Highland Park’s Historic Colonial Revival: The Happy Yellow House
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The happy yellow house in Highland Park at 3608 Drexel Drive is for sale! This historic Colonial Revival is one of those homes that makes you smile. Built for A. H. Davidson in 1928, it has been lovingly cared for and updated with respect to the classic features that only comes with history.
“It’s often referred to as the happy yellow house, and it is just that,” owner Susan Tacito said. “It defines Southern hospitality and charm to me. I have loved living here for the past 23 years. My children have grown up here. We were able to walk to school, to Turtle Creek Park, the pool, and the tennis courts. Whether sitting on the screened porch and having coffee in the morning or entertaining large groups, it has been a wonderful home for us.”To fully appreciate the importance of this historic Colonial Revival, remember in the early 1920s, Highland Park was deep into development, and roads were being paved for the first time. If you can imagine, Preston Road was only paved to the southern edge of Highland Park in 1922. The Missouri-Kansas Texas Railroad station opened near Euclid and Abbott in 1922. The Town Hall and community center opened in 1924 and streetcars ran from Southern Methodist University. Prosperity and growth seemed unlimited. It was an exciting time indeed and don’t we wish the walls could talk!Although over half the homes built in Highland Park are Tudor, those that were wood-clad were coveted. They reminded people of the character of New England’s large historic Colonial Revivals. They were elegant, graceful, and tasteful. Great American Suburbs: The Homes of The Park Cities, Dallas features 3608 Drexel Drive and has this to say about wood-clad homes which may surprise you.
Those wanting to build a wood-clad home in Highland Park had to purchase a lot in Old Highland Park, as deed restrictions in Highland Park West prohibited wood construction. This exclusion would not have been practical prior to World War I, when the only way to own a brick residence was to build it of solid masonry — an extremely expensive endeavor. After 1915, brick veneer was perfected as a construction technique, making a brick house available at a much lower cost.
Don’t you just want to sip a mimosa and play a game of croquet on that lawn?
This happy yellow historic Colonial Revival has 5,190 square feet, four bedrooms, three bathrooms and two powder baths. Imagine how awestruck the Highland Park neighbors were to see this built in the 1920s!
It’s always inspiring when homes like this are valued by owner after owner rather than being torn down to make way for yet another white box. Take a tour of this 5,190-square-foot home with Compass Real Estate founding partner and listing agent Christy Berry, and you can see the value of this timeless traditional for yourself.
Better yet, buy it. At $3.249 million, it would be impossible to recreate again for that price. They just don’t make them like this anymore.
Karen Eubank is the owner of Eubank Staging and Design. She has been an award-winning professional home stager for more than 25 years and a professional writer for 20 years. Karen is the mother of a son who’s studying music at The University of Miami. An ardent animal lover, she doesn’t mind one bit if your fur baby jumps right into her lap. Find Karen at www.eubankstaging.com