REAL ESTATE REPORT

7 Our Hollywood connection

Itwas a surrealmomentforLake Highlands locals tuning to the2010 EmmyAwardsShow.“TheBachelor” hostChrisHarrisonstops“Glee”star Mark Salling on the red carpet for a shortinterview.Theexchangewinds upbeingalmostentirelyabouttheir sharedalmamater. “We wenttothe same high school,” Harrison tells Salling. “This is crazy,” Salling says. “I’m a little bit stunned. We grew up within a half-mileradius.”Harrisoncontinues, toward the camera, “We both went to Lake Highlands High School in Dallas, Texas.” The two share some witty banter concerning their respective graduation years and, after discussing in brief “Glee’s” 19 Emmy nominations, Harrison signs of with “Good to meet you, a fellow LH Wildcat.” These aren’t the only LH Wildcats who have gone on to gain fame and fortune: Actress Morgan Fairchild was a 1968 grad. Singer Annie Clark; MichaelCarnes,writerofHollywood movie“Mr.Woodcock”;andathletes including Olympic silver medalist Darvis Patton, pro golfer Justin Leonard and theNFL’s Matthew Stover also hail from our neighborhood. Television series “The Good Guys” shot several scenes in Lake Highlands, and some of our neighbors, such as Melissa Adami, worked as extras.

8 Halloween in Highland Hills

Certain pockets of the White Rock area are trick-or-treating hotspots, but we love none so much as the Highland Hills neighborhood at McCree and Audelia. There’s only one way in and out of the eerie enclave where all but a handful of homes go all-out each Oct. 31. There’s the dreaded “chainsaw guy” who stands, earsplitting chainsaw in hand, between the double doors to his magnificent entryway, daring brave trick-or-treaters to sprint for the bucket of candy at his feet. You can run from him, but there’s still Michael Myers (neighbor Ed Waters), “Halloween’s” infamous escaped mental patient/serial killer, walking the streets. You know when he’s coming because of his theme music and the flood of screaming children running from him.

9 Dot’s Cafe Denver omelet

10870 Plano

It’s not on the menu, but regulars know to order this meaty, savory and satisfying secret. The stuff on the menu at this greasy spoon gem is pretty darn good too.

10 Coyotes and other beasts

“I will never forget my first coyotesighting,”saysLake HighlandsresidentColleen ritchie. “I was jogging along White rockTrailjustpast sunrise. I came up over a hill where the trees clear for a patch of grass. I thought it wasascrawnylittlepuppy at first, standing there in the dewyclearing,butthenhe looked right at me, and I saw it was a coyote.” She’d heard much talk of the dreaded coyote — they’ll eat your pets, herneighborshadwarned. Butthislittlemuttlooked so innocent and, well, “cute”, she says. Don’t get us wrong. ThecoyotesroamingLake Highlands will most certainly eatyourcatorChihuahua if given a chance. So will the red-tailed hawks, which also frequentthelakearea.and it’snotunheardoftosee a snake sunning itself on a pedestrian path in our neighborhood.Thewholeidea— while frightening — is sort of thrilling when you think about it, no? Like ritchie, we live in this area because we love the natural, wooded lakeside life complete with its birds, bugs and wild things. (FyI, according to Dallas audubon Society, White rock is home to more than210differenttypesof birds, minks, foxes, armadillos and poisonous water moccasins, just to name a few.)

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Love To Hate

Jogger cyclist wars

We love that our trails, especially around WhiteRock Lake, are so bustling, but popularity brings its share of problems, such as feuding cyclists and pedestrians. We see it in comments on our Back Talk blog: “rude cyclists act like laws don’t apply to them” and“tiredofthestressandintimidation from the aggressive bicyclist”, complain the runners. “The oblivious runners with headphones blocking out the world” and “groups of runners think they need to travel three or four abreast”, counter irritated cyclists. In a perfect world, it would be all rainbows and happiness, but at least we have a place to enjoy, and one of these days we’ll figure how to share it.

Stinky birds

BENEFITS INCLUDE:

We adoreourbirds—mourningdoves and red-bellied woodpeckers abound in our neighborhood woods, but beware the doublecrested cormorants. They roost in their favorite trees along White Rock Lake trail, past Mockingbird bridge near the West Lawther curve. We’ve nicknamed this portion of the lake loop “the putrid pathway”, because it stinks in a way that makes the nearby White Rock Dog Park smell like roses. If there’s something to love about the situation (and we realize this is not nice), it’s the reaction of unassuming trail travelers: First there’s the look of disgust, then there’s obvious fear as they wonder if the culprits might be directly overhead, and then there is the detour. You’ll notice the well-worn path from trail to road that marks many an escape from this portion of the course.

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“Those of uswhowant something better than a Walmart get called a snob on this blog — really? Has the ‘snob bar’ been lowered that much? Well then count me as yet another Lake Highlander snob who wants something better for Lake Highlands,” writes LHsnob following a post about development in Lake Highlands. “You have people going in their slippers to buy groceries, and they can’t even put a shirt on their baby,” posts LHLover following a piece about neighborhoodgrocery stores. There are those “thanks for keeping us informed” comments and those “why-should-I-care-about-this?” comments, and even comments from folks who simply wish to correct our spelling or grammar (hey, mistekesheppen to the best of os). Whether you love us and want to spread joy or you hate everything and want to letus know, we welcome your ideas (provided you don’t use profanity or attack fellow blog readers). We love reading what you have to write. If you have something to say about this story, find it on lakehighlands.advocatemag.com, and read fresh content on our blog daily. granite marble soapstone quartz

11 Big beautiful houses (that aren’t McMansions)

Happy

PHOTOS BY BENJAMIN HAGER

Richardson bought the car for $2,200 anddroveitaroundfor a fewyears before parking it in the driveway of his Lake Highlands home, where it sat for a decade or so. “I always had wanted to restore it, but you have children and jobs, and the time can get away from you,” he says.

A couple years ago, Richardson says he decided he was never going to be able to restore the car himself, so he commissioned help from Plano resident PeterLeddy,whohadmade a living restoring classic Fords. The first thing he did, Richardson says, was take the car completely apart, down to the last nut and bolt. That made Richardson a little nervous.

“It was scary to see just the shell of the car sitting there, as if it belonged in a junkyard.”

Richardson,anengineerbytrade, rebuilt the engine (“That was my part,” hesays),whileLeddyworkedonthe transmission. Then, bit by bit, they put