Heritage Oak Cliff Home Tour: A ‘Pill-Hill’ Home on Eastus, Where You Can Turn Your 1950s Caddy Around in One Go

By Ryan Stepp and Donovan Westover
CandysDirt.com Contributors

The annual Heritage Oak Cliff Home tour is coming up on Oct. 26 and 27, and you do not want to miss it!  There are 12 amazing properties featured this year and each one is remarkable in its own right.

Make sure to purchase your tour tickets here.

Our East Kessler Park tour house blends into the topography of the neighborhood by resting atop what appears to be a half-acre park. The greenspace quickly climbs from street level to its pinnacle, where, in 1953, a modest house with a modest backyard was built. 

This house was sited not to be gigantic or at street level, but to take advantage of its lofty placement in the surrounding treetops.  The generous common areas of the house exploit their treehouse views and were clearly a center point for entertaining.

1624 Eastus Drive

The house is believed to be the handiwrok of architect Philip Crown, who designed the prominent Oak Knoll Street house (adjacent to Eastus Drive) for Dr. and Mrs. Green in 1951. Our Eastus Drive tour home was designed with an exterior accessed office, which was common at the time for physicians. The connection leads us to believe Eastus Drive may be part of the collection of doctor’s houses which contributed to the “Pill Hill” moniker, furthering the number of doctors that resided in East Kessler Park since Methodist Hospital’s inception in 1927.

The current, longtime owner has added colorful twists to the interior of the house underlining its sunset red exterior brickwork, which remains internally visible via vast window walls. The vivid artwork and color palette throughout are a perfect foreground to the dusky exterior and variegated green backdrop of treetops seen through the massive plates of glass. There is an indisputable “Zen feeling” in this home.

The kitchen is the ultimate spot to entertain guests with the massive island that anchors the room and ties into the front seating area with fireplace.

Being perched high up on the hill, views out of the living room and into the topography are just stunning. Nature outside of green trees and blue skies tie perfectly with the interior design of green chairs and blue accents in art, accessories, and lamps.

Our homeowner for 1624 Eastus Drive is passionate about Oak Cliff and highlighting all it has to offer. You’ll notice this especially in all of her artwork – EVERY piece has been painted or designed by local Oak Cliff artists of varying age and skill. Each piece has a fascinating story and should be asked about when you visit!

Lore has it that Eastus Drive itself is a remarkably wide street because East Kessler Park developer Roy Eastus (and the Stemmons Family) wanted to make vehicular U-turns without having to stop or perform three-point turnarounds. 

Evidently, there was also a locally famous monkey that resided in our tour house for a while. Monkey probably felt right at home in the treetops. In addition, the nearby Coombs Creek, as well as Kidd Springs Creek, keep the ecology perfectly green and perfectly Oak Cliff.

This East Kessler Park tour home is sponsored by Travis-Lee Moore of Coldwell Banker Realty.