Let’s talk about Hill Haven Heights, OK? I love this area. It is a fabulous neighborhood bordered by North Central Expressway, Hillcrest, Forest, and Royal, so it’s extremely accessible. It’s also full of great single-family homes and a few great condo communities. It’s not far from the Park Cities, Preston Hollow, or the scads of shopping options lining Highway 75.

And it’s not out of reach, price-wise, either. In fact, you should check out this amazing traditional at 7707 Northaven Road marketed by Clay Stapp agent Richard Baker. It’s on the market for a recently reduced $529,000. Considering the upgrades on this home, that’s fantastic!

With more than 3,100 square feet, four bedrooms, three and a half baths, and a two-car garage, this home is plenty big for a family. And considering the neighborhood, this is a great house for someone relocating to Dallas. Sometimes it’s hard to find a home like this, that’s move-in ready, plenty of room to move around, and has a family-friendly backyard, pool included. If you’re headed to Dallas for a job transfer, this is the home to buy.

You’ve got granite and travertine, hand-scraped hardwood floors, upgraded kitchen with stainless steel appliances including a wine fridge and custom cabinetry, and two full living areas with an open floor plan. Behind all of that you’ll find practical upgrades such as a radiant barrier insulating the roof, tankless hot water heaters, and a new roof. The large backyard is nothing to sniff at, either.

The master suite is spacious and features an upgraded bath, including a ceiling fan. This is an often-overlooked feature that really helps during the summer. In the bedroom area you’ll notice French doors that look to the pool and deck area — another great feature that makes this room a wonderful retreat.

And if you’re relocating to Dallas, you’ll probably be overwhelmed by your first summer. All the more reason to consider this home, which has a great pool for cooling off when the heat reaches triple digits.

What do you think of this house?

Holley is a 2000 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who completed four military deployments and now works in commercial real estate.  He is with the Dallas office of Jones Lang LaSalle.

Bruce is also a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, was deployed multiple times, and lives in Dallas. He founded a private risk-management firm, Trident Response Group LLC, and a speaker’s bureau called Thirty&3.

The young men were honored for founding Carry the Load, a charitable organization that raises money for and honors people who have served their country: veterans, active-duty military personnel, first responders and their families. Carry the Load sponsored a 20-hour march in Dallas last Memorial Day weekend. Some participants carry heavy packs as they march. The agency has raised more than $1.5 million this year and helped support Heroes on the Water, Friends of Dallas Fire-Rescue, Assist the Officer Foundation, Tip of the Spear Foundation and Sons of the Flag Burn Foundation.

As winners, Bruce and Holley will receive an $8,000 contribution to their organization from  The Dallas Foundation, in partnership with The Dallas Morning News.

The duo were one of five finalists for the Good Works Under 40 Award selected and honored by The Dallas Foundation. The finalists were  Brittany K. Byrd, a Dallas attorney who founded Girls Embracing Mothers, an organization that helps girls aged 7 to 17 visit their mothers in prison; Paige Chenault, founder of The Birthday Party Project, an organization that provide birthday parties to homeless and disadvantaged children; Cassie Evans, a Dallas attorney and the youngest board member of the SPCA of Texas, who has raised more than $225,000 for spay and neuter clinics and spends every day of her life as an advocate for animal kindness; and Dr. J Mack Slaughter Jr., who volunteers with Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children ans created a nonprofit that supplies soothing music to comfort seriously ill patients, Music in Medicine, or MiM.

In a sense, each finalist was also a winner: they received a $2,500 contribution to the nonprofit he or she supports.

Full disclosure: I am the very proud mother of Cassie Evans. And I am so impressed with the sincere efforts of these young people, being at the event and meeting them was a true inspiration, especially on Veteran’s Day!

Love Field is surrounded by some of the best and priciest neighborhoods in Dallas. Flanked by Mockingbird Lane, Lemmon Avenue, and Denton Drive, this airport has always gotten the stink-eye from neighboring property owners who feel entitled to some peace and quiet.

There’s Bluffview, Perry Heights, Greenway Parks, and Oak Lawn and Uptown to the south. But with the Wright Amendment set to be fully repealed in less than a year, well, it could get a lot noisier. If homeowners felt air traffic was tough to bear before, could the increased fly-bys from Love Field departures and arrivals affect property values?

Maybe not, says Allie Beth Allman VP Tim Schutze.

“I am not seeing any negative changes in buyers comments and have not seen any change in values,” Schutze said via email. “I believe more people have become — and are becoming — more tuned to the urban setting and all that comes with that, such as traffic noise, congestion, etc.”

I think it’s an interesting perspective, and one we often overlook, that the urban environment often isn’t quiet, and can be quite noisy. As Dallas increases in urban density, of course you’re going to get more noise. More neighbors = more activity, which in turn = more noise. That’s not a bad thing, though, because with increased density you get more amenities and a more walk-able neighborhood.

