By Dotty Griffith
Contributing Writer
Oak Cliff is “the richest part of Dallas when it comes to architecture,” says serial old house restorer John Council. His 1920s Craftsman bungalow is one of the homes on the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League (OOCCL) Home Tour October 15-16. Council’s Brighton Avenue home is his third major restoration.
“This is the one I finally got right,” explains Council, noting that home restoration is a learning process. “You always make mistakes.”
His first two were in Old East Dallas. Acknowledging the “old house bug” gets to him again and again, he started looking in Oak Cliff three years ago. He found a home that, as he puts it, was “unmolested” by years of remodeling and so-called updating.
It still had the original windows and configuration. It hadn’t been divided. Some ceilings were original bead board. Bathrooms had subway tile on the walls. The kitchen was untouched except “for a big island that had to go,” says Council who even researched previous owners. The last one had owned the property for 20 years and had done little to the bones of the house. “It just needed to have life breathed into it again,” explained Council.
Knowing he’d found The One, he jumped on the property and soon began administering restoration CPR. He redid floors; got rid of some acoustic ceiling tiles. Acting as his own general contractor, Council oversaw and designed his makeover. He researched colors from the Twenties and selected a Benjamin Moore Lafayette Green, with accents of buff and cayenne red. It is strikingly beautiful.
The real coup, says Council, was finding a pedestal sink for the kitchen, typical of the era. He found it on Craig’s list for $900, saving $2400 over retail cost of a new one. Big enough to bath a dog in, the sink is “incredibly useful” because of its large size. He doesn’t miss having a cabinet under the sink.
Council’s home is one of nine homes on the OOCCL tour, Oct. 15-16, noon to 6 p.m. To purchase tickets, visit the Old Oak Cliff Conservation Leauge’s website.
