cities will thrive if they embrace freedom, beauty and opportunity. Cities that evolve in response to peoples natural rhythms of life while celebrating nature, vibrancy and safety, will flourish. If you have an interest in Organic Urbanism or finding a home that will make you happy in one of the finest neighborhoods, please give me a call me at 214.522.1000.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Phone
  • YouTube

The #1 Realtor For Architecturally Significant Homes

Douglas Newby is a national award-winning realtor, author and urbanist who provides a fascinating way forward for the aesthetics, economics and health of cities. He provides insights on how to nurture our cities. Douglas Newby recognizes that despite a city’s robust reputation, they are fragile.

His success in neighborhood revitalization, architectural preservation and rezoning have given him the knowledge in and experience of the fluid dynamics of a city, the surges and declines.

Douglas Newby’s work as a Real Estate Broker includes selling the least expensive home in Dallas and the most expensive home in Dallas, which deepens his sense of what homeowners and residents desire in a neighborhood and a city. His TEDx talk Homes That Make Us Happy forecast what people are now looking for in a home and a neighborhood. The navigation bar at the top of the page will take you to his Architecturally Significant Homes website.

Follow or Subscribe for Insights from Dallas Real Estate Broker Douglas Newby

Douglas Newby provides insights and interprets neighborhoods, real estate, architecture, and the market, when other agents provide ubiquitous statistics.

Follow on Instagram Follow Blog - DouglasNewby.com Architecturally Significant Homes - DougNewby.com

douglasnewby

National and international art galleries endorsed National and international art galleries endorsed Dallas by participating in the Dallas Art Fair. Often artists lead the way in discovering and reclaiming neighborhoods making them fashionable. Much the same can be said of art galleries. Barry Whistler Gallery gave Deep Ellum a boost three decades ago and then gave the Dallas Design District an additional thrust. Now international galleries are doing the same thing for Dallas by participating in the 15th Dallas Art Fair. We know Dallas has the country’s most diverse economy attracting a steady flow of Fortune 500 companies. We know substantial people are moving to Dallas, resulting in more homebuyers than home sellers in Highland Park and Dallas. Dallas, increasingly attractive for relocations, is rightly associated with an open friendly city, lower taxes, safety, educational opportunities. Now international galleries are endorsing the aesthetics of Dallas. Art transcends even the draw of jobs, safety, education and favorable economics. People of all incomes enjoy art. Now Dallas enjoy the art world coming to us. This year Art Fair spaces were consistently beautifully curated, the art strong, the galleries friendly, and the viewers excited. The Dallas Art Fair also showed the strength of Dallas art galleries. Dallas art galleries at the Fair more than held their own. Dallas art galleries in the Dallas Design District also had art openings to coincide with the Art Fair and the week of art conversations in Dallas. Private art collections were also made available to view. Art work presented by east and west coast galleries and those from around the world made me even more appreciative of the fabulous Dallas art galleries, art collectors and collections that we have in Dallas. Since grade school, I have loved fairs – including writing a long school report on fairs, going to book fairs, the Chicago International Trade Fair, art fairs in other cities, and of course the Texas State Fair. The Dallas Art Fair has blossomed into an internationally important fair – one that is enjoyable, educational, and one that endorses Dallas. *DallasArtFair
#DallasArtFair #DowntownDallas #DallasArt #DallasDesignDistrict #Dallas
Real Deal insights were provided earlier this year Real Deal insights were provided earlier this year by Publisher and Founder Amir Korangy of The Real Deal, the largest real estate magazine in the country. It is interesting how people outside Dallas interpret the city. Amir Korangy hosted a dinner at The Mansion Restaurant that included former Mayor Mike Rawlings; CEO of Crow Holdings, Michael Levy; Dallas Regional Chamber Senior VP of Research and Innovation, Duane Dankesreiter; The Real Deal’s National Managing Editor Jerry Sullivan, Texas Editor Rachel Stone, and Dallas reporter Erick Pirayesh, along with a few other real estate leaders. I find interesting to compare the perspectives of those from inside and outside of Dallas. When over a year ago Amir visited Dallas to learn about the city, he asked people what made Dallas so successful. The first person suggested it was because the people in Dallas were nice. Amir said he thought this didn’t seem enough to be the foundation of a city’s success. He said after he spoke to 30 people over the week and they all said essentially the same thing, that maybe this was the key component to the success of Dallas. One certainly could not point to mountains or an ocean as the draw to Dallas. Nice is a pleasant but rather anemic word for something more profound in Dallas. When my clients are moving to Dallas or considering moving to Dallas, the first way I describe Dallas is that it is the most open city in the country. In Dallas people are considered for what they contribute and add to the city. Recently this idea was reinforced at a Dallas dinner for 80 people being celebrated for their contributions to the city. It was mentioned that Dallas is a place far more collaborative than divisive. The fun, generous, warm mood of this assemblage of successful people from the full political spectrum conveyed this. At the earlier dinner, Amir Korangy said that Dallas is both a magnet for Fortune 500 companies and is an encouraging environment for people in every demographic to start a business. The sentiments and mood of these two dinners reinforced in my mind—niceness in Dallas is the real deal. *Real Deal
 