Schutze echoes that philosophy, saying that homebuyers who are looking to move inside Insterstate 635 “feel that the benefits of a close-in location far outweighs any perceived issues with air traffic and vehicle noise.”

What do you think?

Do you know Meals on Wheels?  Each weekday, more than 4,000 hot lunches are cooked and delivered to homebound seniors and disabled persons throughout Dallas County.  Volunteers do the delivering.  It is a great volunteer opportunity for Realtors, especially, since they are chained to a car. Meals on Wheels is a project of the Visiting Nurses Association, and Peggy Millheiser happens to be on the board  of VNA/Meals on Wheels. The VNA started the very first hospice program in Dallas, and continues the work today.  They also offer private care and companionship.

Meals on Wheels is raising funds by selling Thanksgiving Day pies, really yummy ones. If you have not had the pleasure of volunteering to drive Meals on Wheels, I have and it is SO rewarding! One year my son came with me when he was home from college. I recall one time we met a man who was heating his home with the burners on his stove, and we notified the office who sent out help stat.

This year, VNA Meals on Wheels organized Power of Pie. Many high profile local bakers– The Joule Hotel, Four Seasons, Anatole, Spoon, and Empire Baking Company are a just a few—have agreed to donate pumpkin and pecan pies. You can buy one for just $25, which is the cost to feed one senior for a week.

The pies will be available the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day (November 27), and you can pick them up at distribution centers all over the area. Here are the pickup locations. Saint Michaels on Douglas is one location.

Click here to order your pies and choose your Power of Pie pickup location.

What’s Thanksgiving without pumpkin AND pecan pie. And here is a great way to serve a delicious, home made dessert, while feeding others who are home-bound and quite possibly all alone for the holiday.

THE DEADLINE TO ORDER IS THIS SUNDAY, AND YOU CAN DO IT ALL ONLINE.

I’m going to order a couple, and then my husband can take them to Labor and Delivery and feed all the new dads the day after Thanksgiving!

Thanks, Peggy, for doing this and helping so many people in Dallas.

It seems as if people are coming out of the woodwork to offer their experiences and opinions on Dallas and how it relates to the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination. What will prove frustrating to many Dallasites are the blatant generalizations made by these one-off columnists who’ve had only a glimpse of the city they are hot on critiquing.

Take, for instance, James Reston Jr.’s piece in Slate that serves as a journal of his tour through the city, following the footsteps of  alleged JFK shooter Lee Harvey Oswald after the he fled the Texas School Book Depository in downtown’s West End and hopped a bus for Oak Cliff.

While Reston, an acclaimed journalist and author, offers no criticism of downtown, Jefferson Boulevard’s Texas Theatre, or the corner of 10th Street and Patton where Officer J.D. Tippit was gunned down by Oswald, he chooses to single out Lake Cliff, specifically the boarding house where Oswald lived at the time of the assassination.

Reston was recalling how he made his way through the city with retired Dallas Times-Herald journalist Darwin Payne, Sixth Floor Museum historian Sam Childers, and Dallas native and SMU historian Michael Hazel, and had this to say about 1026 N. Beckley Ave.:

The current owner, the granddaughter of the 1963 owner, is trying to sell the place, a low-slung ramshackle of a house in what is still a fairly rough neighborhood. Darwin and Sam thought the place might fetch about $200,000, but the owner is asking $400,000. She suggests that the house should become a public museum where you could see the closet of a room where Oswald slept or the downstairs dining room where he ate his meals. So far, no one is biting.

Now, the issue isn’t that Reston says that the home is “ramshackle” (even though it isn’t), or that he implicates that she might be asking too much for the property, but instead, the issue is that Reston categorizes the neighborhood surrounding this home as “fairly rough” without having actually perused the neighborhood. I think the residents of Lake Cliff, which has some gorgeous craftsman homes and surrounds the beautiful and placid Lake Cliff Park, wouldn’t agree with Reston.

What do you think? Should Dallas be poised for more criticism from outsiders as the anniversary draws near?

I was a wee child in 1963, but I do recall a cool house my parents’ friends built somewhere outside of Chicago: Roy and Evelyn Scacia. Evelyn was one of my mother’s most sophisticated friends and she wore these flowing, Loretta-Young type dresses when she entertained. Their home had two sets of triple sliding glass doors, a double door entry that made my mother drool, an avocado formica kitchen (the built in oven was the talk of the day) and a sunken living room.

Of course, being young I first thought that a “sunken” living room was underwater or something, but later I would learn that it was designed to be two or three steps down from the main house to “define” the room and create an elegant gathering space for cocktail parties.

