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Stanley Marcus Home May Become Dallas Landmark House, Get Bigger

As reported on Unfair Park this morning, Preservation Dallas’ Landmark Commission Designation Committee is heading to the late Stanley Marcus home at 10 Nonesuch Place, the home now owned by the Lovvorn family. Not only will the Committee figure out if 10 Nonesuch should be a Landmark House, they are going to figure out how and where the owners can add on to the 9,000 square foot structure. You may recall the Lovvorns debated scraping the home last summer, but decided to save it. The purpose of tonight’s meeting is, as reported, a site visit so the Commission can see what they have — inspect which parts of the house are historic and cannot be touched, which parts are, well, not significant so that the Lovvorns can go to town remodelling those areas. PD’s Katherine Seale did tell me the Lovvorns are planning an extensive addition, and what she has seen thus far looks great. The whole point, which she thinks the homeowners realized last summer, is there is flexibility in owning an historic home. It’s not like you have to call the “Preservation Nazi’s” every time you want to paint a wall.

Loving The Lovvorns

Hold your credit cards: I am zipping out of town, but was alerted to this indicating that 10 Nonesuch Place will not be torn down.  Fabulous people. But I do think that all the complaining. whining, non-tear down mouths out there ought to contribute something to the renovation or at least the Lovvorn’s electric bill.

Oh my, that would be me?

Stanley Marcus Home — What Can We Do To Save It? We Must Save It!

I was thinking of maybe tearing up my Neimans card in protest, but that would only make my husband happy. I have never reacted to a home tear-down like this before, either. Well, maybe one because I was standing there taking photos while the jaws of death snapped at me. And I’m a “new house gal” — I am addicted to the smell, smoothness and cleanliness of new construction much like a friend was addicted to the hormones of pregnancy and popped out 7 or 8 bambinos a few years ago. Ultimately we all have to hang up our uteruses, our very first homes, really, if you want to get all New Age-y.  But if anyone were to buy the Mary Kay House on Douglas and tear it down, I’d chain myself to the pink cupola. 

As for all those homes in Preston Hollow and PC that have bitten the dust, may have been charming but simply not cost-effective to save. Or add onto. You look at listings that have languished and I’ll bet you anything those are the “re-muddled” ones where each owner had added on their own two cents, usually cheaply from Home Depot. Buyers today want DSL accesss — our old vintage 1939 home on Park Lane, charming as she was (%$#@!!!**&&) had no phone wires upstairs. My kids were little, they didn’t need phones or cable TV. We were paying through the nose for private school so I told them to shut up and read. She had low ceilngs. The windows might as well been parchment paper. Translate that to marketability, you have a tear down. 

But the marketability of this home and the Mary Kay Mansion is the rich history and I know I’m setting myself up for grief or maybe even a lashing or two, but I say we grab our Neimans cards and build a giant plastic fortress around this house if the jaws ever snap at 10 NoneSuch.