Heritage Oak Cliff 2024 Home Tour: Be There or Be T-Square!

by Donovan Westover
CandysDirt.com Contributor

The annual Heritage Oak Cliff Home Tour is on Saturday and Sunday, 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.

Speaking of remarkable … most Cliff Dwellers know this house. We unknowingly drive below it, perched high over Colorado Boulevard, unaware of its distinction. Our Sam Dealey Estates tour home’s lofty and unassuming streetscape is a mild preface to the unfolding of a magical world of craftsmanship. They truly do not build them like they used to.

Built in 1966 for one of the physicians of the famed “Pill Hill” area of Oak Cliff, the house was sold eight years later to another doctor. The current homeowners purchased 909 W. Colorado Blvd. last year and are the perfect stewards for such an architecturally significant home. They have respectfully restored it with seamless blends of modern conveniences, and it is 5,000 square feet of flawless.

Every architect in Dallas should see this house. It was designed by Robert Johnson Perry, who was prolific at the build time. From an era of strong Texas regional influence, this house reflects the work of O’Neil Ford, Scott Lyons, and later on Frank Welch. The attention to detail can be seen in every room through the intricate wood carving of cabinetry and dividing screens, the remarkable hardware as well as the classic building materials which still today look timeless.

Johnson’s other homes in Dallas include the 1962 Touchstone House on Shenandoah, the 1965 house on Arcady, the 1970 Schepp’s House (Bridge House) on Hollow Way, and the ill-fated Fix House that occupied over five acres at the southeast corner of Inwood and Walnut Hill roads. Sadly, this Perry-designed house was demolished years ago and the lot still sits vacant.

Each of Johnson’s designs takes advantage of its site, and he succeeded beautifully with our tour house using topography. As you meander through the house, you slightly ascend and descend, which seems to mimic the hilltop it is built upon. The massive windows highlight the exterior ground level in one room and frame a feeling of being lifted into the trees in the next. And, there are acres of windows and glass doors for lifting, all perfectly placed to afford privacy and peace on a popular boulevard.

I am going to make it easy for you.  Here are 10 reasons you need to see this house:

1. You know you want to.

2. The 5,000-square-foot floorplan is brilliant. We all cannot afford to have a significant architect design our house, but we can afford to see one next month.

3. The three sets of owners (over 58 years) have been gentle in adding their signature touches to the house.  The best stewards recognize quality and lasting beauty, and this house has been blessed by that standard.

4. The woodwork is all custom and all phenomenal. I am going to be nerdy for a second and say that Perry’s woodwork likens to Lynn Ford’s woodwork found in O’Neil’s projects. #IYKYK

5. The flooring is superb and Johnson’s apparent love of warm, yet indestructible flooring is apparent in the acres of parquet and mixed stones.

6. Utilitarian conveniences such as the 1966 wet bar, ice maker, wine refrigerator, and indoor grills (plural) are either built-in or easily veiled with the most remarkable wooden multi-fold pocket screens I have ever seen.  See No. 4.

7. The primary bathroom. That is all I am going to say.

8. This is one of those uncovered gems and we are fortunate to feature it.

9. To see this and 11 other tour properties on Oct. 26 and 27.

10. To support Heritage Oak Cliff.

I am thrilled to help this year’s tour co-chairs, Chris Michael and Ryan Stepp, whose homes were both featured on last year’s Heritage Oak Cliff Home Tour.  Cyclical.  They have done an incredible job assembling a great library of 2024 tour homes for a great organization.  More information and tickets are available here. 

Our Sam Dealey Estates tour home is sponsored by Michael Mahon of Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate.

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Donovan Westover is an occasional columnist for CandysDirt.com.