Thus 1963 was a huge year for step-down or step-up rooms in homes. Lawyers had not yet figured out the bucket-loads of money they could make for suing people who tripped in these rooms after too many martinis.

5333 Walnut Hill Lane has one of these step attributes, but this being Dallas the step-down comes after a dramatic entrance right off the double-doored foyer. This dramatic room has another element that was just coming to vogue: the skylight. The idea was to walk in and just be wowed. At 5333 Walnut Hill Lane, you are “wowed” by this columned, octagonal-shaped structure with a skylight that steps you down into the cocktail-party social scene. I can just see the men lighting cigarettes for the ladies.

So very like Jack and Jackie.

When it was built in 1957, 3525 Turtle Creek was the tallest and most luxurious condo building in Dallas. Today it’s just as historic, having entertained celebrities, dignitaries, and politicians alike.

Well, if you’re wanting to live the Midcentury Modern lifestyle — glam, sleek interiors with some atomic-age touches — then this unit is for you. LocalDwelling.com is offering Unit 10C — a fully-furnished one-bedroom, one-bath unit with almost 1,200 square feet — for $2,500 a month, all bills paid. It’s a steal for such a cool unit, and I love the retro kitchen with the double ovens that look to be original. Good design lasts a lifetime, right?

This is a fantastic unit that is perfect for a corporate relocation or someone who is just moving to the area. The views are outstanding and the location is fantastic, as you’re right on the Katy Trail and next to Turtle Creek Park. This is truly a historic building sitting in the middle of an area that is changing so quickly. I’m sure it will be around for many more years, too.

Is this the unit for you? Contact the Dallas-Fort Worth property management experts at LocalDwelling.com.

Amazing to think that now, 50 years later, we all have video cameras right in our hands with our smart phones: look at the videos that resurface moments after tragedies such as the Boston Marathon Bombing.

Despite the hundreds of media in Dallas that day for President Kennedy’s visit, it was Zapruder, a clothing manufacturer (I actually remember his label “Jennifer Juniors”) who was standing on a block of cement and steadily filming away, steady hand even during the most horrific scene, the famous frame 313. That frame was left out of the publication of the photos out of respect for the President and his family. I don’t recall ever seeing it until the last few weeks.

You must read this report in TIME MAGAZINE , The JFK Image So Awful I Had to Cover My Screen: Two Weeks With the Zapruder Film. And look at frame 313. It will give you the same chills that we got when we saw people jumping out of the World Trade Center on 9/11.

The note above says 3009 Marquette, and that address doesn’t exist today. According to the deposition Zapruder gave to the Warren Commission, he lived at 3909 Marquette.

This was the house (pictured above) that was at 3909 Marquette in 2012. Built in 1947, it had 3154 square feet, two bedrooms and two baths. It sold in May of last year for about $1.1. The lot was purchased by Paul Ching, whose son, Marc, is a real estate agent and developer at Allie Beth Allman.

I called Marc and he confirmed this was the Zapruder home. They tore the home down because in 2012 it was not in great shape, obviously, but in the process Marc’s parents found some JFK memorabilia.

Dallas past, and present.

A HUGE toast to Lindy Decker, mother of my fabulous son-in-law for the tip. At CD, we don’t tip hats, we tip flutes!

In 1963, Dallas was still a small city. But by 1981, Dallas was a high-flying business center, having matured during the ’70s. In 1971, the marketing term “Metroplex” was coined, perhaps to pull attention away from the sting of Kennedy’s death on the Dallas name. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the landmark abortion decision of Roe v. Wade, which began as a case in 1970 in District Attorney Henry S. Wade’s courtroom. In 1974, DFW International Airport opened for commercial airline flights and the small airport where Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in as president after Kennedy’s death was relegated to, essentially, an intra-state airport. By 1978, our new I.M. Pei-designed city hall snagged world headlines. The real estate market heated to a boil.  In 1984, all eyes were on Dallas for the Republican National Convention . Trammel Crow built an addition to his trademark hotel, then called the Anatole, that rumor claims was paid for by the time the convention ended.

In 1980, Rogers commissioned Frank L. Meier to design a sprawling home for himself and his bride on 1.80 acres between Preston Trails and Bent Tree golf course. It provides spectacular views of the Signature 14th hole.  The home was commercially constructed, built like– pardon my expression — a “brick outhouse” by Tomlinson Construction Corp. with pure commercial grade construction. The total cost of the project back in ’81 was $3.85 million because Rogers spared no expense for his bride, and it was loaded with long retaining walls, 23 wood columns, pier & beam construction with more than 100 piers, tile roof, wall sheets of plate glass windows with panoramic views of the signature 14th Hole: 8940 square feet of Meier magic. There is a game room, mud room, library and solarium. Four bedrooms, four full and two half baths and glorious formals plus grounds, a pool, pond with boat dock, and emerald green everywhere.