#Dallas #City #TheRealDeal @mrkorangy #rosewoodmansiononturtlecreek
This Robert Frost style poem was inspired by my bl This Robert Frost style poem was inspired by my blog article on DouglasNewby.com- Preservation Dallas 50th Anniversary Home Tour Celebrates Neighborhoods and Architecture.

In neighborhoods, where history breathes,
Preservation Dallas, its mission weaves.
Fifty years have come and gone,
A golden era, a tale now spun.

With architect's passion and vision clear,
Neighborhoods standing, as we stand here.
A house, a home, a living tale,
In every brick and timbered bale.

Kessler Park and Swiss Avenue,
Touched by hands, old and new. Cheek and Fooshee, Dilbeck, too,
A tapestry of architects, their essence imbued.

Winds of change, they blow and gust,
Yet in these homes, our trust is thrust.
Oak Cliff and Munger Place, a story to share,
Intricate patterns, a legacy's heir.

As I wandered through these homes,
I felt the whispers, the ancient tomes.
Of lives well lived and dreams fulfilled,
In every corner, history distilled.

To celebrate these architects, we gather near,
Their talents, their visions, we revere.
For in their craft, they've woven time,
Preserved for us, a gift sublime.

We stand upon the shoulders of the great,
Their work, an anchor, against time's weight.
And as we walk the neighborhoods of yore,
A part of us, forevermore.

So let us celebrate this jubilant day,
In honor of those who've paved the way.
For through their work, we too shall see, 
A past preserved, an eternal legacy. *Preservation Poetry

#PreservationDallas #DallasNeighborhoods  #DallasArchitects  #SwissAvenue #OakCliff #dallashometoura #mungerplace
Here is how iconic drinks are maybe named at iconi Here is how iconic drinks are maybe named at iconic restaurants. Javier’s Gourmet Mexicano is the oldest iconic restaurant in Dallas. It is much loved, known for its professional service, unwavering Mexico City inspired food, and much fun. Led by Javier’s example, wearing an Italian suit, with Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and other stylish cars lined up in the front, Javier’s is known for tradition and style. It is against this backdrop that an iconic drink may be created. When Javier inquired what drinks he could request the server to bring to the table, he was told a top shelf Margarita rimmed with sugar. Javier’s eyes got wide and a curious expression appeared as he said he has never had that request. When told he could think of it as a Maya Margarita, Javier repeated, “Maya Margarita” and said, “It has a good ring to it.” Grace Kelly, a stylish  woman, propelled a Hermes handbag to be called the Kelly bag. Here a stylish woman might propel a sugar-rimmed top shelf Margarita to be called a Maya Margarita. *MayaMargarita
 
