The Mary Ellen Bendtsen house THE M ARY ELLEN BENDTSEN HOUSE AT 4949 SWISS

EveryHalloween,trick-or-treaters arrive en masse to Swiss Avenue. They wait in line along the sidewalks, and at each home, thousands of pieces of candy are handed out in one night.

Thehomeownersgoalloutfor Halloween, turning their lawns into fake graveyards and piping out eerie music.

But among all those lovely mansions, one house, at 4949 Swiss, is not like the others. The house has been vacant foryears,oneofthefewhomeson Swiss with its original kitchen,bathrooms, electricandplumbing. It is what architects call “untouched.”

We’re not saying 4949 Swiss, the former home ofsocialiteMaryEllen Bendtsen,ishaunted. Butasanout-of-date mansion amid so many flawless homes, it looks like that storybook haunted house. Its features — three Rookwoodfireplaces, a billboard-sized ballroommirrorand a 1920sintercom system — are reminders of times long past.

And it has so many stories to tell.

In the 1930s, it was the “Jewell of Swiss Avenue,” the most glamorous home in the swankiest of Dallas neighborhoods. And the belle of the home, Mary Ellen Bendtsen, was glamorous too.

Theblonde-hairedblue-eyedbeauty wastallandleggy. Bendtsen was so stunning that she was asked to pose for the Art Deco statue that is in front of the Women’sMuseum at Fair Park. She hosted many parties in the houseat4949Swiss, originallyherparents’ home. She stayed there after she married and until the end of her life.

She was a dazzling piano player, and shehostedfabulousthemedparties in the attic, which was converted to a ballroom.

Bendtsen lived in the house for 55 years, and by all accounts, she loved the place.By the 1960s, however, the house had fallen into disrepair, and toward the end of Bendtsen’s life, it had become a shadow of its former self.

At the end of her life, Bendtsen and the home were the subject of controversy.Two antiques dealers were accused of attempting to swindle her after she signed a will, just before she died in 2005, leaving the grand home to them.

But a court nullified that will, and the house now belongs to Bendtsen’s daughter, Mary Helen Giron. The home has been on the market for more than a year.