Legend has it that Mary Kay financed the construction project through Murray Savings and Loan, talk about a blast from the past, then deeded it over to Rogers. She apparently put up two Lear Jets as collateral!

The home only had four bedrooms, but they were huge suites, multiple garages, a 20,000 bottle wine cellar, and a 21-seat home theater. Triomphe was known for its grandiosity– the master bedroom alone was 3,000-square-feet, there was a natatorium, seven garages, and umpteen closets. Triomphe was also a well-considered piece of architecture, with the fingerprints of Robbie Fusch (1st go) and five Fusch-Serold & Partners architects to Carol and Will Snyder (2nd go) . Had it not been destroyed, Chateau du Triomphe would have been one of Dallas most talked about homes, gracing the pages of this blog daily. In August of 1997, George and Dominique sold their unfinished dream to Lau. They reportedly had $28 million invested in the home and property and had even purchased/ordered all of the furniture. They listed the property at $14 million. At the time I was told John offered about $8.5 million cash, and it was a done deal. The Perrins, rumor has it, walked away from almost $20 million. Triomphe was listed in 2001 at $44.9 million.

This is really all too much to take in. If you are a visitor to Dallas know this: real estate in this town is positively incestuous! All you have to remember to do is go down to the good folks at Inwood Mortgage and ask for $1,795,000 to cover this amazing historical Dallas purchase. Better yet, fly down there in one of your Lears, and put it down as collateral.

And, in time for the holidays, it has take a bit of a price chopper chop to nudge it along to its next owner. The home had come on the market at $4,990,000, which I still think was pretty darn fair for the vast amount of land and superbly updated amenities.

Now 10 Nonesuch is listed for $4, 490,000. That’s for 9558 square feet, and one of Dallas’ first examples of modern architecture. If the walls could talk: this estate was host to many of the world’s rich and famous from President Lyndon Johnson to Grace Kelly and Liz Taylor. The home sits on a secluded three acres plus 1 acre of surrounding creek, and includes main house, guesthouse, pool & lush grounds.

I wonder if the walls know the truth about the Kennedy assassination?

We have written about it before, and we hope to write about it again, soon, when we tell you who the new owner is.

Will MLS help this magnificent property get sold? What do you think of the price reduction? Come on folks, this is one of the most significant homes in Dallas… in North Texas. Should it be staged next? How so? We vote for Blu Sky Living. Who do you vote for? Inquiring real estate minds want to know…

P.S.  We may re-post the original for your Thanksgiving viewing pleasure!

I spotted several top Dallas agents in the crowds and on the dance floor: Eve Sullivan from Allie Beth Allman and her hubby, Travis, plus Gene Taylor from Briggs Freeman Sothebys. I did not see her, but sure Doris Jacobs (ABA) was there somewhere and of course, OF COURSE, Kari Schlegel Kloewer (ABA) and her hubby, Troy, plus her parents. I caught all of these agents kicking it up on the dance floor.

Who all was there? Earlier in the day I had been told that a lot of people who thought they were going out of town to the ranch or second home were forced to stay in Dallas because of the ice, so they got dressed and headed to the Anatole. According to Diana Oates at CultureMap, it was an impressive crowd:

“Caren Kline, chairman of this year’s fantastic fete, glowed in a grand Marchesa gown as she welcomed faithful friends — including Kay Bailey Hutchison, Lucy Billingsley, Lynn and Allan McBee, Karen and William Seanor,Mary Gill, Brooke Shelby, Barbara and Don Daseke, Mary Clare Finney, Niven Morgan, Nancy Carlson, Marlene and John Sughrue, and Myrna and Bob Schlegel”

It didn’t take long for everyone to dance shortly after dinner was served. The James Davis orchestra was in full force as the singers belted it out — I think they started with ‘New York, New York.” Dessert magically appeared while we danced — tiny chocolate cakes and an edible Empire State Building — and the gleaming white dance floor got fuller with every song. Adelle and Richard Toussaint were shaking it, as were Claire and Dwight Emanuelson, Skye and Bill Brewer, Gene and Jerry Jones, Carrie and Craig Levering, among others.

Not only is CCB the epitome of the Dallas social scene — tickets run about $5000 a couple — it is the most generous: beneficiaries will receive nearly $5 million all given to children’s charities in Dallas.

The party was still going strong well past midnight, ball-goers wound down from the dancy frenzy, scooping candy from Dylan’s Candy Bar and perking up with coffee. As we collected our coats and walked out to the extremely efficient and warm valet area, we grabbed bags of bagels and cream cheese from Cindy’s Deli for the morning. Of course, a lot of folks told me they had just checked into the Anatole either because they feared the driving or had no heat at home. So they just strolled back to their rooms, didn’t even have to catch a Taxi. Or Uber it.

