There's a sweet house in Dallas built in the '50s that just went on sale, that is unsullied by flippers' hands.
Located at 1830 Viewcrest Dr., it's 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.
Other sweet touches include one of those cool vintage wrought-iron diagonal grids on the front porch.
There are no granite countertops, no unsightly gray paint covering the original brick exterior, no shiplap shutters, no faux-marble ceramic shower wall, no idiotic fake-pebblestones on the shower floor, no bottom-basement Home Depot vanity, no semi-ironic aqua lawn furniture, no "pop-of-red" front doors.
The house is located in a small pocket neighborhood in the 75228, with White Rock Lake to the west and Casa View to the east. Viewcrest Drive is a cute little crescent-shaped road that bends from Peavy to Ferguson Road, walking distance to Dairy-Ette and a block from Bishop Lynch High School.
The street has 30 or so solidly built brick homes, 1,400 to 1,600 square feet, all valued at around $250,000. There are mature trees and it's a close-knit neighborhood community that holds yard of the month contests.
The home at 1830 Viewcrest is not by a famous designer like Cliff May, but it's a great '50s home with a versatile layout and smart use of space, notes Jorge Goldsmit, the agent who listed the property for $235,000 on August 26. He reports that the house has multiple offers, and the deadline is August 30.
The full-sized kitchen has a view of the back yard, with loads of counter and storage space, and is big enough to fit a dining table. Past the kitchen, there's a den that could also be used as an office or dining room.
The house also has storm windows, which have helped keep the original windows intact; and a large 2-car garage with extra storage.
The house was well cared for by its owner, now deceased, who stayed on top of the upkeep, Goldsmit says.
"It might need some cosmetic work but she didn't defer maintenance, and her diligence shows," he says.
That cosmetic work that might be needed is mostly in the kitchen, including puckering on the vinyl floor and a molded laminate countertop that even a purist would have a hard time defending.
But the cabinets are birch plywood, used in most of the '50s houses in that part of town, with a slender profile, nicer than your ubiquitous pre-fab Ikea kit, still in great shape — and well worth saving.
1830 Viewcrest Dr. in East Dallas has been carefully maintained.
