Highland Park High School’s Parade of Playhouses Entry is Inspired by Charles Dilbeck

Highland Park High School means business. They have a MAPS program that stands for “Moody Advanced Professional Studies.” It’s a three-pronger that includes brain science and health, engineering design, and environmental architecture. The program was designed to create a “profession-centered approach to education.” Now here’s where I’m about to tie it all up in a neat little bow. “The curriculum is augmented by frequent participation of industry speakers, real-world challenges, and contemporary projects developed in collaboration with local businesses and universities.”

One of those real-world challenges is this year’s Dallas CASA Parade of Playhouses. Part of the MAPS program is learning to design in AutoCAD. For real. I told you, HPHS is NOT messing around.

This isn’t the first time they’ve had an opportunity to participate in the Parade of Playhouses, either, and Business Development Administrator of MAPS, Polly McKeithen, credits Dallas CASA for trusting the school to enter sight unseen and the Highland Park High School alumnus for their involvement.

A Dilbeck Built For Play

Here’s how it all went down. They select a home with historical significance to act as inspiration for the playhouse. That’s how it’s integrated into the curriculum. They learn about the architect, style, era, etc. This year’s inspiration just happens to be the Charles Dilbeck-designed home that sits at 4144 Shenandoah Drive in University Park. And that house just happens to be owned by a Highland Park High School alumnus – Jon and Natalie Alexis. See? It’s all coming together now.

Once the home was selected, the students were invited to tour the exterior, make notes and find inspiration. The guest speaker is a Highland Park resident and former architect and current lecturer, Larry Good. (He’s also been a huge part of the growth of the Environmental Architecture class in MAPS.) In fact, he wrote a book titled Top 100 Architecturally Significant Homes of the Park Cities based on his walks and observations of the area and his connection to the community.

Turret Time

Obviously, to recreate a Charles Dilbeck is a tremendous undertaking, Good said. Not to mention trying to include all those intricate details on a smaller scale. Instead, the students focused on one notable Dilbeck feature, the turret, and created their renderings based on it.

Good said he’s not the definitive source on Dilbeck, but he knows the man who is. His name Willis Winters and he is about to publish a 600-page book on Dilbeck’s architecture.

According to Winters’ text, the scoring system is intentionally humorous, with questions such as, “Does it have a turret? Okay, that’s 10 points.” Other storybook Dilbeck features: Are there ivy-covered walls? Is it asymmetrical and off-center? Is the brick laid in such a way that it wiggles? Is there heavy timber within? Once all the features are tallied, you can look at the score and have a pretty solid idea of whether or not you have a true Dilbeck on your hands.

With the design and selection behind them, construction partners take over and bring the sudents’ concepts to life. This year’s construction partners are Stantec Engineering and Lee Lewis Construction.

Dallas CASA’s Parade of Playhouses is on display now and runs through July 30. You can purchase raffle tickets online or in person. Each ticket is $5 and benefits Dallas CASA.