Your Expert Guide

Caruth Hills: A family-friendly University Park enclave near SMU

There are so many great places to live in Dallas that it helps to have an expert on your side. The Neighborhood Guide presented by Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty gives you insider access from the agents who live and work there, providing in-the-know info about your possible new community.

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Who better to know about buying and selling in a neighborhood than those who live there? Malinda and David Arvesen "live and sell the Park Cities," raising their family in Caruth Hills. Malinda is even on the board of the Caruth Hills & Homeplace Neighborhood Association.

This neighborhood is where the pioneering William Barr Caruth family established its homestead in Dallas in 1848 — eventually the family owned 30,000 acres of land from downtown Dallas to Forest Lane.

"We love Caruth Hills," Malinda says. "David and I have lived here since 2006. We enjoy being so close to NorthPark Center with all its fine shopping and dining, as well as being minutes from the SMU campus and charming Snider Plaza."

Malinda, who has an MBA in finance from SMU, worked in sales and then escrow at a title company before forming the Arvesen Group with her husband, David. With a finance degree from Baylor University, David was a residential and commercial real estate appraisal manager for a major bank before joining his wife in real estate sales.

Their broad backgrounds in appraisal, finance, and sales provide additional expertise for their clients.

The Arvesens offered up a few of their personal favorites about life in Caruth Hills. Here's their guide to the area:

Where to eat & drink
Snider Plaza is brimming with mouthwatering options, including Penne Pomodoro and Amore for Italian food, Bubba's for the best fried chicken, Festive Kitchen for catering and parties, Half Shells Oyster Bar & Grill for seafood, and Bandito's Tex-Mex Cantina for terrific margaritas.

Where to play
You can visit the SMU campus for the George W. Bush Presidential Center or the acclaimed Spanish art collection at the Meadows Museum, or just to simply stroll the beautiful grounds. "David is an avid cyclist, and we both swim and work out on the SMU campus as master swimmers," says Malinda.

NorthPark Center is another destination, with more than 200 retailers and the Nasher family's world-renowned art on display. Enjoy upscale shopping, delicious dining, and movies at the AMC theater.

Located at 2900 Hanover St., Elena's Children's Park was inspired by the life of Mary Elena Franklin, a 3-year-old who died tragically in an automobile accident on August 2, 1997. Neighbors and local leaders joined friends of the Franklin family and other University Park residents to create a city park dedicated to all Park Cities families who have lost a child. More than 500 families, corporations, and foundations contributed to the creation of this park, making it a true community effort.

Where to live
"Caruth Hills is a nice mix of traditional and transitional homes at a variety of price points," says Malinda. "This makes our neighborhood both affordable and desirable."

Sited in both University Park and the City of Dallas, Caruth Hills is just minutes from downtown Dallas via Central Expressway or the Tollway.

"The neighborhood’s central location allows for easy, quick access to the Arts District, American Airlines Center, and virtually any part of the Dallas-Fort Worth area," says David.

"It's a wonderful, friendly neighborhood," Malinda reiterates. "We live across the street from the acclaimed Boone Elementary in Highland Park ISD, and every morning we love seeing the kids walk or bike to school. It's the best!"

Their recent sale in the Boone Elementary district was 2724 Daniel Ave. This distinctive residence's design was inspired by gracious living in the Coastal South (think Sea Island, Georgia). The home features a cedar-siding exterior, a charming white picket fence, maple floors, large covered porches, and a beautiful backyard with a pool.

"It was fun to market this home, and we quickly had multiple offers," says Malinda.

"Malinda and David stayed on top of all the details," says a recent client. "They did an excellent job communicating with us and all parties involved, including the buyer of the house, the seller of the house we purchased, our lender, and both title companies."

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Malinda and David Arvesen live, work, and play in Caruth Hills in University Park. For more information on buying and selling a home in the area, click here, email marvesen@briggsfreeman.com and darvesen@briggsfreeman.com, or call 214-354-7029 (Malinda) or 214-354-6142 (David).

The home has plenty of natural light.

