2023 April Oak Cliff Advocate

PROFILE

Decor at Casablanca, a Moroccan resort-inspired restaurant in Bishop Arts.

Photo by Kathy Tran.

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EDITORIAL

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief: Jehadu Abshiro jabshiro@advocatemag.com

SENIOR EDITOR:

Renee Umsted rumsted@advocatemag.com

Editors: Alyssa High ahigh@advocatemag.com

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Contributors: Patti Vinson, Carol Toler, Sam Gillespie

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Advocate (c) 2023 is published monthly in print and daily online by Advocate Media - Dallas Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation based in Dallas and first published in 1991. Contents of this print magazine may not be reproduced. Advertisers and advertising agencies assume liability for the content of all advertisements and sponsorships printed, and therefore assume responsibility for any and all claims against the Advocate. The Publisher reserves the right to accept or reject ay editorial, advertising or sponsorship material in print or online. Opinions set forth in Advocate publications are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the Publisher’s viewpoint. More than 180,000 people read Advocate publications in print each month; Advocate online publications receive more than 4 million pageviews monthly. Advertising rates and guidelines are available upon request. Advocate print and online publications are available free of charge throughout our neighborhoods, one print copy per reader. For information about supporting our non-profit mission of providing local news to neighborhood readers, please call 214-560-4212 or email rwamre@advocatemag.com.

Oak

Father Of Two

2022 HIGHLIGHTS

• 60 Listings Sold in North Oak Cliff

• Sold the 2 Highest sales in Kessler Park

• Set the Record for the Highest Sold Price in Kessler Park History

• Brought the Buyer to 20% of our own listings

• $75 Million sold in 2022 Call

All the care Walter needs, all in one place

When your care gets complicated, you want a team that’s seen it all. Take it from Walter, who spoke up at a routine screening about pain in his side. He knew something wasn’t right. Thanks to his care team’s thorough review, they discovered a cancerous tumor in his kidney just in time. When something feels off, we’re just a phone call away at 833.46.BUMCD

Corey Davey says the wallpaper trend is gaining momentum, and this time, it isn’t going away.

A-PEEL-ING

Meet the interior designer who says wallpaper is back and more fabulous than ever

Interview by EMMA RUBY | Photography by VICTORIA GOMEZ

In 2023, Corey Davey is proving that wallpaper is not dead.

Wallpaper was the interior design staple for much of the 20th century.

Davey points to Blanche’s bedroom in the show Golden Girls as a quintessential example of the pasted paper’s popularity. Large banana leaf wallpaper fans out over Blanche’s bed in the show — one of the many things Davey describes as “fabulous” — and one of the more fashionable examples of the paper’s uses for the time.

But by the end of the 20th century, wallpaper was almost obsolete. Cheesy floral patterns became outdated, and designers traded out paper for paint and paneling.

The Winnetka Heights resident may now have a bathroom completely covered in pink Santa wallpaper (with a shower curtain to match), and he may be ordering rolls of wallpaper at a time to decorate dentists offices across Dallas; however, while studying interior design at Texas State University, the idea of decorating with wallpaper was laughable.

“I never thought wallpaper would be a thing; you painted everything. It’s just what you did,” Davey says.

But over the last few years, Davey began to hear the rumblings of wrapping.

A partner with the design firm Curate Studios, Davey specializes in health care office design. Medical offices offer more room for creativity than people usually assume, but

even five years ago, he was still “having to shove (wallpaper) down their throats.”

It was last September, at the third annual Dallas Kips Bay Decorator Show — an internationally recognized showcase that is well established in New York City and Palm Beach — where Davey saw the wallpaper floodgates open.

“Everyone was doing wallpaper,” and Davey says he trusts what is shown at Kips Bay more than he trusts his own gut.

But this wallpaper was different from what Davey grew up seeing in the homes of his parents’ generation. Gone were tacky florals and repetitive geometric patterns; this paper had been rebranded as “wallcovering,” was often themed and was completely customizable. Simply put, it was fabulous.

The new wallcovering movement embraces bold patterns that tell stories about the people who decorate with it, Davey says. It’s an escape from the minimalist fashions that dominated design for much of the last 10 years.

“I could live and dream in wallcovering,” Davey says.

Davey loves wallcovering brands like Spoonflower and WallSnobs, which give people “better options than just flowers on a wall.” The “fabulous” brands offer any print of wallpaper you can imagine, from colorful mermaids sharing a drink to dark and moody mushroom patterns.

