A Rare French Norman Dilbeck Estate in Old Preston Hollow

The owner of this Charles Dilbeck masterpiece used to drive by it with her mom all the time when she was growing up. Even as a kid, she knew it was something special and dreamed it would one day be hers. In 2005 that dream became a reality.

The prior owners had already done some spectacular work by engaging legendary architect Cole Smith to add another living area, a staircase, and a second-floor principal suite you would swear was original. Smith designed some of the most beautiful homes in Dallas and the French Renaissance office building on Turtle Creek that hosted the 2024 Kipps Bay Decorator Show House so there could be no one better suited to ensure Dilbeck’s style was kept intact.

This is such a wonderful example of updating a 1948 historic home with grace and sensitivity to the original architectural style. The main living area remains unaltered and features the signature immense Dilbeck fireplace, and dramatic cathedral beamed ceiling. The dining room has a marvelous decorative plaster ceiling and leaded glass windows.

“Although his houses are always right for their sites, they tend to transport us to another time and place, a fanciful Normandy, for instance, of turrets and asymmetrical chimneys, half-timbering filled with brick nogging and steeply pitched undulating roofs.”

R. Larry Good FAIA for Texas Architect and Preservation Dallas

“This was the last of Charles Dilbeck’s large French Norman estates in his career. The exterior exhibits several of the architect’s signature design elements including the gabled entry porch, creamy Texas fieldstone walls with contrasting brick trim around the doors and windows, half timbering, and a small, round corner tower with a peaked roof and dovecote under its eave. The entire assymetrical composition is punctuated by a round chimney (a particular Dilbeck signature item) on axis with the front entry.


Inside, the living room retains its origional spectacular Dilbeck feel with its timbered ceiling trusses,signature fireplace hearth, and an open staircase with distinctive French Norman detailing.”

Willis Winters- Dilbeck Architecture Conservancy

The owner also did an enormous amount of work on the home, making it work beautifully for her family. She gutted the kitchen and principal bathroom and had cabinetry built to blend in with the style of the home.

“There was a wet bar in the principal suite and a dumbwaiter beside it,” the owner said. “I took it out and created a large primary closet. The front room with the green cabinetry was the original garage.” This area had been converted into a study and the curent owner updated this area, the adjoining bathroom and incorporated the HVAC into it.

This French Norman Dilbeck has 6,202 square feet of living space, five bedrooms, five bathrooms, two powder baths, and 1,278-square-foot quarters above the 3-car garage. The grounds are astonishing.

The current owner worked with landscape architect Steve Giovannini to create a veritable paradise on the 1.6-acre estate. “He drew out a plan for us with so many wonderful elements,” she said. The heavily treed property has a magical feel with multiple stone patios, a koi pond next to the house, and a bridge over a creek that feeds into a pond. There is a large pool, a fire pit, and a play yard and sports court beyond the pool. The most dramatic feature in the yard is a cabana Randy Clowdus built, which pays homage to the French Norman Dilbeck style.

“This French Norman Dilbeck exemplifies his eclectic and visionary style,” Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s Realtor Shelley Koeijmans said. “It’s a rare opportunity to own a private, fully updated architecturally significant home in Dallas.”

Koeijmans has this extraordinary French Norman Dilbeck at 5106 Deloache Ave., available for $6.395 million.