I’m sure the CCB committee never imagined that the entire city would transform into a giant ice sculpture just to go along with the theme of the ball, but in a way, Ice-Mageddon did make it feel like an even-more Magnificent night in Manhattan. What a fantastic night to escape the house if you didn’t have heat chez you, and turn a cold weather negative into a warm and fuzzy positive for hundreds of children!

Alabama Power? Does this mean Oncor had to call in for support? Parts of our ‘hood just got power — or “went hot” as the Oncor dudes put it —  last night. When I asked them why the selective service, they pointed to a bunch of trees weighing down some lines.

Kind of like this tree weighed in on this truck.

Also, I was at an open-house yesterday at a home with a metal roof. Looks to me like the ice was melting down in sheaths! I have so many questions for our CandysDirt Approved Builders I will keep them busy all month long… a sampling:

1. How much ice can a typical Dallas roof hold? That stuff is heavy.

2. I know this happens once a year, but maybe we do need heated front sidewalks, especially for elderly residents? My front walkway still looks like a slip and slide.

3. Can gutters withstand the weight of the ice?

4. What’s a better roof for ice, metal seamed or composition?

5.  What’s the best insulation for days like this?

What happens when someone who has tons of design background decides to get their real estate license? Ask Sam Saladino, a David Griffin & Co. Realtor who very literally had a now-or-never moment and has never looked back.

Saladino, who has a BA in Art History from Loyola and has an interior design business, is living his dream, selling amazing properties for friends, friends of friends, and enjoying every minute of it. He’s a full-service Realtor, that’s for sure, staging properties with a keen eye for what buyers want.

Find out more about this amazing Kessler Park resident after the jump!

CandysDirt.com: Where are you from?
Sam Saladino: Tampa, Florida

CD: How did you get into real estate?
Saladino: I had a significant birthday in 2012 and thought,”It’s now or never!”

CD: With a background in design, how does that frame your perspective on selling homes? Do you help clients stage their homes to sell?
Saladino: I did a lot of staging for various high-profile Realtors before obtaining my license. It gave me a great entrée into how important it is for a Realtor to advise the client and manage each property’s unique requirements. We live in a city that is design oriented and no matter what the price point, it’s important for the property to look well kept and edited.

CD: Where is home for you in Dallas?
Saladino: Kessler Park

CD: And you drive a … let me guess, Mercedes Benz?
Saladino: Ha! I can dream can’t I!? I have a 2014 Kia Forte. A family friend owns the dealership and insisted I test drive one. It was love at first sight.

CD: What’s your favorite ‘hood in Dallas and why?
Saladino: I’m lucky to have lived in Dallas long enough to have established friendships all over town. My partner and I have been welcomed into so many wonderful homes which has given me insight and interest into too many neighborhoods to call one a favorite. But I do love being a bicycle ride away from Bolsa!

CD: What was your best sale?
Saladino: A wonderful 1930 stucco bungalow in Lakewood which I sold for one of my oldest Dallas friends.

CD: Likewise, what was your most challenging or memorable transaction?
Saladino: I have to say my first sale in November 2012. I represented a friends mother who had sold her big home a few years before and had not found the right fit. She is chic, smart and exacting. Her son is an interior designer. I was in heaven. We placed her in one of my favorite vintage high rises on Turtle Creek. It has since been renovated and I’m ready to be invited to her first cocktail party!

CD: How quickly have you ever turned a house?
Saladino: Seven days.

CD: How much did you sell last year?
Saladino: $2 million. That’s in under a year in my first full year in the business.

CD: What words of wisdom do you often share with clients?
Saladino: I have been so fortunate to have had personal relationships with all but one of my clients so far. I want them to know that I am honest, trustworthy and will do everything it takes to get the deal done. If they are buyers I encourage them to look at as many properties within their price range as they can stand. “Knowledge is power,” to quote a line from one of my favorite stylish films, Auntie Mame! If they are selling, let’s polish your jewel box and get it sold!

CD: If you ever change careers for an encore you’ll…
Saladino: Become an art consultant.

CD: Do you have a second home? If so, where?
Saladino: Cedar Creek Lake. My partner purchased a 70s ranch 3 years ago. We spent almost a year renovating. Think Doris Day and Rock Hudson in Carmel. Lots of books, brass and bravado!

Sign-up is so easy. Just go to CompStak.com and click Join.  Use “LONESTAR” as a promo code, which will get new users about 10 free comps. Add more “currency” of your own, and you are on your way to making the Dallas Commercial Real Estate world way more transparent. As it should be!

Read more on Dallas Commercial Agents Get a Trial CompStak Account on CandysDirt.com……

Recall when I told you about a brand new company promoting significant improvement in living conditions in the poorest parts of the world? The company, like the brains behind it, was conceived in Dallas, carried out in California, and launched as one of the most socially responsible give-back programs ever available for Realtors.

