The Historic Swiss Avenue Home of Magnolia Petroleum Company’s E.R. Brown Can Be Yours

Swiss Avenue is Dallas’s most significant street, known for its historic homes, close-knit neighborhood, and the city’s best Mother’s Day home tour. Its roots also reach back to Dallas’ earliest days.

According to Preservation Dallas, after the failure of the early La Reunion Colony in 1855, several settlers moved east of the Trinity River. Among them were Swiss businessmen Jacob Nussbaumer and Henry Boll, who settled on adjoining properties along White Rock Road in 1859, and renamed it Swiss Avenue in deference to their native country.

In 1905, brothers Collett and Robert S. Munger developed Munger Place, Dallas’s first deed-restricted neighborhood, with Swiss Avenue as its grand centerpiece, designed to attract wealthy residents.  

There are approximately 200 homes here designed by the leading architects of the era in a variety of styles. In 1973, activists, led by Virginia Savage McAlester and Harryette Ehrhardt, ensured the neighborhood was designated as the first historic district in Dallas. 

Today, the Swiss Avenue Historic District includes homes on portions of Swiss Avenue, Bryan Parkway, Bryan Street, La Vista Avenue, and Live Oak Street. The district is considered one of the finest intact neighborhoods of early 20th-century residential architecture in the United States.

As you can imagine, homes don’t often come up for sale here, and each one arrives on the market with incredible history. 

This home at 5324 Swiss was designed in 1916 by prominent architect Hal Thomson for the Chairman of the Magnolia Petroleum Company, E.R. Brown, and his wife. The petroleum company was well represented on the avenue, with three other leaders having homes here.

Brown’s wife loved Italy and wanted a home that reflected the Mediterranean architecture she had seen on their travels. It was common in this era to entertain on a large scale in private homes. Many of the houses here had ballrooms on the top floor, and all of the homes were designed with spacious formal rooms for concerts and dances. Long-time Swiss Avenue resident, Realtor, and owner of Talulah and Hess, Elizabeth Mast, sold this home to the present owner. 

The lines of the house are the most beautiful of any home on Swiss Avenue,” Mast said. When she showed it years ago to an architect, he said, “I have a new mistress!”  

The home has 6,187 square feet. It features four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and two powder baths. There is a media room and a flexible space on the third floor. An elevator serves two floors, which was quite a feature when this home was built. The kitchen and primary bathroom have been updated. The property also includes an 800-square-foot carriage house with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a washer and dryer.

Don’t miss your chance to become part of Swiss Avenue’s remarkable history. Kim Smith with Goldmark Realty, Inc. has this beautiful home at 5314 Swiss Avenue, available for $2.795 million.