Surviving Sustainability

Earlier this week, 75 or so Realtors survived two jam-packed days of sustainability education at the local launch of the NAR’s brand new GREEN certification course.  Now all they have to do is take one more elective and they’ll be green, too.  Thanks to Bob Meckfessel (FAIA!) of dsgn architects and Tom Fitzpatrick of the Texas Home Energy Raters Organization (Texas HERO for short) for their help with the teaching duties.  And thanks to the folks at dfwrealtors for keeping me going, with cookies and well timed pats on the head.  Next class will be after the first of the year.

Japanese Garden at the Murchison House

Hidden away at the Murchison House is a lovely little Japanese garden, here viewed from the second story.  Designed by Warren Johnson, who has also done quite a bit of work at the Arboretum.

House Porn: The Murchison House

20,000 square feet may not be that big a deal these days, but back in 1938, when Anton Korn designed the Murchison house, it created quite a stir.  269 feet long by 40 feet deep.  Had a chance to tour it last weekend–my favorite part was the J. Edgar Hoover Wing–so called because Hoover was a frequent guest of the house.  (I would have put him in a separate wing, too.)

Wilson Fuqua, the architect who presided over the recent rehab, and Warren Johnson, who handled landscape design duties, came out to talk about their work, along with the new owners.  The tour was presented by the Dallas Architecture Forum and Preservation Dallas, collaborating again–and rightly so–after an apparent hiatus of a number of years.

Un-utterable: What Would A Depression Look Like In Dallas?

I hate to use the D-word, but after reading this article in The Boston Globe, I started thinking about a local application. Dallas has such strong job growth — as I discussed last night with Stewart Lytle and Karen Taylor. If we look at the history of The Great Depression, that could mean many people would migrate here to find work. Oh great, just what we need — more cars on the road. So let’s turn on the comments. Tell me what you think Dallas would be like if we were to have a Depression. I heard all about the Great Depression from my mother, who saved plastic lids and rubber bands until her dying day. I know doctors used newspapers as sterile drapes – does that mean we’d go to the Gyno and he’dcover us up with The Dallas Morning News? Or would it be The Dallas Fort Worth News Telegram? People mended clothes and wore them forever. Would J’s Tailor do more business than Neimans? Would the Dallas Blonde fade to the Dallas Brunette? Big hair to bangs and a bob? Would the McMansions on Park Lane and Beverly Drive be filled with three generations under one roof so much that HPV would start a Bingo night? Would everyone move in downtown, fill up those condos, and leave their cars to rust in Frisco? Your turn…