As I wrote almost one year ago today, every so often, a landmark Dallas home comes along for sale that makes you catch your breath and want to mortgage your first-born child so you can buy it.
Such is was the Herman and Mimi Lay estate at 4935 Radbrook Place in Preston Hollow.
Only now I can say, with tears in my eyes, such WAS the home of Herman and Mimi Lay.
This is the home that, each spring, has oceans of tulips sprouting in colors so vivid you do think you are in Holland. And the azaleas! No wonder the the Lay Ornamental Garden in the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden is named in honor of Herman and Mimi.
The home, built in 1962, was designed by renown architect Cole Smith, who is married to interior designer extraordinaire Sherry Hayslip. The home was built by Hal Anderson.
And when I last spoke to the agent who listed it, Elizabeth Hutchinson of Keller Williams Dallas Premiere, she told me the potential buyers had no plans to use those double four letter words: tear down.
What happened?
Last year it was even declared one of the most beautiful homes in Dallas y D Home Magazine. Sometimes I don’t agree with those selections, but I have to say this one was right on target! And even better on the inside, I think, than out! The home was custom built for Herman and Sarah Amelia (Mimi) in 1962. Herman Lay, of course, started the H.W. Lay Co., Inc, which is now part of the Frito-Lay corporation.
So in a way, this is a home that potato chips built!
The Lays had 4 children, and one of them, Dorothy, was in the house last summer. She said it was frozen in time. The current owners had kept it perfectly pristine, with much painting and upkeep, things every house needs every day just as we need water and food. They did, however, gut and re-surface the tennis court, which is now 9 years old. I’ve had a tennis court and those surfaces take a beating. Most of what they tried to do was keep up with Mrs. Lay’s exquisite gardening, which is pretty much the same as when Mimi Lay directed it. At Easter, the whole house is alive with azaleas and tulips.
Dorothy, I hope you are out of the country.
The home was 7041 square feet with five bedrooms, six full and one-half baths, generous rooms, master bedroom suite down, four bedrooms up stairs, landscape design by Lamberts, lighting by John Watson, a pool and tennis court, plus a guest house that offers complete privacy. It’s also a corner lot on Radbrook, where it intersects Sunnybrook, which as you know is the creme de la creme of Preston Hollow. 4935 Radbrook also backs up to 9400 Rockbrook, the only Frank Lloyd Wright home in Dallas and the last home Wright designed before he died. That home is a skip and a jump across Bachman Creek.
The foyer was grand, had a marble floor, and one of the original grand circular staircases in Dallas. In fact, this may be the most copied staircase in town. The windows were swagged and the living room had picture frame wood panels. And the wallpaper! The floors are herringboned hardwood, and the family room appears to have had pecky cypress beams, which I spy more of in the study and breakfast room. The kitchen had a round copper venta-hood and oceans of granite counters. And yes, brick walls. Those were huge in kitchens in the 60’s and 70’s and I think we totally need to re-visit that trend. I know because my mother and aunts all built homes about this time and they were all trying to outdo each other with more brick in the kitchens! The appliances were also original but as Elizabeth says, they were the top of the line at the time they were purchased. The ovens in the kitchens are within 7 degrees of heat calibration. Goes to prove that buying the best lasts, and that the originals don’t necessarily have to be ditched for new.
And do you not just love those wainscoting panels (that’s the foyer to the first floor master suite) and that ceiling treatment? In fact, the house was full of beautifully crafted surprises such as hidden pocket doors, and stunning hardware.
The estate had a guest house of 1239 square feet that includes one bedroom, two baths, two living areas, a kitchenette and fireplace. Speaking of fireplaces, the house was loaded: five total. And there was a gracious pool with a beautiful fish sculpture instead of a diving board. Dorothy Lay says the large fish sculpture is a verdigris fountain put in by the second owner.
So sad. This house wasn’t even that old! Let’s just hope something really wonderful is going up in its place!