After the last few years of people being stuck

at home, Davey thinks they are embracing designs that make their homes reflect themselves.

“People are gravitating towards what makes them happy, not what makes their guests happy,” Davey says.

Last year, Davey covered his bathroom in pink Santa wallpaper for the Winnetka Heights holiday home tour. It’ll stay for “as long as it stays up.”

While it was his first foray into papering his own home, it certainly will not be his last. Next up is his dining room, although he doesn’t yet have a plan for the wallcovering’s theme or pattern.

All he knows is that it will be “something fabulous.”

Pink and Christmas-inspired decor creates a visually consistent theme throughout Davey’s bathroom.

The wallpaper company Spoonflower custom made Davey a shower curtain to match his chosen wallcovering.

HOW TO PROTEST YOUR PROPERTY TAXES &

Story by RICK WAMRE

Just because the Dallas Central Appraisal District (DCAD) says your home increased in value doesn’t mean that’s true.

With a few simple steps and information you probably already have handy, you can potentially lower your annual property tax bill.

The Advocate asked neighborhood experts to walk us through the simple process.

“As interest rates have gone up, property values in general have gone down this past year,” says Toby Toler, a neighborhood resident and owner of Toler Company, a residential and commercial property tax consulting company for the

past 40 years (tolerco.com).

“Sometimes it may seem like the appraisal district is genetically predisposed to defend their determination of property value,” Toler says. “So you need to present evidence of something they don’t already know about your home in order to have a successful result.”

Worried that protesting might make your tax assessment even higher? Don’t be.

“We don’t raise value as part of a protest. There’s no fear of that happening,” says Cheryl Jordan, DCAD director of community relations. “Some appraisal districts do that, but we don’t.”

DATES & DEADLINES

PUT THESE IMPORTANT TAX VALUATION DEADLINES ON YOUR CALENDAR TODAY:

SO IT’S APRIL 21

When you receive your home’s notice of valuation, you have a few options if you believe DCAD’s value is too high:

VISIT DALLASCAD.ORG and check the information listed there for your home. Does DCAD have the correct number of bathrooms and bedrooms listed? Is the square footage correct? Is the year the home was built listed correctly?

“In high-dollar areas, square footage or the number of bathrooms doesn’t have to be that far off at $500 or $600 per square foot in value to make a difference,” says neighborhood resident David McGee, owner of David L. McGee Appraisals (dmcgeeappraisals.com).

“Even if DCAD is off by only 100 or 200 square feet, that’s several thousand dollars of additional taxable value you’re paying for.”

WHILE ON DALLASCAD.ORG, look up the values of similar neighboring homes. Yes, it’s interesting to know the valuation of neighbors’ homes, but that’s not the point: Use that information to prove your home is overvalued.

for most home sales in Dallas County. A Realtor can find comparable homes that have sold within the past 12 months to determine an appropriate value for your home. Remember, though: Realtors are only paid when they assist you with buying or selling a home, and they’re hoping this investment of time will eventually lead to working with you to eventually buy a new home or list your existing home.

If you really want rock-solid evidence of your home’s value, hire a property appraiser. The appraisal will set you back about $400-$750 (homes over 4,000 square feet or so tend to cost more), but you’ll have an independent, third-party valuation with comparables and adjustments (age, condition, improvements, location), McGee says.

KICK STARTING THE PROCESS

(APRIL 21-MAY 22)

You can file a protest online anytime after April 21; there’s no cost, and the sooner you file the protest, the more quickly your case will be reviewed.

“There’s no benefit to waiting if you know the value is wrong,” Toler says.

APRIL 21: DCAD releases residential notices of value, with a valuation as of Jan. 1, 2023, for Dallas County property owners. You can wait to receive your notice in the mail, or you can start looking for the valuation online at dallascad.org within a day or two of April 21.

MAY 22: Deadline to file a written protest of DCAD’s valuation.

JULY 14: Final date to come to an agreement with DCAD about your property value.

JULY 15: If you haven’t reached a valuation agreement with DCAD, you can ask for hearing with the Appraisal Review Board. That hearing probably won’t be worth your time (we’ll explain later), but it’s a necessary means to an end to keep protesting your valuation.

CHECK

OUT THE

ADVOCATE ’S PRINT MAGAZINE OR WEBSITE for neighborhood Realtors, and ask one for a report on “comparables” for your house. Realtors have access to the Multiple Listing Service, which compiles data

“DCAD’s phones typically aren’t clogged the first two weeks after value notices are mailed. People with a case ready to go are rare.”