Photo courtesy of Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty

The home has plenty of natural light.

qa promoted home-for-sale interview hidedate

Your Expert Guide

Oak Cliff: The underestimated historic and culturally rich 'hood

Photo courtesy of Briggs Freeman

Kay Wood

There are so many great places to live in Dallas that it helps to have an expert on your side. The Neighborhood Guide presented by Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty gives you insider access from the agents who live and work there, providing in-the-know info about your possible new community.

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Bishop Arts is a huge attraction, but Realtor Kay Wood wants people to know that Oak Cliff is a lot more than just Bishop Arts.

"Oak Cliff has a really rich and complex history," the Briggs Freeman agent says. "I think it's one of the most underestimated neighborhoods in Dallas."

Wood has lived in Oak Cliff with her high school sweetheart-husband since 2008, but she's been helping people buy and sell homes there for the past 15 years, currently with her business partner Brian Davis.

"The neighborhoods here are close to everything but still relatively affordable compared to other areas of DFW," she says. "I love all the historic homes with their architectural interest and variety, the strong sense of community engagement, and how there's so much to explore. Whether you're looking for the best new restaurant, the most authentic taco, film festivals, the zoo, the best public high school in Texas, parks, nature preserves — I could go on all day!"

Wood offered up a few of her personal favorites about life in "the Cliff." Here's her guide to the area:

Where to eat & drink
The list is long: Nova ("you have to get the hummus," Wood says), Encina (pro tip: don't skip the blue cornbread), Cibo Divino for pizza and wine on the patio, coffee from Peaberry ("my husband swears their Vietnamese coffee is the best in town"), oysters at Boulevardier, the Perfect Picnic at Eno's Pizza Tavern, tio's elotes next to El Si Hay, the pistachio ice cream at Joy Macarons, and the spicy lobster ramen at Ten Ramen.

Wood advises picking up a great bottle of wine from Neighborhood Cellars and some steaks from Cooper's Meat Market. And, of course, there are tons of taco options in the neighborhood: "We can't get enough of Maskaras, Trompo, and Taco y Vino," she says.

Where to play
Marvel at the best skyline views in town while playing a round at Stevens Park Golf Course, take a walk through Twelve Hills Nature Preserve, bike along the Trinity River, or play disc golf at Founders Park.

The Kessler Theater is "such a great and intimate venue" for concerts, while the Texas Theater adds a touch of history to movie-watching. Escape to The Wild Detectives for books, music, and poetry, or head to the Dallas Zoo for a wild day out — "our whole family loves to feed the giraffes," Wood says.

What to see
Oak Cliff is home to the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial at Kiest Park and the La Reunion Monument at Stevens Park Golf Course that honors some of Dallas' earliest settlers.

On Jefferson Boulevard, you can pop into the Oak Cliff Cultural Center for regular art shows, and "my daughters love to walk down the street and look at all the quinceañera dresses in the shop windows," she says.

Where to live
A few years ago, Wood helped her buyers purchase 626 Rainbow Dr., a rare, two-acre midcentury modern estate that's wrapped on three sides by a babbling creek.

"When you're there, it's really hard to believe you're less than four miles from downtown Dallas," she says. The buyers hired local architect Eddie Maestri to update some aspects of the house while carefully preserving its midcentury style. There was an original barn that had been previously converted to a studio, but the buyers reinvented it as a guest house and added a pool and outdoor kitchen.

"It's hard to say what a 'typical' Oak Cliff house would be, because we have some of the very best examples of almost every architectural style in town," Wood says.

"In Winnetka Heights, you'll find Craftsman architecture (four squares, bungalows, Sears catalog, etc). Kessler Park has Tudors and Colonials and Texas eclectics from notable local architects like Charles Dilbeck and David R Williams. Stevens Park has all of these, as well as Spanish Revival and Dutch colonials. Wynnewood, North Kiestwood, and Wynnewood Hills have some of the best midcentury moderns in Dallas, as well as wonderful ranches. East Kessler has cutting-edge contemporaries that take advantage of the rare-to-DFW hilly terrain. You could teach a pretty comprehensive architectural history of Dallas without ever leaving Oak Cliff."

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Kay Wood lives, works, and plays in Oak Cliff. For more information on buying and selling a home in the area, click here, email kwood@briggsfreeman.com, or call 214-908-5442.