#JaviersDallas #Javier #Dallas #IconicRestaurant #MayaMargarita #SugarRimmedMargarita #Margarita #DallasRestaurant #MexicanRestaurant #eventdirector #nationalmargaritaday @JaviersGourmetMexicano
From graduate student looking work on the first le From graduate student looking work on the first level of the Guggenheim Museum, Alex Katz’ work ascends to the highest level and to the triumphant and concluding piece of the exhibition, which was loaned by Dallas’ own art collector, Marguerite Hoffman. Katz’ wife was a reoccurring subject matter throughout his 60-year career, including the oversized faces Katz is best known for. The final piece in his show has his wife’s back to the viewer, and yet we still can tell exactly who it is. A retrospective this linear is also nice as we see the evolution of an artist’s work and in this case the distinct evolution of styles and attitudes of each decade. As you slide through the images, you will be able to see the final picture of the back of the woman repeated six times on the canvas. This piece is destined to become part of the Dallas Museum of Art’s permanent collection. *Katz Ascends
#guggenheim #ArtExhibition @guggenheim #AlexKatz #DallasArtCollector #UpperEastSide #Design
Michael Lee, a brilliant designer and a Highland P Michael Lee, a brilliant designer and a Highland Park native, has reclaimed Dallas as his home and continues to reclaim Dallas architectural components and artifacts from architecturally significant homes and merge them into new spaces. A celebration at his new retail space at Nick Brock on Slocum in the Design District provided the opportunity to see how a collection of individual pieces offered for sale were placed in a graceful composition that was as enticing as each individual piece. Additionally, sunlight illuminated the space. When Michael moved to Malibu, his genius was quickly recognized. His California work was featured in Architectural Digest and he was the talk of the town. Simultaneously, his projects in Dallas were equally revered. It is so fun to have Michael and Gatsby back in Dallas. When you see them, you are bound to see many of the most talented and delightful people in town.  Here we see the Director of the Dallas Opera, the North American CEO of Christie’s Auction House, and Carol Lee, who with her late husband John Ridings Lee, lived and entertained in iconic modern and historic homes that were the toast of the town.  From business leaders to aesthetic leaders and interior designers, this space glowed with talent and love that always surrounds Michael Lee. *Reclaim Dallas
#NickBrockAntiques #Antiques #GatsbyGeerts #DallasDesignDistrict #ArchitecturallySignificant #ArchitecturalArtifacts #Retail #DallasCelebration #Dallas
Pure ice on the first day this architecturally sig Pure ice on the first day this architecturally significant historic home was on the market. Today, my clients are enjoying their new home on a sunny day.  Ice is a buyer’s best friend.
 
My clients said ideally they would like a historic home, an architecturally significant home, a home on around a half acre of land, looking across from a golf course, and in the next six months before they were to be married. There has been virtually no inventory of homes for sale over the last six months. Where would you have recommended? They bought this home, a historic 100-year-old home, an architecturally significant home, on almost a half acre, overlooking a golf course, the day before their wedding. 
 
