A Rare East Kessler Art Deco Gem With Ties to Lee Harvey Oswald’s Killer, Jack Ruby

The real beauty of a home is not just in the architecture; it’s in the story. If only the walls of this East Kessler Distinctive Art Deco gem could speak!

It was built in 1939 by Maurice Peterman of Peterman Brothers, an architect we don’t hear much about because he was generally involved in larger commercial and government projects.

Peterman Brothers designed and built everything from bakery plants to the Dallas County juvenile headquarters and a 1937 addition to the Mount Auburn school in East Dallas. So, it stands to reason this is one of the more solidly built homes you’ll find, and it’s also one of the few East Kessler Art Deco homes.

“I think there are only four in Oak Cliff,” Hewitt + Saucedo Realtor Jason Saucedo said. “The most well-known is the Art Deco house at 1302 Cedar Hill. It was built as the first all-electric home for the Texas Centennial in 1936. It’s a gorgeous example of the period and much grander than you would expect for any home built-in 1939.” 

Everything about the house is eye-popping, from the circular windows and distinctive curved walls to the sweeping staircase and the backlit cobalt blue glass fireplace surround in the formal living area. It’s generously proportioned at 3,934 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

“The principal suite is a true suite with a large living area and a private terrace,” Saucedo. “It’s extremely unusual for a home of this age.”

This is a house designed for entertaining (Remember that when we reveal the dirt!). There are three large living areas and a kitchen any chef would love. The second floor has a media room with a dedicated staircase and an outdoor terrace.

Of course, the views are amazing. 

“It’s on a corner, pie-shaped lot, which gives you a grandness,” Saucedo said. “You are up on the hill looking at the tree tops.”

But let’s get to the dirt!

How does Jack Ruby, infamous for murdering Lee Harvey Oswald, figure into this home? Hewitt + Saucedo’s Steve Habgood dug up the dirt for us, even taking the time to speak to local neighbors.  

Bertha Roth Weintraub owned this East Kessler Art Deco gem. Ernest Roth, her younger brother, was a partner in a successful Oak Cliff cafe, Roth’s, with her husband, Joseph Weintraub. When she became a widow in 1946, one of the regulars at the cafe was Abe Weinstein, a big name in the local entertainment industry. If you’ve read any history about Dallas the “entertainment industry” had a different meaning in that era. Think about the legendary stripper Candy Barr. Yep, lots of burlesque and a few mobsters, of course.

Weinstein offered Bertha a job as a cashier at one of his establishments, a well-known high-end burlesque nightclub called The Colony Club, which was in business from 1939 to 1973. Jack Ruby spent a fair amount of time here before opening his Carousel Club next to Weinstein’s successful business on Commerce Street in 1960. He got to know Bertha pretty well from all reports and often spent the night at this lovely East Kessler Art Deco home. According to neighbors, Bertha usually took a cab to the club and always carried a big black patent leather purse. The speculation is she was collecting the cash for Ruby’s strip clubs and taking it to the bank for him.

Larry Powell wrote an excellent piece in The Dallas Moring News in 1987 about the lovely Bertha.

Back then, she says, “Honey, I knew everybody that’s to be known. Liberace used to call me ‘Aunt Bertha.’ She also knew the club’s famed strippers, including Candy Barr, who, to discourage cads, would get Aunt Bertha to dine with her. 

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to own not only a rare Dallas Art Deco home but also a slice of fascinating history.

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate‘s Kathy Hewitt and Jason Saucedo have this rare East Kessler Art Deco home at 443 Allison Drive listed for 1.375 million.