TOURING THE NEIGHBORHOOD

GLIMPSE INSIDE SOME OF EAST DALLAS’ MOST UNIQUE PROPERTIES WITH THREE HOME TOURS THIS MONTH

We all do it. Walking or driving the neighborhood, with its plethora of unique architectural styles, your mind starts to imagine what might be inside. Exposed beams? Original flooring? Those of us who can’t get enough HGTV can’t help but wonder.

If you have always wanted to see inside some of East Dallas’ more iconic homes, this is your lucky month. Three home tours — Lakewood, Junius Heights and Vickery Place — provide a peek inside a wide swath of home styles, from new construction to classic craftsman. This is the month to let your nosy-neighbor flag fly.

Not only do the home tours support nonprofits ranging from local schools to homeless pets, they also bring the community together. Organizers agree that the events double as an opportunity to get to know neighbors, in addition to learning about East Dallas’ architectural history.

Vickery Place

Saturday, Nov. 5, noon-4 p.m.

It was 1911 when the first 500 plots sprouted up, creating Vickery Place. Neighbors love that it’s within walking distance of hotspots like Knox-Henderson and Lower Greenville but still offers a tightknit neighborhood feel.

“There’s a real sense of community here,” says Debbie Simurda, chair of the home tour. “When you’re out walking your dogs, people say hello to each other.”

It’s also a neighborhood dedicated to preserving its character, which is why residents fought to establish a conservation district in 2006. By regulating setbacks, height and other design details, they ensure that the craftsman, Tudor and colonial styles that make the neighborhood unique will forever be part of its landscape.

It was these designs that artists Ann McCann set out to capture as a new offering at this year’s home tour.

“It was tricky because it was not my usual,” McCann says, explaining that she prefers more free-form contemporary impressionist painting. The houses were all angles, so she put aside the oil paints in favor of pen and watercolor.

“In some ways it’s almost the opposite,” she says. “In oils, you start dark and then add your lights. In watercolor, you have to protect the white space because you can’t get it back.”

It took her nearly eight hours to paint each of the six homes, which will be on display during the tour, and then presented to the homeowners as a thank you. Money raised during the Vickery Place Home Tour will benefit the SPCA of Texas, Robert E. Lee Elementary School PTA and neighborhood improvements, including new sidewalks.

“We did our first home tour five years ago in honor of our centennial anniversary,” Simurda says. “We want to show how much the neighborhood has changed.”

Vickery Place Home Tour

Cost: $20 in advance (online) or $25 the day of the tour at 5555 Vickery, 5520 Richards or 5219 Goodwin

Tickets and more: vickeryplace.com

Junius Heights

Sunday, Nov. 6, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. With its historic district designation, Junius Heights will remain one of East Dallas’ most charming neighborhoods for generations. Most of its 700 cottage-inspired homes were built from 1906 into the 1940s, many by East Dallas forefather Junius Peak (read more about him on page 26).