It’s called Giveback Homes. And the first local broker to sign on was our own Rogers Healy.

Giveback Homes is the dream of Blake Andrews, son of Lana and Barry, high school sweethearts from Corpus Christi who, at the ripe ages of 28, bought a Miller beer distributorship in Corpus Christi. They started with one supplier, two brands of beer, seven employees and a 12,000-square-foot warehouse. The company sold 350,000 cases of beer that first year, and Andrews Distributing was launched. Andrews is now partnered with 31 suppliers, more than 200 brands, has 9 warehouses and employs more than 1,100. Lana and Barry also have Natalie, who is married to Mike McGuire. The Andrews are are one of the closest knit, most loving and generous families in town.

A few years ago, Blake, who now lives in Manhattan Beach, ventured out to work for TOMS Shoes where he was Special Projects Manager. He worked with another Blake, Blake Mycoskie, as in the Founder and Chief Shoe Giver of TOMS.  The two actually met while playing tennis as kids right here in Dallas, then got together 19 years later on a fishing trip to Costa Rica. They were on the same boat, and instantly recognized each other’s twin names. Blake M. was the brains behind One for One, a simple giving idea which has turned into a global movement. TOMS has given over 12 million pairs of new shoes to children in need since it began the program in 2006, in more than 60 countries. Recently the company also expanded its business model to include TOMS Eyewear, now helping to save and restore sight for those in need.

TOMS One for One happened unintentionally. While traveling in Argentina in 2006, Blake M witnessed the hardships faced by children growing up without shoes. His solution to the problem was simple, yet revolutionary: create a for-profit business that was sustainable and not reliant on donations. Blake M’s vision soon turned into the simple business idea that provided the powerful foundation for TOMS.

It was a similar dawning for Blake A. On his first mission trip to Nicaragua in 2011, Blake was more than moved by how the people of Nicaragua lived and where they lived — in homes you could not even call shacks. Back home in Dallas, his friends were buying homes with Viking ranges while to these folks, even a rusted-out stove was a dream. Most were living under scraps of wood and metal, or tarps. Blake was transformed. In his work for TOMS, he got these people shoes for the feet.

Now, he is working to get roofs over their heads.

The good folks at Realtor.com must have seen our post, because today there is a wonderful Q and A on Giveback Homes with Blake, written by the famous Audie Chamberlain himself, that has gone viral, and explains the company is really a marketing service for Realtors that costs a mere $50 a month:

There’s a small fee of $50 a month to be a member of Giveback Homes. This fee covers public relations efforts for our members — where we pitch their story to their local media — access to our in-house design team for help with ads, listing pages, business cards, social media support, the rights to our logo, a profile on the Giveback Homes website, and the support from our team to brand yourself as a member of Giveback Homes. We’ve also been able to donate to over 10 charities this year, including relief for the Philippines after the typhoon. So the membership fee goes a long way.

For more info on GiveBack homes and how you can help put a solid roof over a needy family’s head for just $50 a month, click here. After all, it’s the holidays and I cannot think of a better present than the gift of love — make a contribution in a client or loved one’s name to GiveBack Homes!

It’s definitely an improvement over last year’s ranking of 14th, with Dallas coming in 7th in this year’s Best-Performing Cities poll from the Milken Institute. The Dallas-Plano-Irving MSA beat Houston-Sugarland-Baytown (8th) but came in behind top-ranking Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos.

The poll tries to objectively measure job creation and retention, as well as the economic vitality of the nation’s metropolitan statistical areas. Thanks to Austin’s booming technology sector and growth in high-paying jobs, put the Texas capital city ahead. Here’s what the authors attribute to Austin’s lead:

This year’s Best-Performing City, Austin, is a case study in concocting the proper recipe for economic vitality.  A rising technology center, it is creating high-quality jobs that improve the region’s overall wage structure.  Economic development officials rightly tout its business-friendly, low-tax, low-regulation climate when recruiting outside the state, particularly when soliciting California firms. They also herald the business startups of local  entrepreneurs, the spinouts from the University of Texas, Austin, and the number and quality of UT graduates.

Austin’s technology base is fairly diversified: hardware, chips and communication gear, computer system design, Internet-related services, and biomedical research. The metro has its share of homegrown tech companies — Dell, Freescale Semiconductor, Flextronics International, and National Instruments among them — and has been successful at attracting technology icons from elsewhere as well. The financial services sector is also adding jobs.

What we noticed in the report that many Dallas homebuyers are noticing now, too, is the higher cost of living within the Dallas city limits, especially in middle-class neighborhoods. The Milken report cautions that this could push companies and wage-earners to move outside the area, a trend that Austin is seeing right now with families finding housing within the city of Austin to be overpriced. Still, wage growth helps buffer high housing costs, an area in which Dallas trails.

