Dallas Cowboys Abode

Star athlete and architect leave their marks on North Dallas estate

Charles Dilbeck designed 6520 Northaven Rd., listed for $3.7 million.
Photo courtesy of Ebby Halliday
Former owner Daryl Johnston added a clubby feel.
Photo courtesy of Ebby Halliday
The home in Hillcrest Estates has sweeping views.
Photo courtesy of Ebby Halliday
The wine room at 6520 Northaven Rd.
Photo courtesy of Ebby Halliday
6520 Northaven Rd. has a spacious master bedroom.
Photo courtesy of Ebby Halliday
Pool and cabana beckon at night.
Photo courtesy of Ebby Halliday
Every square inch is grand, even in the bathrooms.
Photo courtesy of Ebby Halliday

Two Dallas icons — an architect and an athlete — have left their stamps on a tony mansion in North Dallas' Hillcrest Estates. Designed by Charles Dilbeck and owned for four years by Dallas Cowboys fullback Daryl Johnston, the welcoming country home at 6520 Northaven Rd. can be yours for $3.7 million.

The five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath home underwent a total redo when Johnston purchased it in 2003. He sold it in 2007, and although it has changed hands a couple of times, it still retains a number of his touches.

The architecture embodies the rugged, prairie-style qualities for which Dilbeck is known: coffered ceilings, scraped hardwoods, and lots of stone and metal work. But Johnston gave it a clubby feel with a bar, game room and media room. A 120-inch projection screen and Dolby THX sound system let you know it's the house that Moose built — or at least renovated.

That's not to say all 7,364 feet of living space feels like an upscale sports bar. The one-and-a-half-story residence has a fully loaded kitchen that would appeal to a professional chef, including custom cabinetry, granite-topped central island with sink, professional Viking range, voluminous Sub-Zero fridge, and pantry space galore.

With both Whole Foods and Central Market less than a mile away, the new owners can serve culinary masterpieces in a light-filled dining room replete with floor-to-ceiling windows, a high-peaked ceiling and cream-colored masonry that would fit a Hill Country lodge.

The master bedroom features one of house's four fireplaces. A balcony boasts French doors that open onto the property's 2.27 acres, with spiritually rejuvenating views of a private lake, fountain and waterfall.

An attached master bath has his-and-her sinks and soaking tub; the shower has enough water jets to render a masseuse moot. Italian marble countertops and an intricately inlaid floor give the room a spa-like feel.

Four more bedrooms round out the sleeping quarters. Two have en suite baths; one is designed as a nanny's quarters with an attached living room.

Throughout the home, ornate chandeliers hang from soaring ceilings — a complement to the scrolled metalwork accenting the staircases and mantlepieces. Each piece was designed expressly for its space, such as the wrought-iron sconces in the wine room, which also includes a tasting table, Sub-Zero dual temperature wine refrigerator, and storage capacity for 500 of your best Cabernets.

A two-story covered patio wraps around the back of the house, with amenities that include a built-in mosquito deterrent system. The lower level forms an L, with dinner table, lounge and long courtyard that begs for slow dancing late at night.

A stone path cuts across a lush green lawn to a beautifully landscaped, fenced-in oblong diving pool with changing rooms and cabana. Hidden around the corner, a four-car garage is roomy enough for a tailgate trailer — the ideal carriage, once football season arrives, for trips to the house that Jerry built.

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housing affordability news

Dallas named No. 2 Southern city where homes are becoming more affordable

TREC Dallas Facebook

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A new real estate analysis has revealed housing prices across the Southern United States have seen a major large-scale decline from 2024-2025, with North Texas homebuyers experiencing the second-steepest "price correction" in the region.

Dallas-Fort Worth buyers have a better chance of purchasing an affordable home this year after prices cooled 5.71 percent from 2024-2025, the study found.

Online real estate marketplace Zoocasa compared year-over-year median price changes for single-family homes across 20 cities in the South based on local real estate data. The study also looked at housing affordability in the American West, Midwest, and Northeast.

In Zoocasa's ranking of the Southern cities where affordability is improving the most, Dallas ranked No. 2.

In 2024, the median price for a single-family home in Dallas was nearly $398,000, which has since dropped to $375,000 in 2025. North Texas sellers may not be happy about cooling prices, but it does make housing more attainable for first-time homebuyers.

Better housing prices will surely attract even more new residents to the DFW area, especially when one considers Dallas was the No. 1 destination for movers in 2025, and its suburbs are still booming in popularity.

"Affordability is on the rise across Texas, with major cities seeing significant price corrections," the report said. "Most importantly for buyers, the median home price in each of these cities remains more affordable than the national median."

The national median price of a home in the third quarter of 2025 was $426,800, according to the latest information from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Housing affordability elsewhere in Texas
In Beaumont-Port Arthur (a metro area east of Houston), housing prices have fallen 4.62 percent year-over-year, making it the metro with the No. 5 steepest price correction in the South. Median home prices dropped to $217,000 in 2025, or $10,500 lower than the year before, the report found.

Austin's housing prices fell 2.04 percent during the same time span, landing the Capital City in the No. 9 spot. The median price of a single-family home in Austin fell from $437,925 in 2024 to $429,000 last year.

Houston appeared just outside the top 10, ranking 11th out of 20 Southern cities, with housing prices falling by 1.5 percent during the one-year period. Houston housing prices in 2025 fell to $335,000, or $5,000 lower than the year before.

Surprisingly, San Antonio ranked near the bottom of the list with housing prices increasing by five percent year-over-year. Single-family homes in the Alamo City had a median price just under $300,000 in 2024, which spiked to $315,000 in 2025.

Housing market predictions in 2026
Zoocasa predicts the 2026 U.S. housing market is "poised for a steady revival" since mortgage rates have dipped nearly a full percentage point since this time last year. Current interest rates for a a 30-year mortgage are sitting at 6.16 percent, the study said.

The NAR report additionally found that pending home sales have grown by 2.6 percent year-over-year from 2024.

"Homebuyer momentum is building," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "The data shows the strongest performance of the year after accounting for seasonal factors, and the best performance in nearly three years, dating back to February 2023."

The top 10 Southern cities where housing affordability is improving the most in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Florida
No. 2 – Dallas, Texas
No. 3 – Durham, North Carolina
No. 4 – Ocala, Florida
No. 5 – Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas
No. 6 – Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida
No. 7 – Jacksonville, Florida
No. 8 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 9 – Austin, Texas
No. 10 – Raleigh, North Carolina

dallas real estate housing affordability real estate report housing prices