Fill out the online “file a protest” form on your property’s account page at dallascad.org, upload the “evidence” that

60 DAYS AFTER YOUR ARB HEARING : Deadline to request binding arbitration through the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts office or file a lawsuit in the District Court in Dallas County.

Elevating Your Real Estate Experience

proves your home is overvalued, and write a short, concise explanation of your concerns.

DCAD computer algorithms typically analyze comparables and determine individual property values, so there’s room for human analysis to fine-tune those values, Jordan says.

Maybe your home is on a busy street, while the algorithm has selected comparables that are on quieter, more valuable streets.

Maybe your home needs a lot of remodeling or updating, but the algorithm hasn’t taken that into account while selecting new or updated homes nearby.

“The best thing that I’ve had luck with is to take a picture of everything that’s wrong with your house, print out the pictures and show all of those problems to DCAD,” McGee says.

“Show them all the things that need to be repaired — cracks in the foundation, original bathrooms, busted driveway, your house backs up to a drainage ditch with dead animals in it — show them your condition rating if it’s different from the comparables. That gives the (DCAD) appraisers a way to adjust your valuation.”

Focusing on your home’s shortcomings can help, but it’s not a guarantee.

“The sales market has changed in the past four years,” Jordan says. “It used to be that when you sold a property, you would fix it up. Nowadays, people are selling as-is. That has already been accounted for in (DCAD’s) value because the sale accounted for that in the price.”

TAKING THE NEXT STEP (JULY 14)

This is your deadline to file an appeal of your valuation with the Appraisal Review Board, which

is a panel (or sometimes an individual) paid on a per-day basis to evaluate appeals.

The ARB hearing panel is a “buffer” of sorts to ensure DCAD’s appraisers are fairly evaluating your property’s value.

Typically, you will upload/mail the same information you used while negotiating with DCAD while hoping for a better valuation outcome.

ARB members rely on a DCAD appraiser who attends the hearing and presents evidence about valuation — if you don’t have an extremely compelling case, it’s likely the ARB will side with DCAD’s appraiser, perhaps throwing you a 1% or 2% token valuation “bone” as a consolation prize.

Some ARB hearings are in-person, meaning you will need to travel to attend what likely will be a 15- to 30-minute hearing. Some hearings are conducted by telephone (not Zoom).

You have the right to request any information DCAD is using to value your property, including data, schedules, formulas and comparables — as long as you request the information in writing and at least 14 days prior to the ARB hearing.

During the hearing, you’ll have a chance to succinctly state your case to the ARB, and the DCAD appraiser will do the same thing. Then the ARB will rule on your case immediately

SO YOUR VALUATION IS STILL TOO HIGH — NOW WHAT?

You’ve negotiated with DCAD, and you’ve presented your case to ARB, and you’re still convinced your home is being overvalued: You have one option left — file a request for binding arbitration with the Texas comptroller’s office or file a lawsuit in District Court.

(The lawsuit option typically makes economic sense only for high-dollar homes and commercial properties.)

You’re going to forward the same information you’ve already compiled to the comptroller, along with a check for $450 (or more, depending on your property’s value).

Think carefully about this step, because your deposit, less $50, will be refunded only if the arbitrator sets your home value closer to your proposed valuation than to DCAD’s valuation.

HERE ARE THE DETAILS:

• You must file for binding arbitration within 60 days of receiving your ARB determination; for the most part, you’ll be sending the same information you’ve submitted to DCAD and ARB in hopes you can convince the arbitrator to come to a different conclusion.

• You must be current with your property taxes.

• You must complete a Form AP219, Request for Binding Arbitration (PDF) form available online, and send that form, along with a copy of the ARB determination, any relevant documentation and your filing fee to the address on the Form AP-219.

Once you’ve submitted your Form AP-219 and it has been received and acknowledged by the comptroller, you have 45 days to reach a settlement with DCAD prior to your case being assigned to an arbitrator.

The arbitrator will set a date, time and location for a hearing — it can also be held via Zoom. Your success will determine not only your property tax bill but also how much, if any, of your deposit is returned to you

EXAMPLE: You believe your house should be assessed at $400,000, and DCAD believes your house should be assessed at $500,000.

If you and DCAD don’t reach a settlement and the arbitrator deter-

mines the correct value for your house should be $451,000, your valuation will be set at $451,000 but you will forfeit your deposit since the final value was closer to DCAD’s valuation than to yours.

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE

Once you’ve uploaded the information, a DCAD appraiser may give you a call or send you an email asking for more information or, if you’ve been persuasive, offering a lower value for your property.