How do you think Dallas can become an even better-performing city?

“I am so excited about Dallas,” Salem told me. “I visited a couple years ago and stayed at the Westin and enjoyed it thoroughly!”

“We know Neimans is a killer with customer service,” says Salem, “but we are, too plus we have strong family and core values, a modern southern style with great service and great merchandise.”

He insists that the first time I walk into Belk, I will be made to feel welcome and at home and I will walk out with a Belk bag of purchases.

(I hope I don’t walk out with a sensor tag: Had lunch with Kim Clow, Cindy Beatty and Kim’s daughter Kathryn Roan at Al Biernet’s Tuesday — the sensor tag was on my new Burberry jacket from Nordstroms! Yes, I paid for it! Talk about customer service, the sweet sales gal is coming to my house to remove it!”)

As long as I had a millennial in my hot hands, I asked Salem about aesthetic amenities: he prefers lofts or flats, wood floors, polished concrete or travertine, stainless appliances and tons of windows.

“A Viking stove would be nice, but maybe not in a rental,” he joked. Oh my, he’s a son of the South!

Salem does not mind walking up stairs at all, and Concierge services are not necessary but tempting, he said.

Yes, very: wait until your first Dallas Ice Storm!

CultureMaps’ Shelby Hodge has the whole story, but we want to make note of two prominent Dallas agents at this the best shindig of the year: our beloved Sam Saladino of David Griffin was there with his partner, Ken Downing, as was Faisal Halum from Allie Beth Allman. Read Shelby’s fun report to see who all the Dallas bridesmaid were… this sounds like one of the best weddings ever. Also in attendance: Kenneth Maxwell and his partner, Jim Williamson, aka The Style Bastard, of the fabulous ID Collection.

I was searching high and low for a home that typifies the state of Dallas real estate in 2014, where it is, where it is going. Dallas is growing like gangbusters — our real estate market is one of the strongest in the nation. Only Austin’s, Houston’s may be stronger. Luxury homebuyers are moving closer in to urban homesteads, but still loving the land and acreages only Dallas can provide within city limits. And it is clear, very clear, that the modernist touch is here to stay.

So when I saw that Susan Marcus had listed Nancy Dedman’s modern masterpiece –well, one of them — at 10300 Strait Lane, designed by Dallas modernist architect Bud Oglesby, I said, this is it.

Listed shortly before the holidays in October, this inclusive and exclusive estate is on 3.5 verdant acres with beautifully proportioned rooms taking in the full views of the grounds, including a private pond. It’s on the creekside. And it was designed by one of the city’s pre-eminent architects.

“Bud was a genius at siting,” says Susan, who was a personal friend. She is absolutely correct.

Enslie “Bud” Oglesby was also master of light, which we need in these parts. Born in Phoenix, he was raised in San Angelo, graduated Cornell and received his masters in architecture from M.I.T. His firm, Oglesby Group Architects, was one of the most significant architectural firms in Dallas for years, and he influenced a tremendous number of current architects, including modernist Ron Wommack. Oglesby also studied and lived in Sweden.

Oglesby recognized that people in Dallas “travel a lot, and there are so many choices of materials that it prevents a definitive look.” His homes sport a relaxed contemporary elegance, always exploring light but also accommodating the practicalities that a home must be functional to accomodate a family’s lifestyle.

In a sense, he was ahead of his time. We do travel a lot, in and out and to our second and third homes. And is there a definitive look to a Dallas home?

If anything is definitive, I suggest that Oglesby’s homes may be the ultimate Dallas home.

Consider his other works — Oglesby designed Nancy Lemmon’s highly distilled one-bedroom Highland Park home with incredible lightness, soaring ceilings, and precisely placed windows — but no skylights! This was her downsizing cottage, built after living in a 10,000 14,000 square foot home Oglesby also designed for Nancy (and her ex-Mark) at 5411 Surrey Circle. That home was sold to the Kusin family, someone else is enjoying it now. Ironically, Susan Marcus also sold Surrey Circle to the Kusins, then helped Nancy purchase the site of her downsized home on Arcady. Nancy had asked Oglesby to design her a home half the size of her beloved Surry Circle, to replicate it if possible, but smaller. The architect gave her exactly what she wanted.

Like I said, it’s house size now, not skirts.

10300 Strait Lane has wide galleries for art display connecting three main wings, all surrounding a central courtyard. The sitting room off the master has a fireplace and views the pond. There are four additional bedrooms each with en suite baths. The kitchen is in the rear with butlers pantry, laundry room, den, another fireplace and wet bar. The estate also has a pool, tennis court, 3 car garage, 2 room quarters. The home has had only two owners, Margaret Jonnson Rogers, Erik Jonnson’s daughter, who commissioned Oglesby. The home was built in 1971. Asking price is $7,490,000. The lot is probably the most desirable on Strait, sitting in the middle of the street, selected back when the area was virgin, home-less land.

