Editor’s note: What were the most popular stories of 2016? Unsurprisingly, the Real Housewives of Dallas kept things interesting. And HGTV show Fixer Upper taps into our Texas pride, so like the rest of the country, we could not get enough of Chip and Joanna Gaines or their fellow castmates. If you are looking for the top food stories, they got their own list. Because: Teresa Gubbins.
1. How to get every possible discount at the 2016 State Fair of Texas. For many, the State Fair of Texas is an annual ritual, a segue from summer to fall and a touchstone of life in Texas, no matter how you enjoy it. For us, it’s all about the discounts. We spent all summer digging up the best State Fair of Texas discounts, and this is the full list.
2. 5 up-and-coming Dallas neighborhoods to buy a house right now. Forget about Lakewood Heights or Midway Hollow. There are still areas of Dallas where a housing deal can be had — like these up-and-coming neighborhoods, as identified by local real estate experts. You can thank us when you’re sitting on a big pile of money.
3. Who’s the most stylish in Dallas? Now’s the time to vote. The CultureMap Stylemaker Awards returned in September, in which our readers helped determine our city’s arbiters of style. After these 12 semifinalists were announced, the public voted, and it came down to six finalists — Mark Deuber, Shay Geyer, Chris Hite, Ekaterina Kouznetsova, Brittanie Buchanan Oleniczak, and Guillermo Tragant — who were honored at a party on October 20 at Tootsies.
4. Fixer Upper couple opens cutest B&B in Texas — and demand is nuts. Those who wanted to book a room at the then-newly opened McGregor, Texas bed-and-breakfast opened by Fixer Upper couple Chip and Joanna Gaines were out of luck: When the Magnolia House website opened on February 10 for reservations, it subsequently crashed due to high demand. The B&B is booked through June 2017, BTW.
5. Top North Texas builders lay out all the trendy home features for 2016. Dallas was one of the country’s top building markets this year, so we asked some of the best homebuilders in North Texas to take a break from their busy schedules (and boy were they busy) to give us their predictions for 2016 trends.
6. This Dallas freeway shutdown is, like, the biggest so far. Thanks to the ongoing Dallas Horseshoe Project, we’ve seen freeway closures before — several in fact — but in the grand scheme of shutdowns, this one was a biggie: On June 14, there was a full closure of I-35E southbound.
7. Real Housewives of Dallas cast reveals a few surprises. When the RHOD cast was revealed, it included names both familiar and new: Cary Deuber, Tiffany Hendra, Stephanie Hollman, LeeAnne Locken, and Brandi Redmond. We chatted with the ladies before the April 11 debut and recapped the whole season.
8. Fixer Upper star wants to tell the story you don’t get on the HGTV show. What was once a drive-through town on the way to Austin has become the nation’s epicenter of home renovations. And carpenter Clint Harp has seen the whole story unfold from the inside.
9. Hollywood actor grabs a cup of elotes at famed Dallas-area truck stop. The elotes at famous local truck stop Fuel City must be pretty good. Good enough to draw a visit from Hollywood actor Shia LaBeouf, who showed up at the Fuel City in Mesquite on June 2 and bought a cup of its popular street food-style corn.
10. Awkwardly real reality creeps into Real Housewives of Dallas. Episode six of the 10-episode run of RHOD was chockablock with such amusing nonsense and a moment or two of awkwardly real reality. It’s not news that these shows are hell on marriages. Each incarnation of the popular series has seen couples call it quits. Among the Dallas housewives, it was Brandi Redmond whose home life was in turmoil at this juncture.
Carpenter Clint Harp has become a Texas celebrity alongside Fixer Upper’s Chip and Joanna Gaines.
