Once, in a while, a great Swiss Avenue estate hits the market. When I say great, I mean the pedigree is as good as it gets.
This Swiss Avenue estate was built in 1924, by Dines and Kraft and designed by architect Bertram Hill. If you love Dallas homes and their history, you might be familiar with him. If not, I’m going to fill you in on Hill’s status back in the day.
Hill was born in Bristol, England, and came to America in 1910. He arrived in Dallas in 1918 after working in New York, Boston, and St. Louis. His talents were warmly received by Dallas society’s movers and shakers. The excellent resource book, Great American Suburbs, The Homes of the Park Cities, Dallas, has the following information on that reception.
“Between 1918 and 1929, Hill designed five residences on Swiss Avenue, the centerpiece of Robert Munger’s development, with additional houses constructed on nearby Gaston Avenue.”
Talk about landing on your feet in a new city! Hill also designed The Pickens Burton home at 3644 Beverly Drive, The John and Flossie Gardner Carpenter home at 3700 Lexington, The Cullen F. Thomas house at 6601 Hunters Glen, and many homes in Stevens Park and Lakewood.
Hill’s predominant style was Italian Renaissance, but you will see Italianate and French influences in his work. He adhered to the classic design formula of a symmetrical two-story façade with a hipped roof. Often there was a projecting center pavilion or porch as he did at 5907 Swiss Avenue. If you study the façade, you’ll see that the left and right side mirror one another.
One of the interesting architectural details is the dragonfly glass canopy over the entrance. It was obviously influenced by Art Deco architect Hector Guimard who designed three of these, including the Porte Dauphine Metro entrance in Paris.
The architectural symmetry continues inside this 5,066-square-foot, five-bedroom, four-bathroom Swiss Avenue estate, although there have been necessary updates and additions over the years.
In 2001 architect Yurvis Lavins and builder Jerry Binkerhoff added the beamed family room overlooking the backyard and pool, with a powder bath and a principal suite above this area. Additionally, you’ll find a home gym and two office spaces, exactly what we are all looking for today.
One of the biggest attractions of this almost half-acre Swiss Avenue estate is the outdoor space. Not only do you have the front-facing porch and balcony, but there are also two covered patios, an arbor, and the biggest attraction in any Dallas summer, a gorgeous swimming pool. There is also the bonus of guest quarters above the garage.
Swiss Avenue is a tight-knit neighborhood, where people treasure their home’s provenance like nowhere else I’ve seen. Histories are passed from owner to owner, often in binders with newspaper clippings. However, this was a tough one to research, as once you reach 1975, the archives on it come to a stop.
The original owners of this Swiss Avenue estate were Charles Bergman Shaw and his wife Estelle Goldstein Shaw, founders of Shaws Jewelry. The Dallas Morning News archives have dozens of articles about the countless parties, and celebrations here, so it was obviously built for entertaining. There was even a Shaw family reunion of ten brothers and sisters in 1935. Mrs. Shaw lived here until her death in 1969.
In 1975 the house was owned by Hugh Franklin and one of the attractions on the third annual Historic Swiss Avenue tour of homes. That’s where the sleuthing trail came to a halt. So, if you know anything about the house from 1975 on, let us know!
Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s Realtor, Becky Oliver, has 6014 Swiss Avenue listed for $2.199 million.
Open House: Sunday, August 30, 1- 4 p.m.
