Historic Dallas, Volume 1, Number 3, Fall 1980 Page: 4 of 6

                                
The historic Murphy House at 2516 Maple Avenue.

The Vineyard
The Vineyard derives its name from its
history as a grape and fruit growing region
during the latter part of the 19th Century.
Unlike much of the rest of the "black gum-
bo" Dallas, the soil of the Vineyard is un-
usually sandy due to its location in an an-
cient river bottom.
At one time the Vineyard was considered
"out in the country." It wasn't until the
1880's that the area was incorporated into
the City of Dallas. As the city grew, the Vine-
yard became the fashionable part of town,
as evidenced by the number of imposing turn
of the century structures still standing. De-
spite the fact that over 100 buildings were
torn down in the 50's, 60's and 70's, the
area has the largest concentrations of Vic-
torian buildings in Dallas.
Today, the Vineyard, with its active Vine-
yard Neighborhood Association, is experi-
encing a rapid renaissance with a unique de-
versity of homes, shops, galleries, theatres,
offices and restaurants, frequently occupy-
ing old houses, churches, stables and
bakeries.
2516 Maple
The Historic Murphy House was built in
1896 by John P. Murphy, president of Dal-
las' largest and most active real estate invest-
ment and development company. In 1919 it
was acquired by his son-in-law, Judge Eugene
P. Locke, founding partner of the presti-
gious law firm Locke Purnell Boren Lany &
Neely. The house ceased being a residence
in 1948-49 when it became the office for a
small insurance company through the fifties.
The sixties saw great changes when the Mur-
phy House became the 'Haunted House' of
Dallas, a nightclub and restaurant. KCHU,
a public radio station, used the building un-
til 1977 when it was left deserted for two-
and-a-half years.
In 1979, Booth Galleries relocated their
56-year-old antique dealership from Mon-
treal to Dallas. After completing an exten-
sive 5 month restoration on the building,
the Historic Murphy House will delight you
in the breathtaking 20 room settings with
such things as French Canadian country fur-
niture, Eskimo art and sculpture, contempo-
rary graphics, old prints and an assortment
of antique treasures.
2615 State Street
The 1 -story wood frame Victorian cot-
tage at 2615 State Street was built approxi-
mately in 1890 on land originally deeded to
John Neely Bryan and developed as part of
the Grigsby League tract. Though records
are incomplete, the city directory of 1894
shows a Mr. H. S. Simpson as the owner.
Mr. Simpson was an early Dallas entrepe-
nuer co-owning Doolittle and Simpson Co.,
a notions firm on Elm St.
By 1898, this quaint house had become
the residence of Mr. Robert Hill, first pas-

Old Oak Cliff
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tor of the Westminster Presbyterian Church,
originally located on the south side of Tho-
mas Ave. between Pearl and Phelps Streets
(now Olive). He remained in the home for
approximately 10 years and was pastor till
1915. The 1st Mexican Baptist Church at
2700 Fairmount was originally a later loca-
tion of the Westminster Church.
In 1980, the house was purchased by
Messrs. Richard Round and Lloyd Sims,
business partners, to be restored as a resi-
dence (private).
3000 Fairmount, Unit 1
As more people "rediscover" the merits
of in-town living not all will choose to buy
an older home to renovate or restore. Luck-
ily for those so inclined, new attractively-
designed and well-built center city town-
houses are beginning to appear. Such a loca-
tion in the Vineyard now exists at 3000
Fairmount.
Built in 1980, the Vineyard home of
builder-developer Billy Slocum and business
partner designer Ramone Denman is an ex-
citing contemporary view of life in a vibrant
re-awakening part of the city. The tiled in-
terior, courtyard and the flower-covered
private sundeck are interesting features
to note.
Old Oak Cliff
Winnetka Heights-Kidd Springs is an area
of varying ethnic and economic lifestyles: it
is the excitement and convenience of urban
living tempered with beautiful recreational
parks and restful green spaces.
They are neighborhoods where trades-
men, professionals, artists and craftsmen,
senior citizens and young families enjoy the
advantages of in-town living complemented
by the charm and relaxation of an earlier era.
High old trees line the streets and yards,
framing their predominantly Prairie Style
architecture. The houses built between 1910
and 1920 display the fine workmanship of
skilled craftsmen, with stained and beveled
glass, ceiling beams and other elaborate
woodwork.
Due to the efforts of the Old Oak Cliff