As I told this beautiful couple – NEVER a doubt! *Celebrating Home
 
#DallasIce #Dallas #DallasNeighborhood #HistoricHome #ArchitecturallySignificantHome #CentennialHome #100YearOldHome #neighborhood
The Dallas Museum of Art and Director Agustin Arte The Dallas Museum of Art and Director Agustin Arteaga continues to inform and delight with a wide and deep spectrum of exhibitions. Recently opening was “Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks.” Art history is more than the history of artistic technique or expression, it is history itself. We heard from Dr. Katharina Van Cauteren that the 16th century paintings in Antwerp and Flanders was the start of the art market. Artists began painting speculatively rather than painting solely on commission. An art market broadens the subject matter of paintings from predominantly portraits to landscapes, still lifes, and other vignettes that were in demand. The paintings seen are primarily curated from The Phoebus Foundation collection with strong Flemish paintings from the DMA interspersed. Oil paint was invented during this period, allowing the intense detail we are seeing in these paintings. An entire wall is dedicated to 20 prints that portray inventions and processes of the day, such as the machinery pressing olive oil. The beauty of art can be emotionally elevating, but the history of art and why it was made can illuminate our history. *Entrepreneurial Art
#dallasartmuseum museum art #Flanders #OilPaint #ArtMarket #Dallas #ArtHistory #ArtDistrict #ArtOpening #PhoebusFoundation #dallasmuseumart
Ford and Cece are in the house when you see a yell Ford and Cece are in the house when you see a yellow Corvette. For decades they have driven a new model yellow Corvette. In Highland Park Village at Cafe Pacific you see so many Bentleys, Rolls-Royces and Maybachs lined up it is hard to know which car belongs to whom and yet when you see a yellow Corvette, you know the owner. Ford and Cece are the only couple in Dallas where either one of them can be referenced by first name only – Ford or Cece – and people will know to whom you are referring.  Cece Smith founded the largest retail specialty venture capital fund. Cece has been on many corporate boards, is a past chair of the Dallas Federal Reserve, and current chair of the Dallas Symphony Board. Ford Lacy is the Highland Park resident intellectual, a Highland Park and Harvard graduate, he was a successful Akin Gump attorney and continues to dazzle others with his vast source of knowledge and insights on myriad subjects. Maybe the greatest contribution of Ford and Cece is their founding of the President’s Research Council (PRC) at UT Southwestern over 35 years ago. PRC grants annual distinguished research seed grants to promising young researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center. These funds are generated by community members of PRC who convene quarterly to hear about exciting research taking place at UT Southwestern. Lectures by the immensely talented clinicians, doctors and faculty at UT Southwestern provide the most exciting lecture series in Dallas.  Often emerging technology and medical breakthroughs are heard here years ahead of the TED Conference presenting them. Recently, Ford and Cece were honored at iconic Cafe Pacific for a fun PRC Appreciation Dinner for their founding PRC and underwriting the PRC annual dinner announcing research grants with PRC members seated with Nobel laureates, past PRC speakers and distinguished members of UT Southwestern. Among many honors Ford and Cece have received is being selected as academicians in the Academy of Raffination. *Ford and Cece
 
