When is a Dilbeck a Dilbeck?

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Dilbeck
What more can you ask for? A Dilbeck that backs up to a creek!

Is this a Dilbeck? That is the question. So, I’ve been on quite the treasure hunt these past few days.

As you can imagine our feet are held to the fire if a reader believes we have gotten anything wrong. We are not just whistling Dixie around here and swilling champagne, well occasionally we are. We actually spend an incredible amount of time researching historic properties, talking to Preservation Dallas, delving into the Dallas Morning News archives, and asking our go-to architects for their professional opinions.

Dilbeck

When this charming Texas ranch house came across my screen as a Dilbeck, I did my due diligence and researched it.

Charles S. Dilbeck, for you newbies to Dallas, was a prolific and eclectic architect in Dallas from 1935 to 1969. In a 1979 interview with urban planner Alan Mason, he said he was the first architect to develop a true Texas ranch house. While his peers O’Neil Ford and David Williams were besotted with the Hill Country style of limestone farmhouses with metal roofs, Dilbeck was inspired by the ranch houses of the Texas Panhandle. The problem in identifying so many of his creations is that he was also inspired by Irish cottages and styles ranging from French provincial to Colonial. Eclectic is the central word when it comes to Dilbeck.

Dilbeck

But there are definitive characteristics of any Dilbeck. In his 1984 interview with Dilbeck, the Dallas Morning News architecture critic David Dillon wrote:

“The rambling ad hoc plans of the originals led to updated Dilbeck versions in which rooms were placed at odd angles to the rest of the house — mostly to catch the prevailing breezes, but sometimes just for effect. The windows are large, the fireplaces enormous, and there frequently are porches on both the first and second levels, the latter adaptations of the so-called lookout porches on ranch houses. The roofs are slightly pitched, with wide overhangs for protection against the sun.”

David Dillon, Dallas Morning News architecture critic
Dilbeck
Dilbeck

Dilbeck favored rustic materials, like adobe, limestone, brick, and hand-hewn timber. His style was much more rugged than his peers Ford and Williams.

Finding out if a Dilbeck is an original when there is no documentation, is not quite as hard as you’d think. Architect Willis Winters, one of Dallas’s most noted preservationists who was the former director of the Parks and Recreation Department has done all the footwork.

In 1997 Preservation Dallas hosted a private tour of Dilbeck homes. In preparation for that tour Winters did a herculean amount of research and compiled a list of documented and suspected Dilbeck homes. He also compiled a list of features and created a point system so you can play the “Is your Dilbeck original?” game!

The 1997 private tour of Charles Dilbeck homes
Homes in italics are considered to be probable Dilbeck designs.

I diligently took the survey and surmise, mind you I’m not an architect, that this 1953-built cottage at 6802 Williamson Road scores a 45 on a scale of 70 which hits in the medium to the high probability that it’s original.

This charming kitchen has every Dilbeck earmark you could possibly want from the curved counter between the breakfast room and kitchen (below) to the arched nook and rough-hewn timber cabinets (above).

Winters calculated there are about 630 known or suspected Dilbeck homes in Dallas. This charmer certainly looks to be an original. The lesson here is to keep your house documentation safe. You may not appreciate your architect but fifty years from now your home may be a very hot property, like this one.

6802 Williamson Road is listed for $579,000.

Most people don’t care about documentation. They simply fall in love with a house. As I’m writing this, Paragon listing agent Risa Jordan with the East Dallas Real Estate Group texted to let me know it went under contract at the first showing. All you can do now is hope it falls through and you have a shot at what is most probably an original Dilbeck!

Karen is a senior columnist at Candy’s Media and has been writing stories since she could hold a crayon. She is a globe-trotting, history-loving eternal optimist who would find it impossible to live well without dogs, Tex-Mex, and dark chocolate. She covers luxury properties and historic preservation for Candys Dirt.

7 Comments

  1. Rachel Trowbridge on February 18, 2020 at 10:18 am

    I have a charming 1937 Dilbeck in University Park that will be on the market this Thursday, February 20th for $1,299,000. 4141 Stanhope Street, University Park 75205

    • Karen Eubank on February 18, 2020 at 10:45 am

      Have your Realtor call us!

      • Candy Evans on February 19, 2020 at 11:30 am

        Rachel is a Realtor! She knows how to reach us!

  2. CCR on February 18, 2020 at 11:23 am

    KAREN – or Candy:

    Is Willis’ list on the web or available to buy?

    • Karen Eubank on February 18, 2020 at 1:51 pm

      I’m not sure but you can call Irene at Preservation Dallas and she can advise.

  3. Bob Shockley on February 19, 2020 at 9:45 am

    Hi Candy
    So happy to see such beautiful pictures of my house..very nice interior decorating and great photography . Very nice write up on the history . Happy to see some of my addition and ideas are still there.. I am sure it well above my sold price in 2008..My first open house had over 200 visitor..the agent ran out of business cards..
    Hope all is well in your life..my life here in Costa Rice has been wonderful and has met all my expectations..
    Good luck..
    Pura Vida
    Bob

    • Candy Evans on February 19, 2020 at 11:29 am

      Bob, we love Costa Rica when can we come visit?

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