The Architect Index: 5 Essential Dallas Dilbecks

Charles S. Dilbeck was a prolific and eclectic architect in Dallas from 1935 to 1969. 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. Here we’ve rounded up five essential Charles Dilbeck creations to feast your eyes on.

This Sweet Dilbeck in Greenway Parks is a Little Slice of Heaven

Address: 5301 W. Mockingbird Lane

While we here at CandysDirt.com pride ourselves in knowing North Texas’ top neighborhoods like the backs of our hands, we were taken a bit off-guard by this Dilbeck nominated for the CandysDirt.com Sweetest Homes of 2020 by one of its listing agents, Cindy Bruner. What surprised us was that this absolute gem in Greenway Parks was one we’d never seen before. For us real estate junkies with an eye for the unique and out of the ordinary, that’s no small feat. 

“I am not an expert on Charles Dilbeck, but I love his homes and this one has so many signature details: the detailed brickwork, the timbers on the side of the house and around the windows, the cupola, the timber detail around the fireplace, the shape of the fireplace, the figure-8 shaped chimney, the brick wall in the dining room, the Juliet balcony on the side of the house — plus, it has a cool midcentury vibe with a wall of windows overlooking the backyard that makes it have an open, current feel,” Bruner said.

—Read more about Mockingbird Lane, listed in May 2020 for $675,000.

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A Kessler Park Dilbeck Has The Magic of a Storybook Cottage

Address: 1125 N. Canterbury Court

This historic Kessler Park Dilbeck cottage is an over-the-hills-and-through-the-woods storybook home. It’s the sort of house you imagine to have magical properties. Considering the number of artistically inclined owners who’ve made their own kind of magic here, it clearly has been sprinkled with fairy dust.

It’s an easy house to love, and I think it must be a hard home to leave because it consistently seems to have promoted creativity. How could it not, though? Nestled into a leafy, secluded setting and set back behind a broad courtyard, the home’s lack of architectural predictability is intriguing, charming, and of course, typical of Dilbeck.

Over the years it’s been lovingly and artistically updated in a manner that does not infringe on Dilbeck’s original intentions. It’s surprisingly spacious, with 2,984 square feet, five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a powder bath, and guest quarters with a separate entry.

—Read more about Canterbury Court, listed in Nov. 2019 for $1.295 million.

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The Dilbeck Triplets

Of course, no Dilbeck roundup is complete without mentioning the famous Dilbeck Triplet homes in Lakewood. In 2018 before the pandemic stole our world, the Lakewood Early Childhood PTA (LECPTA) managed to get all three of these unique Dilbecks on their annual tour of homes. We mentioned this pretty lady in our last Dilbeck roundup, but here we present the whole family.

Address: 6726 Lakewood Blvd.

When Clay and Karen Deniger purchased the house, they certainly weren’t looking for another large home. They had been there, done that, living in a large, well-known Dines and Kraft down the street for 18 years. With the kids grown and gone it seemed the right time to sell. So, they moved nearby into a new home for a little less than a year before fate drew them back.

“It was news when it came on the market,” Clay said. “After the major renovation, a new family had only owned it for only 18 months. Karen came home and told me the house was on the market. We went from thinking it was crazy to buy a big house with no kids at home to owning it in 6 days.”

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Address: 6738 Lakewood Boulevard

The middle sister of the Dilbeck Triplets was built by Dines and Kraft in 1932. Mandy and Charles Townsend were living in a new house nearby, but longed for more land, and Mandy has always loved Tudor-style homes.

When they purchased their Dilbeck Triplet, they decided to push out the back of the house, knock out some walls and open up the family and kitchen area. The downstairs expansion gave them the added ability to expand upstairs. They did some innovative rearranging and moved the laundry room upstairs as well as renovated a bathroom.

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Address: 6748 Lakewood Blvd.

The last of our Dilbeck Triplets is a French Tudor and has one of the most beautiful plaster embellished living room ceilings in Dallas. It was also built by Dines and Kraft in 1935. Julie and Jay Teinert bought the home in 2016 and immediately started a complete renovation.

“We love historic homes and had lived in a 1935 home in Rockwall before to purchasing in Lakewood,” Julie said. “We kept as much of the character as possible, did not tear down any walls, and left a couple of the bathrooms intact. I like things light and bright, open and orderly.”

—Read more about the Lakewood Dilbeck Triplets, which were featured in the 2018 Lakewood tour of homes.