Tomorrow’s wine walk and preview is the first event in the three-day Munger Place Days and Tour of Homes this weekend. In its eighth year, the home tour shows off the historic district’s ample inventory of early 20th century architecture. The homes will be open to ticketholders on Saturday and Sunday, and includes a wonderfully curated group of bungalows, prairie-style homes, and even a colonial revival.
Other events scheduled for the weekend include a craft fair and street festival on Sunday, and a free symposium on Saturday that will cover the care and restoration of vintage homes led by Tom Clark and Jon Wright. Their talk will mostly cover restoration of windows, but expect to find out more about the detailed process involved in preserving a neighborhood of this caliber, like the classic craftsman at 4837 Tremont pictured above.
Tickets for tomorrow’s wine walk and the home tour are still available. You can purchase wine walk tickets for $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Home tour tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. The symposium is a free event sponsored by Prime Lending.
Jump to see more photos of this year’s tour homes.
The house was built around 1922 for spinster Edwina Flippen by her brother. The Flippen family was known in Dallas for owning and laying out Highland Park, along with their partners the Prathers. This house was originally a two-story duplex, and when the house was later sold, it was agreed that Ms. Flippen could live upstairs for the rest of her life. A staff member of the Hockaday School for Girls, the genteel and considerate Ms. Flippen wore soft slippers so not to disturb those living below. The house was purchased in 1948 by Mrs. Juanita Richey and, for the rest of the 20th century, it was home to at least three generations of her family.
This house, which first appears on the city’s tax rolls in 1914, was built by A. M. Fitch, a CPA for the Cotton Belt Railroad. Unfortunately, no records have been found to indicate how long the Fitch family owned the home. Unlike many homes in the neighborhood that were reconfigured into apartments during the Depression, its original floor plan was retained. Additionally, the home’s original redwood-pine floors, baseboards, beamed ceilings, and other period details survived its many owners over the years. Some documents suggest that the house may have seen duty as a business or even a warehouse for a time.
Only on display during the Friday Wine Walk. Immediately recognizable for its authentic cedar-shingle roof and siding, this classic Craftsman foursquare was built in 1907. Originally known as the Defreese House, its full-width, two-tiered porch gets a special mention in Virginia and Lee McAlester’s Field Guide to American Houses. The builder acquired the house’s pocket doors, ornate dining-room door, and staircase from an area hotel that was being torn down that year. A second front door – from the house’s tenure as a multi-tenant home – has since been replaced with a more-appropriate window and bench seat.