Oglesby’s designs demonstrate his concern with the treatment of the intense light in Texas. He once said, “How you deal with light is extremely important. How you let it enter a building, how you treat it on outside surfaces–through trellises, shutters, courtyards and recessed windows–is crucial.”

Very important issue in 2014.

Thus 10300 Strait is not merely the home not of the week, but of the year going forward in 2014. It was designed and built by one of the city’s most influential, historical architects, owned by one of the city’s most philanthropic families, sited on acreage that was once considered the country but now very much within the city. It manages to be a mansion elegantly, tastefully, without gobbling up the land with unnecessary square footage. It goes easy on the land, respects it. We will be doing more of this in 2014.

And the home has history. Nancy Dedman entertained lavishly here, and you can feel the fun in it’s bones. Staging is being completed by Blu Sky Living, stay very tuned for more interior photos…

Note: This post has been updated with the address of the home on Surrey Circle. 

Nearly 13 years ago, Bill Petrey moved to Dallas with his wife to hunt for investment properties.

After earning his real estate license, Petrey’s experiences as a Realtor in the Dallas market inspired him to create his own real estate consulting company, Agent Harvest — a performance-based real estate agent rating service that matches clients with top-ranking real estate agents — based right in the heart of Dallas.

Just for kicks, Petrey also developed the Really Rotten Realty blog, which is a whistle-blowing website of sorts that brings awareness to real-life agents across the country engaging in not-so-ethical practices, such as Million Dollar Listing New York’s Luis Ortiz using Photoshop to glam up his virtual listings.

Learn more about Bill Petrey and what ignited his passion for helping home buyers and sellers with his exclusive Candy’s Dirt Q&A:

CandysDirt.com: Where are you from?

Bill Petrey: Born on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, raised in Jonesboro, Arkansas, went to college in Memphis, Tennessee and stayed there until I met my wife. We moved to Dallas in 2001.

CD: How did you get into real estate?

Petrey: My family always had rental properties so I grew up around real estate. When I moved to Dallas, while looking for investment properties, I decided to become a licensed real estate agent to get access to MLS. The longer I worked in the real estate industry, the more I liked it and wanted to make it more of a career than a passive investment.

CD: You specialize in lead-generation and marketing. Tell us: What are some unique challenges that realtors face in this market?

Petrey: Realtors face several challenges; the biggest is proving their worth to the client. Realtors give away most of their value for free and only at the end do we charge for our services.  Clients don’t value the free stuff we do, and can’t understand why we charge so much for the rest.  It’s an obstacle that we need to overcome in order to prove our value to the client.

Another challenge is separating us from the Realtor masses. It’s hard to show why you’re better than the next agent, when most of the accreditations and titles an agent can earn to show why you’re better don’t even require an agent to sell a single property.  The industry needs merit-based designations to give the public an easy way to distinguish agents that sell from agents that can’t sell.

CD: Where is home for you in Dallas?

Petrey: North Dallas. It’s a great area near everything. All major highways are easily accessible from North Dallas.

CD: And you drive a … let me guess, Mercedes Benz?

Petrey: When it comes to driving clients and hauling real estate signs, nothing beats my Range Rover.  When showing a lot with a lake view, I love plowing through the brush right up to the lake.  And when showing farm and ranch properties, nothing’s more home on the range than a Range Rover.

CD: What’s your favorite ‘hood in Dallas and why?

Petrey: Bishop Arts and McKinney Avenue – lots of fun things to do and those areas are growing.

CD: What was your best/highest sale?

Petrey: My best sale is any sale that results in a referral, repeat business, or helping a client with an impossible situation that is stressing them out.

CD: Likewise, what was your most challenging or memorable transaction?

Petrey: Helping an out-of-town investor client avoid a foreclosure and helping them narrowly avoid a financial disaster.

CD: How quickly have you ever turned a house?

Petrey: I’ve had two houses sell in one day. The St. Joseph statue worked overtime on those transactions.

CD: How much did you sell last year?

Petrey: Since I work with referrals I don’t know if this number will be applicable, but I distributed leads last year that resulted in over $11.3M.

CD: What words of wisdom do you often share with clients?

Petrey: Never buy more than you can afford, and when showing a home, every detail, no matter how small, contributes to its appeal and price.

CD: If you ever change careers for an encore you’ll…

Petrey: Work in the IT industry.

CD: Do you have a second home? If so, where?

Petrey: No, there’s no place like my first home. However, my wife often works the topic of “lake house” into various conversations, so a second home may be forthcoming.