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Conservation League and many interested
citizens, the Winnetka Heights and Kidd
Springs neighborhoods are experiencing a
renewed sense of pride and identity.
203 N. Willomet
Built as a frame four plex in 1915, this
3400 sq. ft. building had a brick veneer added
in the late 1920's. The latest remodeling as
an apartment building appears to have been
in the early 1950's and included sheetrock-
ing and new molding and bath fixtures. The
building fell into serious disrepair with leaky
plumbing leading to the complete gutting of
the four kitchens. After standing vacant for
six years, the Trulys purchased the building
in late 1978. Maximizing the use of existing
interior walls, remodeling as a single family
dwelling involved moving doorways, remov-
ing many partitions and opening the main
entry-stairway area. Finally, new plumbing,
wiring, kitchen, baths, sheetrock and inter-
ior moldings were added. This residence il-
lustrates an innovative conversion of multi-
family to single family housing.
131 N. Clinton
Barbara and Stanley Statser bought this
house in 1976 after discovering Winnetka
Heights through the Urban Pioneer Tour of
1975. The house was built in 1917 as a single
family, frame residence. The first owners
were George Crask and his family who
owned it until the 1930's. He converted it to
three apartments and had it bricked in 1925.
The first priority was the kitchen. With
help from the DP&L home planning depart-
ment and Barbara's dad, who is a bricklayer,
it was transformed from a small, ugly kit-
chen to what you see today. The brick wall

is made from Chicago antique brick. The
colors are from signs that were painted on
the buildings.
There's still plenty to do but the end is
finally in sight. Both Barbara and Stanley
agreed they can't imagine ever leaving the
home they have worked on so hard.
718 Woodlawn
Thomas Alan Hord, Jr.-whose grand-

DOWNTOWN
DALLAS

father's log cabin still stands near the Dallas
zoo-spent his honeymoon at 718 Wood-
lawn with his bride, Mary Ethel Robinson.
The couple lived in the spacious frame home,
built in 1913, until their deathsin the 1970's.
Restoration, which for starters included
leveling the foundation, updating wiring
and plumbing and installing central heat and
air conditioning, began in August, 1978.
Seven months later, owner P. M. Butturini
was able to move in and begin the final stage
of restoration: stripping woodwork, paint-
ing and papering.
The house features numerous window
seats, a quaint stone garage, a front door
surrounded by small panes of glass and sev-
eral wrought iron lanterns, made by Mr.
Hord, which hang on all four sides.
222 S. Windomere
When Ralph and Jeannine Reynolds first
saw this house it was covered with pink as-
bestos siding and had a concrete porch with
wrought iron trim. In their words, ". . . it
was pretty gruesome." Most of their friends
thought they had lost their minds when they
purchased this house.
The original floor plan had been changed
considerably, but they located a woman
who had lived in the house in 1925. The
present kitchen, sitting room area was origi-
nally a screened in back porch and the liv-
ing room, dining room and kitchen were
separate rooms with kitchen and dining
room connected by a butler's pantry. The
master bedroom upstairs was originally a
sleeping porch. They did away with one
bedroom to give a walk-in closet for the
master bedroom and a utility closet as well

as a pleasant sitting room area upstairs.
Owning an old home has given the Rey-
nolds new interests as well as a host of new
friends.
719 N. Bishop
It was built in 1917 by Theron E. Hudson
who owned and operated Hudson's Camera
Shop at 1602 Main for photographers' sup-
plies. In 1918 it was bought by Louis H. Lie-
fert who, with his brother, operated Liefert's
Grocery at 505 N. Bishop in the shopping
area just two blocks south. By 1927 it had
become an antique shop, owned and oper-
ated by J. P. Brister.
In 1943 it was purchased by Mr. and Mrs.
Douglas J. Mitchell, who rented rooms first
to young ladies, then later to men because
of the housing shortage for defense workers.
Seven rooms were added, a few at a time, at
the back of the lot. Besides boarding their
tenants, the Mitchells also served Sunday
dinner to the public. The present owners
found a metal sign which read: "Meals-
25 ".
The present owners are Mrs. Dorothy
Conlon and Mrs. Sammy Frazier who wanted
to get involved with restoration in Oak Cliff
but never dreamed they would find them-
selves the owners of a house.

ORDER FORM FOR TOUR TICKETS
Tickets are available at all Sears stores as well as participating neighborhood associa-
tions. Advanced discount tickets can be obtained from the HPL offices by returning
this form.
Please send me              tickets at $4.00 each. I am enlcosing $_.
Please charge my Master Charge/Visa account #
Signature
Name (Please Print)
Address
City                             StateZip
Return to HPL, P.O. Box 50633, Dallas, TX 75250

4

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