Is a Good Designer The Key Element to Keep Your Historic Highland Park Home Standing?

In a word, yes. Find yourself a smart, creative interior designer, and your historic Highland Park home will stand a much better chance of survival.

I’m not picking on Highland Park in particular. In general, if you have a historic home, you must meet the expectations buyers have today. That means keeping it up to date and when you are ready to sell, make sure it can hold such a bright candle to those neighborhood new builds that it will outshine them!

A Historic Highland Park Home Built on Spec

This beautiful 1938 historic Highland Park home was actually a spec home designed by Charles A. Barnett. We tend to forget that speculative building — meaning a builder bets on knowing where and what a buyer wants — has been around for a long time.

Highland Park saw this trend start in 1935. Most of the homes to that date had been custom, but those builders were the first to understand what became a catchphrase after Field of Dreams in the 1990s: “If you build it, they will come.”

Charles A. Barnett and his brother Marshall were two of the most prolific builders in Highland Park. Marshall built 31 homes, and Charles built 64. Charles was also an architect and one of the few home builders prior to World War II who, like Clifford D. Hutsell, designed the homes he constructed.

The Barnett brothers learned from the best. Their father, David, built the Dallas Municipal Building in 1914, as well as homes in Munger Place. Charles built nine homes between 1935 and 1938 on Belfort Ave. and this is a stunning example of his work. It was such a keeper that Barnett moved into this one, and it remained in the family for decades.

What is our mantra here at CandysDirt.com? If you can find a home for sale built by a builder for his family, buy it!

So, if you love your historic home and want it to remain standing for generations to come, do the following things: Hire an attorney to add restrictions to your deed. If it’s vacant, have it staged by a professional stager. If you are living in it, maintain it and keep it updated and relevant with a great design firm like Yates Desygn.

If you are a design aficionado, you will know Mike and Bryan Yates for their involvement in the 2021 Kipps Bay Decorator Show House. Their team was responsible for that super sexy underground lounge. While show homes allowed for the firm’s wildest dreams to unfold, they have a profound love of preservation.

“People just need to modernize historic homes,” Mike said. “It’s really about beauty and function.”

Leaning Into The Details

Their first introduction to this historic Highland Park home was when the owners called them to revamp the backyard.

“They wanted to extend the patio and create a usable year-round living space,” Mike said. “We also wanted it to look as if it had always been there.”

Of course, the project was immensely successful, and the Yates were then called upon to update the kitchen in this 2,487-square-foot, three-bedroom, four-bathroom historic Highland Park home. And, of course, it evolved into touching pretty much every part of the house.

“We did a soft renovation with Farrow and Ball paint, wallpaper, furniture, and accessories,” Bryan said. “We incorporated the character of the house with a southern, Charleston meets Ralph Lauren aesthetic.”

One of the things people overlook that designers never do is the importance of updating items like lighting, faucets, and hardware. These go a long way in making a home feel current as well as adding character.

So, if you are serious about wanting your historic home to remain standing in any part of Dallas, remember how important current interior design is and how it can be the factor that ensures someone who loves historic homes will find yours. This is such a wonderful example of getting the best of both worlds.

Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s agents Karla and Alex Trusler have 4549 Belfort Avenue listed for $2.2 million.