#Raffination #CafePacific #CeceSmith #FordLacy #PRC #PresidentsResearchCouncil #YellowCorvette #highlandparkvillage #highlandparktx
Jim Young, 40th employee of EDS, is presented firs Jim Young, 40th employee of EDS, is presented first ever Texas Business Hall of Fame Distinguished Service Award and given tribute by Morton Meyerson. In fact, Dallas icon Morton Meyerson, the 57th employee that became the EDS President and CEO, gave the finest and most important personal and historical tribute I have heard. Morton Meyerson said he had never told Jim Young this before, but when he arrived at EDS, which was only about two years old, it was a cold, stiff organization still trying to get established, where he felt out of place. Jim, with his elegant, warm, inclusive and supportive sense of humor, allowed him to survive and thrive at EDS. He credited Jim Young with creating a company-wide atmosphere of humanity and opportunity for the thousands of employees around the world. Pictured here are his wife, Carole Young, who has also made an incredible impact on Dallas and Texas, with even a Texas prison named after her; and Dale Petroskey, the President and CEO of the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce, who wrote a definitive LinkedIn post on Jim receiving this award. Dale is a good example of the incredibly successful people in Jim Young’s orbit that include Jim as a mentor, friend and inspiration, as I do. Jim Young has always placed his family (who have all been incredibly successful, including his daughter Kelly Stoetzel, who headed the TED conferences for several years and selected the TED speakers for 15 years, and his son Jim Young who received a Master’s Degree at University of Cambridge and started his own successful business) first, and treated those young and old around the world as if they were family – Jim was always incredibly interested, and generous with his thoughts, guidance and encouragement. The world is a better place because of Jim Young and everyone that knows Jim Young has benefitted. Thank you Jim! *Orbit of Jim Young
#JimYoung #CaroleYoung #DalePetroskey #OrbitOfJimYoung #Dallas #TexasBusinessHallOfFame #Mentor #Leader #Inspiration @TexasBusinessHallOfFame
Crosstown Expressway connecting Interstate Highway Crosstown Expressway connecting Interstate Highway 30 to Central Expressway was imminent. Its dedicated path included Munger Boulevard as it was supposed to cut through a dozen Old East Dallas historic neighborhoods. Before the Trinity Toll Road proposal, before the Klyde Warren deck park, and before any movement to reduce or eliminate roads, the homeowners in Old East Dallas did what seemed impossible – they stopped Crosstown Expressway. Crosstown Expressway was eliminated and Munger Boulevard actually had two lanes of traffic removed to enable a landscaped median to be installed reflecting the Munger Brothers original development. Further, Collett and Fitzhugh, that had been one-way couplets, were returned to two-way residential streets interspersed with stop signs. In a neighborhood where a highway had been planned, high speed through-traffic streets were returned to residential streets. The transportation travesty of Crosstown was transformed to a corridor of nature. Please note the 20 miles per hour school zone sign allowing children to walk to school. *History of a Highway
#MungerBoulevard #CrosstownExpressway #Fitzhugh #Collett #MungerPlace #OldEastDallas #HistoricNeighborhoods #DallasHistory #Dallas #DallasNeighborhoods
Whenever I go to London I try to stop by The Court Whenever I go to London I try to stop by The Courtauld Institute of Art. It was the first London museum I visited years ago on my initial visit to London. The Courtauld resonated with me for many reasons. I love the architecture. Sir William Chambers in 1775 designed the building that replaced the original 1552 home of the Duke of Somerset. The paintings were predominately lit by natural sunlight in a salon-like setting of dark wood floors, enormous ceilings and tall windows. In the first room on one wall was A Bar at the Folies-Bergere by Edouard Manet. I had first seen this Manet painting when it was on loan at the Chicago Art Institute for a blockbuster exhibition. Ropes were placed eight feet away from the painting enclosed in glass. People were standing three deep. On my first visit to The Courtauld, when I approached an almost empty room, I asked the guard how close could I get to the painting. The guard replied, “Oh, about six inches.” How can you not love a museum that has a fabulous ceremonial staircase, a living room/salon setting for a lovely Manet that one can view at an unhurried pace from any distance. On my last visit right before the pandemic, The Courtauld was shut down for renovation. This trip was my first return. The building and approach is still magical. It brought back memories of seeing then Prince Charles just a few feet away getting into his Jaguar as he departed the museum. The interior of the renovated museum is now opened up with art lighting and light wood floors. Paintings share spaces with several other paintings on the extended walls. The renovation was necessary. It now has a much better event space for fundraisers, private dinners, events and parties. The galleries are better lit and feel more up to date. However, it reminds me of why homeowners go back to their original home and wonder why it has been changed. On this visit, Chinese nationals for their London university art class, asked me to write my feelings on a photocopy of the painting. I wrote “highlighted and hidden.” *The Courtauld Update
