The Hexter House That Was Torn Down And The Architect’s Own Home on The Market
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E.G. Hamilton may not be a household name for many, but you’re undoubtedly familiar with one of his most iconic projects — the creation of NorthPark Center.
But this edition of the CandysDirt.com Architect Index, featuring the works of E.G. Hamilton, focuses on just two homes. Of course, Hamilton was much more prolific than that, unmistakably shaping the Dallas modernist landscape. But this index is more of a contrast — the story of one iconic E.G. Hamilton home that was torn down in 2015 and one that’s currently on the market. But first, some biography.
Revered as “the architect who built Dallas” by Dallas Morning News architecture critic Mark Lamster, Hamilton left an indelible mark on the city’s landscape during his nearly seven-decade career. He designed commercial properties, apartment complexes, and award-winning homes in Dallas and other cities.
In addition to NorthPark Center, Hamilton’s designs included the Republic National Bank building and tower, the Dallas Convention Center, the Fairmont Hotel, and the A.H. Belo headquarters building. As a leading arts proponent on Mayor J. Erik Jonsson’s Goals for Dallas, Hamilton played a significant role in the creation of the Dallas Arts District.
E.G.’s Dallas career began in 1952 when he relocated to Dallas to collaborate with famed architect Arch Swank. In 1956, he and George Harrell founded their firm Omniplan, mentoring other prolific architects like Lionel Morrison, who can be credited with introducing the first modern single-family attached home in Dallas found along the Katy Trail. Morrison, like his mentor Hamilton, and too, like his mentor Swank, preferred open plans versus rooms and compartments. He showcased that beautifully in his homes.
The Demolition of 3616 Crescent, the Hexter House
One of his standout residences, the Hexter House located at 3616 Crescent Avenue, sadly met its end by demolition in 2017. But before it did, we covered the home literally inside and out.
CandysDirt.com has chronicled the home over the years, and perhaps has one of the most complete archives on the Hexter House. The home was built by a member of the Hexter family, as in Hexter-Fair Title, in 1963. When the home went on the market in December 2015 (for $8.5 million), we described its innovative architecture, ogled the Terrazzo floors, and because Candy seems to know everyone around town, we rattled off names of the neighbors, including Patrick Shelby (son of racer Carroll Shelby), Joe Sinacola, and Gil Besing, CEO and founder of Cardinal Capital Partners, Inc. and an experienced national real estate investor.
We hosted a “gathering “CandysDirt Staff Meeting” at the home — more of a sip-and-learn affair, where we strolled through the residence and absorbed insights from experts on why this home earned its status as one of the most noteworthy modernist residences in Dallas.
This 1963 gem once garnered acclaim for Hamilton’s use of continuous planes delineating interior and exterior rooms, and an innovative center garden. The home was built in a two-story glass and brick rectangle. All quarters are designed around and above an open plan living area. Walk into the spacious, brick-floored foyer and turn in any direction — gardens are in full view. Original St. Joe bricks, highly sought-after for its soft-mud craftsmanship and mottled color, and squared brick flooring were on full display in its 6,827 square feet. The original home was expanded and made even better in 1999 and 2008, when the extraordinary bodron+fruit (Svend Fruit & Mil Bodron are principles & the designers) managed updates and major additions.
But even then, we heard whispers that it was bound to be torn down. It was a corner lot in the most coveted corner of Highland Park, Crescent Avenue, on two-thirds of an acre. The lot size and lack of preservation safeguards in Highland Park might be too enticing for folks.
“This lot is so large and rare in Highland Park,” Mil Bodron said that night, “that unfortunately it’s tempting to tear down the home and rebuild on it.”
Bodron was right. On April 19, 2017, we reported that permits had been filed to demolish the home by its new owners. Readers weighed in in droves to lament its loss. “I’m not against tear downs or preservation for the sake of keeping an old structure, but this is insane,” one reader wrote in our comments. “I can remember gazing upon this beauty when it appeared in the pages of Met Home some years ago.”
And by August 2017, it was demolished. “3616 Crescent, you had a good run,” Candy wrote.
But as we’ve mentioned before, here’s where the story took an interesting turn.
In October 2023, we saw a phoenix rise from the ashes of that iconic Midcentury Modern home at 3616 Crescent — even if we still had an ache in our heart that the original E.G. Hamilton masterpiece was torn down, just after it received a full multi-million dollar renovation and a bill of clean architectural structure health.
“If you are going to tear a classic iconic home down, build an equally classic iconic home in its place,” Karen Eubank wrote, and she was right.
6882 Avalon Ave.
There’s another E.G. Hamilton home that we’ve kept our eye on over the years. It’s nothing grand in size like the former Hexter House, but it’s perhaps richer in history.
It was here I imagine that Hamilton met with Stanley Marcus and Ray Nasher to drink martinis and plan for an audacious shopping center (the one that would be the largest — but not first, apparently — climate-controlled retail establishment in the world). This unassuming address on Avalon Avenue was Hamilton’s own home.
And though we reported it was a contingent contract in November 2023, it’s available again by Ali Stewart of Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate for $1.30 million.
I found an interesting 2015 interview with Hamilton about this home:
“When I came to Dallas, I looked for a place to live – to build a house – and I found a lot over on Avalon,” Hamilton said, as retold for the 2018 White Rock Tour of Homes. “I found out who owned it, and I made a deal with them to design a spec house in exchange for the lot. So I built this little house in ’53, and I built the spec house up the street a little bit.”
Now thankfully, this Avalon home doesn’t have as many twists and turns as the famed, late Hexter House. But it does have more, interesting history associated with it.
Read more about my archive research that reveals this Midcentury Modern’s 1958 holiday decor with a “ribbon-striped canopy over the stone walkway,” and an earlier build date than listed by DCAD.
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The Hexter House was certainly better than what has emerged on that lot today. Nice article.