“It’s OK not to take their first offer,” Toler says. “It can’t get any worse, and you can always say something like ‘I was expecting more,’ or ‘I don’t think that offer gets me there,’ or ‘Is there any more slack in your rope?’

“If they’re willing to make you an offer, it’s not going to go away — that’s likely their new value for your home,” Toler says.

Remember you have until July 14 to reach an agreement, so work to get your best offer from DCAD no later than July 1 so you have time to take the next step, if you need to.

Editor’s Note: Dates and deadlines are subject to change depending on when DCAD sends out tax notices. Check dallascad. org for up-to-date deadlines and information about procedures for filing protests. For more detailed information about protesting your taxes, including how DCAD determines property values, visit our website and search Property Tax Protest.

FACE OF INTERIOR DESIGN

STEPHANÉ BOSTON

Savvy neighbors know Stephané Boston is the answer to interior design dilemmas.

With her full-service Bishop + Ivy Studio, Stephané envisions solutions across the design spectrum: safeguarding historical homes’ integrity, updating traditional structures and directing new-build projects. And she masters eclectic assignments varying from Mexico City Modern to Traditional styles.

Boston’s experience with real estate fuels her desire for community advocacy. Volunteering with Preservation Dallas’ young professionals group, she appreciates restoring architecturally significant homes, illuminating original glory while understanding today’s lifestyle needs.

“Mom” to two rescue pets, this happy Oak Cliffer is married to “wonderful human being” attorney Grant Boston, aka two-time reigning Oaktoberfest beer mile champ.

Looking for artistic and experienced design expertise?

Connect with Stephané today.

sboston@bishopivystudio.com

Bishopivystudio.com

Follow on Instagram: bishopivy_studio.

HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU, CASABLANCA

THIS MOROCCAN-INSPIRED LOUNGE IS TRANSPORTING GUESTS TO ANOTHER WORLD

Story

by EMMA RUBY | Photography by KATHY TRAN

A bowl of Thai chicken from Casablanca is served with fish sauce caramel and curry aioli.

Walking through a tunnel with walls covered in leafy green ferns and a draped, low-lit ceiling is the first step to being transported away from the bustling Bishop Arts District and the city of Dallas.

The tunnel leads straight to a sign that reads “Casablanca” over large glass doors framed in black. The designers at Casablanca wanted to make people feel inexplicably drawn into the restaurant, like they had been dropped into a bohemian Moroccan dream resort.

With indoor and outdoor seating — which ranges from barstools to large couches — private karaoke rooms and even a cocktail menu that includes boozy tea, a trip to Casablanca is not just a dining experience; it is a full on excursion.

The restaurant opened in October 2021 and is one of the most visually impressive restaurants in Dallas.

Leroy Poignant, the creative director for Casablanca’s parent company Exxir, says he looked at vintage hotels and resorts when brainstorming Casablanca’s design.

The idea for a Moroccan resort-style restaurant was already in place when he joined the project, and “I got to run with it,” Poignant says.

Many of the foundations of Casablanca’s aesthetic — its cohesive tile work and the art prints on the walls — were custom made by Poignant. The tile work in the restaurant repeats the patterns of Casablanca’s logos, creating consistent motifs throughout the restaurant.

Poignant says things like the branding and color palette of the restaurant were meticulously planned so “there is no why” when customers see a design choice.

Gerald Pearson, manager at Casablanca, says many of the decor elements in the restaurant were imported from Mexico, and others were found in thrift stores across Dallas. He believes the ambiance of the restaurant is 60% of the experience.

“Everything else is just connecting, dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s, to make sure the service and how we

present ourselves also lives up to the aesthetic of the place,” Pearson says.

As for food, the restaurant specializes in “sharable bites” with flavors that derive from the Silk Road.

The Mi Goreng noodles, edamame and shishito peppers are some of the most popular dishes, Pearson says. All utilize Asian flavors and lend themselves to a family-style setting with multiple people sharing the same dish.

“All of our dishes, the style of them, are for you to be able to pick them up and hold them,” Pearson says. “So that it is more of a cocktail hour and you have bites available.”

The cocktail program is also aligned with the Silk Road flavor theme of the restaurant. Pearson says the restaurant enjoys experimenting with Asian spirits, Japanese whiskies and chili paste in cocktails.

But if you are looking for real experimentation, Casablanca’s boozy tea time happy hour may be for you.