#TheCourthauld #SomersetHouse #London #ABarAtTheFolies-Bergere #ArtMuseum #Art #Architecture #History
Builders use staircases trying to reflect, in thei Builders use staircases trying to reflect, in their traditional spec homes, the grandeur of great European houses. Bill McKenzie, an editorial board member for the Dallas Morning News in the 1990s, asked me, for an editorial he was writing, for examples of the difference in “Big Hair Houses,” starting to dominate Dallas streets, with architect designed homes. As always, Bill asks thoughtful questions that had me reviewing homes with this question in mind. I provided examples including: architects used real bookshelves in the library off the front door, while builders might use bookshelf wallpaper. Where builders would often stack 16 inches of ceiling molding, architects might design 8-inch moldings - more expensive to create but more elegant. However, what I most remember were these Big Hair houses in University Park in Dallas on standard size lots often had two staircases just as one might find in a European estate home. The difference was that the two staircases in Big Hair builder homes, only a room or two away from each other, were almost identical in size, rise and treads. While in architect designed estate homes, the primary staircase was much grander and the servant stairs were steep and narrow indicating a hierarchy of stairs. The best example of this in Dallas is the Crespi Estate, designed by architect Maurice Fatio in 1939. In London, I was reminded of this in the Somerset House now housing The Courtauld Institute of Art. The primary staircase is elegant and inviting, making it enjoyable to walk to the third-floor galleries. As you slide through the images, you will see the secondary stairs, steep, narrow and forbidding. Generic builders often build spec homes just for show; architects design homes for show and purpose. *Hierarchy of Stairs
#Stairs #TheCourtauld #Architect #ArchitectDesign #EstateHomes #BuilderHomes #HierarchyOfStairs #London #Historic #SomersetHouse
London light, uninterrupted by tall buildings, ill London light, uninterrupted by tall buildings, illuminates the architectural detail and relief of London’s significant historic buildings. Luminescence prevails even on damp days. A blue sky is a welcome change in the monotony of a grey London landscape. Bright lights and Christmas lights add ornamentation to architecturally significant buildings already heavily ornamented with stone carvings and architectural detail. I have decided London light is more profound because it is distributed in a judicial way, somehow only illuminating the best historically significant buildings, leaving the flat-faced generic ones cast in dull shadows. Even the glitz of New Bond Street has a patina of glimmer. *London Light
#Light #Shadow #Luminescence #London #ArchitecturallySignificant #HistoricallySignificant #NewBond #Historic #Architecture #Historic #LondonLandmarks
Trees announce a neighborhood. One immediately rec Trees announce a neighborhood. One immediately recognizes Highland Park as the most expensive neighborhood in Dallas because of the abundant trees that grace the architecturally significant homes. One cannot see the good police and fire departments or good teachers, but one can immediately enjoy the trees lit by landscape lighting in the summer or Christmas lights in December. When Munger Place was at its nadir, the few artists and urban pioneer homeowners in the neighborhood planted parkway trees – the first sign of revitalization.  New curbs, sidewalks, antique streetlights replacing telephone poles and lamps created additional confidence for new homeowners returning divided up renthouses back to single family homes. I grew up with tree-tunneled streets in Hinsdale and visualized the same for Munger Place. Now, every season I marvel when I ride my bike through this Munger Place tunnel of color – bright green buds in spring, deep dark greens in summer, and yellow, oranges and reds in the fall. *Tunnel of Color
#Tree #ParkwayTrees #MungerPlace #Revitalization #Dallas #DallasNeighborhood #HighlandPark #TreeTunnel #autumncolors
For 25 years, the Dallas Architecture Forum has fo For 25 years, the Dallas Architecture Forum has focused on Dallas, regional, national, and international architects and their architectural influence on Dallas. The patron party and talk at this Highland Park Residence created a brilliant focus on the current good architecture that is being created in Highland Park and Dallas. Here was an event on architecture for architects, patrons, and aficionados of architecture. National award-winning architects, AlterStudio Architecture, based in Austin, Texas, designed this modern home. National award-winning landscape architect David Hocker designed the landscape. It was exhilarating to see this modern home as it revealed itself as one moved through the gardens and home. A generous Talk by the participants provoked additional insight. Equally exciting was seeing many of the very best Dallas architects admiring and enjoying the design of this modern residence. The reason Dallas has the best collection of 20th and 21st century architecturally significant homes is because of the cross-pollination of architectural ideas from Dallas, regional, and national architects. The Dallas Architecture Forum patron home showcased this collegiality and talent.
