This Year's hottest headlines

Rare Cliff May-designed home tops this year's 10 most-read Dallas real estate stories

Editor's note: As the year comes to a close, we look back at the 10 biggest real estate stories in Dallas for 2020 — including top neighborhoods; market trends; and homes with ties to celebrities, history, and important architects.

1. Rare Cliff May home in East Dallas for sale with original fixtures. In August, a rare East Dallas midcentury modern home designed by famed architect Cliff May came on the market. Located at 2636 Materhorn Dr., it was a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home with 1,337 square feet. It had a prototypical Cliff May courtyard, attached garage workshop, and in what MCM purists will find enchanting, original fixtures such as Formica countertops in a "linen" weave pattern — all in tip-top condition. (It didn't take long for the home to sell.)

2. New residential development in McKinney comes with its own lagoon. If nothing says "home" to you like a lagoon, then put McKinney on your short list of places to live: Megatel Homes LLC, a Texas homebuilder, announced in mid-December it is developing a community of homes called the Venetian Lagoon, centered around what looks from high overhead like a very, very large pool.

3. Homes in Dallas' Lake Highlands hit jaw-dropping new benchmark. You can’t call it sticker shock if the seal has already been broken, so to see more and more homes in Dallas' Lake Highlands area listed for $1 million or more spoke to a growing trend toward high-end remodels and flips this year. In fact, a July story from our partners at Candy's Dirt noted that remodeled homes specifically within the White Rock Valley neighborhood and the highly sought-after White Rock Elementary attendance area were commanding prices upwards of $1 million on a frequent basis.

4. Rare Highland Park home still in vintage condition listed for $12.5M. A century-old historic home in Highland Park that's been magnificently preserved went on the market, as reported in January by Candy's Dirt. Located at 4712 Lakeside Dr., the Cary estate is a 7,643-square-foot home with five bedrooms, six bathrooms, two powder baths, a cabana, putting green, and tennis court, for sale for $12.5 million. (It sold later in the year.)

5. New '50s house for sale in East Dallas is untouched by flippers' hands. A sweet house in Dallas built in the '50s went on sale in late August, that was unsullied by flippers' hands. Located at 1830 Viewcrest Dr., it was a 3-bedroom 2-bathroom house with 1,379 square feet, built in 1956, and with many original features, including hardwood floors in the living spaces, and bathrooms with original vintage tile, all in pristine condition. (The home later sold.)

6. One Dallas suburb drifts onto Money's Best Places to Live 2020. According to Money magazine, if you want to live the good life in North Texas, you should head to Rockwall. The northeast Dallas suburb made it into the top five in Money's list of Best Places to Live in America 2020, noted Candy's Dirt. In rankings released September 22, Rockwall was No. 4.

7. Glenn Beck slashes price of his Dallas-area mansion to less than $5 million. Conservative talk show host Glenn Beck tried again in late 2019 to sell his mansion at Westlake’s exclusive Vaquero Club. Beck listed the nearly 9,000-square-foot property, at 2224 King Fisher Dr., for $4.95 million on December 13 — $1.25 million less than it was offered a year-and-a-half earlier. (At the end of 2020, it is no longer on the market.)

8. City of Dallas is being bamboozled by Preston Center developer. In the second of a two-part analysis in July, Candy's Dirt columnist Jon Anderson looked into a report concerning options for the Preston Center Garage. There was a lot to unpack, but it looked as though a developer was asking for nearly unbridled development rights and a huge city giveaway.

9. This trendy neighborhood has the most expensive rents in Dallas-Fort Worth. Summer is traditionally the time to move, so in early June, it was time to get a handle on where in Dallas-Fort Worth was (somewhat) affordable to rent an apartment and where wasn't. The Victory Park neighborhood (Uptown/Park Cities) topped a new list for the highest average rent ($2,189). Only one other neighborhood (Uptown Dallas) had average rent above $2,000 as of mid-May.

10. 2 Dallas neighbors climb to rooftop in ranking of best home markets. In August, Frisco earned another national accolade to crow about. In a ranking from personal finance website WalletHub, Frisco grabbed the No. 3 spot among the best cities to buy a house. WalletHub divided data into two buckets for its ranking: best real estate market, and best place for affordability and economic opportunity. Frisco snagged the No. 13 ranking in real estate, and the No. 1 ranking for affordability and economy.

The prototypical courtyard you find in Cliff May homes in this part of East Dallas/Casa View.

Courtesy photo

The prototypical courtyard you find in Cliff May homes in this part of East Dallas/Casa View.

House For Sale

Untouched 'blast from the past' '60s home in NE Dallas is for sale

8454 Swift

A mid-century-ish house with only one owner is for sale in northeast Dallas, and it comes with lots of original wood, as well as a kooky checkerboard carpet that — yikes — extends right into the kitchen.

It's located at 8454 Swift Ave., in the Hillridge neighborhood, an enclave of houses east of Ferguson Road and north of I-30, built in the 1960s, whose value has more than doubled since 2018, with most homes in the area appraised in the mid- to high $400Ks.

This home was built in 1962, and has 2,160 square feet, with 3 bedrooms and 3 baths, on an 8,842-square-foot lot that includes a storage building in the backyard.

The asking price is $390,000, and the listing calls it "a blast from the past," with no discernible updates made to the interior.

That means

a tiled terrazzo floor in the foyer
a family room with wood paneling and an entire wall with built-in shelves and desk area, boasting scalloped wood trim
a dining room, also wood-paneled, with built-in cabinets and drawers for silver and china, including cabinet doors with punched-tin facades
a kitchen, also wood paneled, also scalloped edges, with formica counters and built-in electric cooktop (they're saying lately that gas is unhealthy)

Dining nook at 8454 Swift features wood paneling and checkerboard carpet. 8454 Swift

The bathrooms are original tile, but since it's the '60s, they're not in fun '50s pinks or blues, but are rather white and a mottled gray. Not the prettiest, but original tile is always preferable to "updated" bathrooms that will look dated in less than five years

Two of the bedrooms have true-to-the-period built-in bureaus, so handy.

8454 Swift

Facade of 8454 Swift Ave. features ornate iron window shutters.

The entire house is carpeted, and that includes carpeting in the kitchen, which is a disaster. It's an extension of a cool multi-colored square-patterned carpet that starts in the family room and has been extended all the way to the kitchen. Who has carpet in a wet area?

The listing describes a big kitchen, large living areas, a smart layout, several bonus rooms, generous storage, and great neighbors. There's also an enclosed patio-sunroom, not currently counted in the square footage, a nice sized-yard, and a rear-entry two-car garage.

According to the listing, the home officially hits the market on Friday, August 8, with the first showing opportunity during an Open House on Saturday August 9, from 10-11:30 am. They plan to review offers the week after the Open House, and recommend bringing "your strongest offer" from the start.

home-for-sale