“Drove by this morning and the house next door to Troy’s is already getting torn down.”

He’ll certainly have his pick of contractors in this economy.

Update: An earlier version of this post, and my interview on WRR, contained information that I had been given from a knowledgeable source who told me one reason why the Bushes bought their new home on Daria Place was that their neighbor, Tom Hicks, had agreed to give them access to his helipad. A spokesperson for Mr. Hicks tells me he does not have a helipad on his property.  While Mr. Hicks occasionally obtains a day permit to land a helicopter on his land, I’m now told there was never any official discussion about letting the President and Mrs. Bush “borrow the landing space”.

But the best news came from someone in the City building department, who told me that permits are UP over the same period last year.  Now that’s some good news.  Long may it continue.

Thoughts? �

(Thanks to Ebby Southlake Realtor Patti Moore for sending me the photo).

And we don’t have to drive to Plano!

1. Get a new wireless keyboard and mouse. My old one died right after Christmas and I am using a Prilosec OTC mouse that may be a collector’s item someday.

2. Re-paint our media room and make it more than a storage room for my kid’s furniture. The placenta red has to go — I’m thinking carmel. I’d like to build in a bar complete with kegerator (this for future son-in-law) where we have the water pipes in the wall. (Spouse: “And monkeys will fly…”) It’s a pseudo home theatre, but nothing is more fun than going up there to watch movies — when you are not tripping over boxes.

3. Reupholster my dining room chairs and have four additional chairs made to give me seating for eight. Do not tell my husband. When the chairs appear, I will simply insist they’ve been there all along. (I’d really rather buy a beautiful new Baker table with eight chairs, but we are on austerity.)

4. Re-do the walkway from my patio to the pool. I know this will severly injure my husband and son psychologically, as they laid the stone by hand eight years ago. (Figure in budget: shrink sessions.) I am planning a wedding this year and we will be having major parties, I’m thinking Pennsylvania bluestone with tiny Mondo grass. 

5. By December, I’d like to replace my upstairs carpet when the kids FINALLY have their own place. I’m thinking Sisal, but I have dogs.

6. My husband’s resolution: save money and halt all Candy’s New Years Resolutions.

Ah, there’s always 2010!

If Ragland’s point was to give a thumb-nail sketch of Preston Hollow, then I suggest you find a copy of Eva Potter Morgan’s “Preston Hollow”. Preston Hollow was briefly incorporated as a town after an election on November 18, 1939, the voting taking place in the real estate office of Mr. Ira P. DeLoach, also the man who hired Ebby Halliday. Her name and company now occupy what was the town hall of Preston Hollow, the “little white house” at the corner of Northwest Highway and Preston Road. Initially the notion of incorporating PH into a town was controversial, the heart of the discussion being fiscal concerns and higher taxes with annexation. But it was one of humanity’s most basic dilemmas — sanitation — that united Preston Hollow with Dallas while the Park Cities would remain the Golden Bubble in-between:

“Proponents argued that “we need only the simplest, least expensive set-up” and went on to point out that the mayor and members of the town council were to serve without pay.”

For the first few years, writes Eva Morgan, no taxes were imposed on the residents of Preston Hollow. “Income was derived from building permits for new structures and septic tanks, fines imposed by the town traffic court, and from a remarkable “subscription” system for police protection. Under this system, payment of the fee for police service was voluntary.”

Then came World War II and a need for money to support services. In October of 1942, writes Mrs. Morgan, the town council imposed an ad valorem tax. The council and the Mayor, Joe Lawther, disagreed over it — Mr. Lawther resigned, Mart W. Reeves was elected mayor — the last mayor of Preston Hollow.
Two and a half years later a tax was imposed, and a spot designated for a fire station — fire protection had been outsourced to Dallas and University Park. Meantime, the city of Dallas was pushing to unify Preston Hollow, the Park Cities and Dallas all into a single city government. It almost happened, writes Mrs. Morgan.

“But it was sewage that sounded the death knell for this remarkable town government. All the homes had septic tanks. Under the existing drainage patterns, there was apparently no feasible way that the town could install a sewage system to replace the septic tanks… in parts of town, after each rain the problem became painfully obvious. Finally, on April 3, 1945, the voters approved consolidation with the City of Dallas.”

My favorite restoration: the dormer.  Check out the before and after! 

And what a smart thing to add to the daylighting in the house by adding a light well from one of the dormer windows down to the front entryway!

Two dynamo Realtors are working ferventing on this projet, Sheila Rice and Virginia Cook, Virginia Cook Realtors. For more information, check out www.dallaswomensforum.organd stay tuned to this blog for upcoming photos. There’s ony one thing I like better than gorgeous homes: homes with a serious past!!!