*Architectural Focus
@DallasArchForum @AlterStudio @HockerDesign #DallasArchitectureForum #AlterStudio #Dallas @hockerdesign #HighlandPark #ModernHome #ModernArchitecture #Architecture #ArchitecturallySignificant #Architect #ArchitecturallySignificantHome #LandscapeArchitect
What a great idea for artist Julie England and art What a great idea for artist Julie England and artist Mary Vernon to show off their new studio space with an exhibition of their work along with that of three other artists. Five talented female artists in this delightful space at 135 Howell Street in the Design District invoked memories of my favorite gallery for years, the DW Gallery.  Originally, the Dallas Women’s Co-op on McKinney and Hall Streets, this gallery had fabulous exhibitions introducing the work of many female artists, and also in group shows many of my favorite male artists, like the Tremont artists James Surls, David McManaway, and David Bates. Congratulations to Julie England, Mary Vernon, Nishiki Sugawara-Beda, Lin Medlin, Cassandra Black.
*Show Precedes Studio
@eskiedal @julieenglandart @nishikisugawarabeda.art #eskiedal #julieenglandart #art #artist #Dallas #ArtStudio #DallasDesignDistrict #ArtShow
I have grown up with home tours. Since graduating I have grown up with home tours. Since graduating from SMU, I have attended early Swiss Avenue home tours, the oldest Dallas home tour; had my home on the first Munger Place home tour; organized a tour of homes representing 14 neighborhoods; have been a sponsor of Highland Park and Preservation Park Cities home tours; and helped support numerous other home tours in a number of capacities.  However, the only home tour I make a point of going to every year is the AIA Dallas Home Tour. My thought is that every home tour should have a greater emphasis on architecture and how it relates to the neighborhood. On the AIA Dallas Home Tour, one often has a chance to meet the Dallas architect, the homebuilder, the landscape architect, interior designer, and maybe even the owners of these recently built architecturally significant Dallas modern homes. The Dallas AIA Patron home is always an extra treat. This year one had the chance to say hello to the owner, Cricket Griffin, pictured with architect Paul Jankowski, in addition to the modern homebuilder Larry Hartman, who is also pictured. Thank you, Dallas AIA, for helping us learn more about architecture and the neighborhoods like where this home is located, one of my favorites, Turtle Creek Park. *My Favorite Tour
#AIADallasTourOfHomes #DallasAIA #AIADallas @HomeTourDallas #HomeTourDallas #DallasHomeTour #Architect #ModernHome #TurtleCreekPark #Dallas #Architecture #ArchitecturallySignificant #ArchitecturallySignificantHome #DallasNeighborhood #KatyTrailNeighborhood
Former DMA Director Rick Brettell once said to me Former DMA Director Rick Brettell once said to me that it is the small museums that people generally mention as their favorite museum. I hear from so many people that love visiting the Nasher for a variety of reasons. I also find it appealing for many reasons. Often the Nasher has extraordinary exhibitions, dynamic lectures, and a variety of vibrant, casual, or serene experiences. One might see friends, acquaintances, or make new friends. However, what is remarkable is that even if the exhibit one finds rather dull, or the other visitors uninspiring, the space is supreme. The architecture, space, and setting in the Dallas Arts District in downtown Dallas makes every visit to the Nasher joyful. 
*Nasher Always Beckons
#Nasher #Garden #SculptureGarden #Dallas @NasherSculptureCenter #DallasArtsDistrict
Early this fall, I visited Chicago and New York on Early this fall, I visited Chicago and New York on short trips. Regardless of the reason for the visit, I always go to the museums in these great cities. This year, on my return travel to Dallas, I immediately went to the retrospective opening of Matthew Wong: The Realm of Appearances. Normally, seeing art when traveling out of town rejuvenates me. This time my travel back to Dallas and seeing this exhibition refreshed me. The paintings were visually appealing, maybe it was the hint of fauvist influences that I liked. Learning about the artist was interesting, and seeing Dallas art patrons is always intoxicating. We are lucky to have the Dallas Museum of Art and so many collectors and patrons in Dallas.
*Dallas Travels
#DMA #DallasMuseumOfArt @DallasMuseumArt #MatthewWong #Art #Dallas
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Architecturally Significant Homes® and Significant Homes® and Architecturally Significant® are registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office. Text, Images, Photography - Copyright © 1994–2023 Douglas Newby. All rights reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Douglas Newby. Douglas Newby & Associates | 25 Highland Park Village #100-592, Dallas, TX 75205 | (214) 522-1000. Text, Images, Photography - Copyright © 1994–2023 Douglas Newby. All Rights Reserved. Website design by webplant.media