Serving up to eight people, the boozy tea “concoctions” can be either vodka or gin based, are served in a gold gilded teapot and come with a light and floral presentation to really

create an experience.

While the indoor and outdoor dining areas at Casablanca reflect the feel of the vintage hotels Poignant referenced while designing the restaurant, the experience can be taken even further with a trip to one of Casablanca’s five suites.

In the back of the restaurant are private rooms available for rent. Pearson calls them “The Sing-Easys.”

The Sing-Easy rooms can fit as many as 15 people and offer an intimate karaoke experience along with full service from the restaurant’s cocktail and food menus.

“It can be intimidating to get up and sing karaoke in front of everyone,” Pearson says.

However, these rooms are intimate, cozy and completely wallpapered. Pearson’s favorite is covered in red wallpaper with monkeys sipping on beers.

“People are definitely drawn in,” Pearson says. “And you feel transported whenever you walk in. Like, ‘Where am I? I’m no longer in Dallas.’”

Casablanca , 200 N. Bishop Ave., 972.863.9600

The tiles in Casablanca were custom designed for the restaurant.

Re ltors

The Advocate’s annual Top Realtor special section recognizes the Top 5% of all active neighborhood Realtors, determined by reported sales volume.*

TOP 25

KATHY HEWITT

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

THANI BURKE

Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC

JASON SAUCEDO

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

SUSAN MELNICK

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

MELISSA O’BRIEN

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

CHRIS MENEGAY

Bungalow Living Brokerage Inc.

FERAS RACHID

Opendoor Brokerage, LLC

FRANK LIU

Texas Intownhomes, LTD.

JOE ATKINS

Joe Atkins Realty

AMANDA AUSTIN

Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC

STEVEN BEARD

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

CHRISTY BERRY

Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC

KYLE BOEHME

Rogers Healy and Associates

MICHAEL BRINK

Keller Williams Urban Dallas

PATTY BROOKS

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

MICHAEL CASTRO

Coldwell Banker Realty

JUANITA COUCH

Couch Realty Inc.

JOHN CRAMER

Halo Group Realty LLC

KEVIN CURRAN

Redfin Corporation

BLAKE DAMRON

Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC

HEATHER DANIEL

Rogers Healy and Associates

EMILY RUTH CANNON

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

GED DIPPREY

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

NADINE KELSALL-MEYER

Meyer Group Real Estate

ELVA TORRES-FONSECA

Ultima Real Estate

EUGENE GONZALEZ

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

NADIA BLACK

Douglas Elliman Real Estate

JENNI STOLARSKI

Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC

CRYSTAL GONZALEZ

Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC

ROGER LOPEZ

Value Properties

MICHAEL DOMKE

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

EVAN DOWNEY

EXP Realty

HOMERE DUARTE

Mora Bella, Inc.

ROB ELMORE

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

JAMES FAIRCHILD

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

BRANDON FLEEMAN

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

KENT FREDERICK

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

AMY GALLEY

Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC

FORREST GREGG

Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC

DAVID GRIFFIN

David Griffin & Company

SHERRY HAZRATI

Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC

SEAN HOOPER

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

CLIFF KESSLER

Allie Beth Allman & Associates

KELLY KINZER

Coldwell Banker Realty

PETER LOUDIS

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

MICHAEL MAHON

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

JEFFREY MCKEE

EXP Realty

GRACIELA NAVARRO

Avangard Real Estate Serv.

LAURA NELSON

ALEXIS GORHAM

United Real Estate

ALBANY SHAW

Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC

DECARLA ANDERSON

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

ROBERT KUCHARSKI

David Griffin & Company

ANNE FOSTER

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

PHILLIP MURREL

Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC

JEFF MITCHELL

Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC

KAY WOOD

Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s Int’l

SKYLAR SPANGLER

Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC

PATRICIA TAFOYA

VALENZUELA

Century 21 Judge Fite Co.

AMY TIMMERMAN

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

BARBARA VAN POOLE

Keller Williams Realty DPR

LINDA WARD

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

JEREMY WHITEKER

Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC

TRAVIS PLUMB

EXP Realty

JOANNA ROBBEN

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

PAUL SANDERS

Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC

SHAMIL SHALWANI

Douglas Elliman Real Estate

RIC SHANAHAN

Keller Williams Urban Dallas

DIANE SHERMAN

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

VINNIE SHERMAN

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

Joe Atkins is honored to be recognized as a Top 5% REALTOR ® serving Oak Cliff. Having his office located in the heart of Bishop Arts for the past 7 years, Joe has valued the opportunity to be an integral part of the tremendous growth of North Oak Cliff. As a current board member of the Dallas Builders Association, Joe attributes his success to his network of developers and builders, as well as an amazing team of agents who are knowledgeable in everything Oak Cliff.

