Preston Hollow Teen Uses Lockdown to Write a Book About His Storied Neighborhood

Staying at home during the pandemic left many in Dallas with considerable time on their hands. Instead of learning macrame, one Preston Hollow teen turned lockdown into an opportunity to fulfill a passion project. 

Jack Drake, a student at Trinity Christian Academy and longtime Preston Hollow resident, spent the summer of 2020 researching the neighborhood that is so close to his heart and turning his findings into his first book, Preston Hollow: A Brief History, which was released on Aug. 17. 

“I really love where I live; I personally think it’s the best part of Dallas. I love the big trees. I love the winding streets over to the west,” said Jack of his fondness for his neighborhood, the history of which he became interested in. “I have lived in the neighborhood for 10 years, and I’ve always been fascinated by the history.”

It’s no surprise then that the concept for a thorough chronicle of that history came to him quite naturally: “I just woke up one morning and decided that there wasn’t very much out there on the history and no one’s really done anything; I just thought I’d do it myself.” 

One of the biggest challenges that Jack faced in turning his passion into a book was the lack of immediately accessible resources on the neighborhood: “Since very little can be found about the history of the neighborhood on the internet, I had to be creative.” 

Jack scoured old newspaper articles and information, but some of the largest components of his research were the many interviews he conducted with Preston Hollow residents on their memories of the neighborhood. 

Jack also incorporated research on some of his favorite buildings and homes in Preston Hollow, including his church, Preston Hollow Presbyterian―designed by Mark Lemmon, “one of the more significant prewar architects in Dallas”―and the 14 houses designed by Dallas architect Charles Dilbeck, 10 of which Jack was able to access personally. 

To complete the project effectively as a full-time student, Jack spent the summer of 2020 researching and conducting interviews, and completed the writing in the fall. “TCA taught me how to be such a good writer,” he says of his school. “I think because I loved doing it so much, I didn’t really feel like it was a lot to balance.” 

Jack doesn’t currently have plans for another writing project, but already has 55 flight hours and intends to become a pilot. His book, Preston Hollow: A Brief History, with a foreword by entrepreneur and Preston Hollow resident Mark Cuban, is available now on Amazon.