Reality Show Reno

Kessler Park TV remodel is ready for another spotlight

614 W. Colorado Blvd. house for sale in Dallas

A large swimming pool takes up a good portion of the backyard.

Photo courtesy of Clay Stapp + Company

Josh and Hannah Ramsey have loved North Oak Cliff since they bought their first home just off W. 8th St. in 2009. That was back when the Oak Cliff “Oh…” was almost a reflex when the Ramseys told their friends where they lived. It didn’t bother Josh and Hannah, though, as they felt right at home from the moment they moved in.

“Our house was a block from Bolsa, and we fell in love with the neighborhood, the amazing food, and the entrepreneurs making this place great,” Josh said. “We preemptively sold our home for a job relocation that fell through and then bought a home in Lake Highlands. It never felt like home, so we started house hunting and found a giant gem. It was way too big, but we saw the beauty here.”

Josh, a corporate director for Hilton Worldwide, and Hannah, a trauma nurse at Parkland, bought a 1946 neoclassical at 614 W. Colorado Blvd. and set to work making it a place to raise a family. The home had already had a history of entertaining kids, as the previous owners of 15 years raised all six of their children there. Before that, Josh noted, the home housed nuns that volunteered at Methodist Dallas Medical Center.

“When marathon training a few years back, I remember running by this house thinking, ‘I’d sure love to live there one day,’ ” Josh mused. “We knew it was well loved and couldn’t believe the charm.”

But the home needed a lot of work.

Over the last 18 months, Josh and Hannah put in a pool house with a full kitchen and bath, resurfaced and retiled the pool and landscaped the backyard, completely renovated the kitchen, and took it upon themselves to remodel the master bedroom on camera for the DIY Network show Renovation Realities.

“They were here filming for a week and it was a real test for our marriage,” Josh said. “I dropped a 2-by-4 on Hannah’s head and accidentally abused her a number of times. I gained a great deal of respect for reality show characters. It’s not easy dealing with a stressful situation while having a giant camera in your face. While we had a good time, we’re not planning on doing it again.”

Wait … you dropped a piece of lumber on your wife’s head? And you’re still married?

“I think marriage counseling would be much more effective if couples were allowed time to work out their problems with 2-by-4s,” Hannah joked. “Obviously, it hurt. My two goals were to: a) Not say a string of colorful four-letter words on national television, and b) Not beat my husband with said 2-by-4. Regardless of the amount of physical pain he inflicted on me, it was a great opportunity to see how different we were and appreciate those differences while we worked toward a common goal. It was worth it.”

The experience was an eye-opener in more ways than one. It made the Ramseys realize that the Kessler Park home, while beautiful, is too big for their family of four.

That means putting their Kessler Park home at 614 W. Colorado Blvd. on the market. The pair has chosen fellow Oak Cliff resident Alan Shaffer of Clay Stapp + Co. as their Realtor. Shaffer is listing the 3,062-square-foot, five-bedroom, five-full-and-one-half-bath home for $599,000.

“As Josh and Hannah have both recently been promoted in their ‘real’ careers, they have decided to sell their beloved home to move to a smaller place in the neighborhood and let someone else finish restoring their home,” Shaffer said. “It’s got real charm, amazing neighbors and lots of history.”

I have to agree with Shaffer, that this home is a great opportunity to live in a fabulous neighborhood at a budget-friendly price. Not only that, but you can still put your own stamp on it, as there is plenty more room for renovation. However, we might make a friendly suggestion to keep it off network TV.

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A version of this story originally was published on Candy’s Dirt.

The more formal living room.

Photo courtesy of Clay Stapp + Company

The more formal living room.

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Neiman Marcus Saga

City of Dallas obtains mystery land deed for downtown Neiman Marcus

Neiman Marcus

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There's a new chapter in the ongoing breakup saga between the city of Dallas and Neiman Marcus, the luxury retailer which is closing its longtime location in downtown Dallas at the end of March.

When Neiman Marcus parent company Saks Global announced its decision to close the store, they attributed it to a dispute with one of the landlords, regarding a small parcel of land on which the store resides.

According to a release, the city of Dallas now has the deed for that property in its possession, which it is willing to donate to Neiman Marcus, and is hoping this will persuade Neiman Marcus to stay, please please stay.

The release says that members of the Dallas Consortium for the Downtown Neiman Marcus — a group that includes downtown developer Shawn Todd of Todd Interests, Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, and members of Downtown Dallas, Inc., the advocacy group for downtown — plan to meet with Saks Global executives to discuss the future of the store.

Tolbert says the City is now in possession of the deed for the Slaughter property that was at the root of Saks Global’s decision to close the store.

“I want to thank the Dallas Consortium for the Downtown Neiman Marcus for their continued efforts to ensure ongoing operations of the Downtown flagship store," Tolbert says. "The City of Dallas now officially holds the special warranty deed for the parcel that Saks Global Properties said was needed to keep Neiman Marcus’ Downtown store open."

Downtown Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus has already removed the signage from its downtown Dallas location.Photo courtesy of C. Troy Mathis

“I also want to thank the Slaughter family for their donation, and their desire to preserve the prosperity that this iconic brand contributes to Downtown’s vibrancy," Tolbert says in the release. "With the deed documents now in hand, I am looking forward to hosting Saks Global Properties and Investments CEO Ian Putman and his team on Wednesday morning at City Hall."

Dallas and Saks Global have been engaged in a back-and-forth over the future of the store.

On February 18, Saks Global announced its intent to close the store.
On February 25, downtown leaders rallied to try and prevent Neiman Marcus from closing.
On February 26, the owner of the piece of land which Saks Global said had been a problem committed to donate the land.
On February 27, Saks Global said it would be closing the store regardless. In fact, they've already removed signage from the building.

Since the dispute began, statements from the city have generally been met by responses from Saks Global, with the back-and-forth playing out in the public sphere on websites like CultureMap Dallas. Which is to say that there may well be something forthcoming from Saks Global soon.

UPDATE 3-4-2025: Saks responded with a statement saying that "the Dallas Consortium’s ongoing tactic of using the press to pressure us into changing our strategy in Dallas is highly unproductive. Even after our corrections to their previous false statements, they continue to go to the press, making inaccurate claims. Our decision to close the Neiman Marcus Downtown Dallas store is final and we are moving forward as such."

The statement calls it a "far more complicated situation than what the public is being led to believe and has been going on for more than a decade. While we had been willing to hear the Consortium’s perspective, a meeting was not confirmed. We have made several attempts to be connected directly to the City Manager, as an official representative of the City of Dallas, and we were denied."

"We are committed to growth, and are focused on Neiman Marcus’ future in Dallas. That future is at the NorthPark store, where we are planning a $100 million renovation."

downtown