Photo

a photographer’s home

Story by JEHADU ABSHIRO | Photography by KATHY TRAN

in 1986, a photographer and an artist decided to build two houses — one for living and one for art.

The two-story stucco structures have glass block, large circle windows and a maze of winding stairs and decked bridges connecting the two buildings. Obsessed with Hawaii, the couple eventually moved, or so East Kessler neighbors say.

In 2007, the next couple bought the structures. They decided to merge the two buildings, enclosing a jagged portion of the limestone cliff. The photo studio with floor-to-ceiling windows became a master bedroom with an ensuite laden in marble. They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in

renovations. Yet they never updated the electrical panel, which had all the markings of a full photo studio.

In a full-circle moment, photographer Kathy Tran and writer Daniel Rockey came across the Art Deco house in 2022. They hadn’t planned on buying a house for three to five years. They had been looking for a warehouse, but those are rare and expensive in Dallas. It was tight in their 1,600-square-foot Deep Ellum loft that doubled as a photo studio, but they were eventually planning to build a container home that compartmentalized both their work and personal lives.

This Haines Avenue house was literally made by a photographer who

wanted to work and live in the same space.

“We loved it so much,” Tran says. “We put in the bid that same night.”

An investment group already had made a bid, so Tran and Rockey decided to overbid to clinch the deal.

And 36 years later, the lot on the right once again is a photo studio, and the lot on the left, a home for a photographer.

It’s not often that a 29-year-old photographer owns a $1.1 million compound, neighbored by doctors and Mark Cuban’s lawyer.

“When I got this house, I looked around. I was like, ‘Jesus Christ, this is how much I’ve been working?’ I had no idea that I was going to be able to afford something like this at 28 years old,” Tran says.

Tran has been handling three to four photoshoots a day every day for more than a decade. She has been hustling since she was a child, living in Richardson. She grew up in a strict, traditional Vietnamese household with what she describes as an abusive, alcoholic father. Her blue-collar parents worked long, hard hours trying to make ends meet.

“I was the firstborn. They really had their eyes on me,” she says. “So, I was rebellious. I was looking for love in all the wrong places.”

After getting pregnant at 13 in a statutory rape case with a 22-year-old (he went to jail), she was homeless and got herself emancipated as a minor.

“I forget that a lot of people don’t know that about me. They don’t know where I’m coming from because I went through all the hardships when I was younger — pregnant, raped, abused, homeless,” Tran says. “I just felt so powerless. For the rest of my life, I’ll have my own independence and control over my own life.”

Her former middle school counselor opened her home to Tran. First, she was spending one night there, then two, three nights a week. Then she was adopted.

“And then it ended up being where my white dad and I were painting my own room,” Tran says. “And that was like a very dad and daughter thing that I’ve always wanted.”

Her Asian and American families blended into one, she says, celebrating milestones and holidays as one unit.

“I went from living in the ’hood to a gated community. There was a lot of changes for me to see,” Tran says. “I’ve lived my life in opposites.”

Always drawn to art, she went to a magnet school beginning in seventh grade. Her American parents took her to museums and pushed her to explore the arts. She dabbled in other art forms, but paintings don’t dry fast enough, and art is often a lonely experience. Photography is fastpaced, filled with human interaction.

By the time she started at a Dallas Community College, she had built a business shooting portraits and weddings. Plans to transfer to Southern Methodist University to study advertising eventually faded. One, she needed to take care of invoices and clients instead of studying lecture notes. Perhaps more importantly, she realized advertising wasn’t for her. She loved photojournalism.

Hard news, protests, street style, concerts, she was shooting it all.

Central Track was her first journalism client. Then she heard the food photographer at the Dallas Observer had left. Tran drove to the editor’s house and said she wanted to do the

Our love of architecturally significant properties is matched only by our love for this unique part of Dallas. From the historic districts to the up-and-coming neighborhoods, we are passionate about what makes this community, and those that call it home, special.

Three generations of Shermans live and breathe that passion every day, and it’s a privilege to have our roots intertwined with yours.

The couple repurposed the furniture, like the dining table, from the Deep Ellum loft.

food photography.

That’s when her career shifted.

Food became her bread and butter. This is a city that eats. A restaurant that needs photos for marketing pops up almost every week, and the metroplex is littered with food-oriented corporations.

She’d eat leftover food from shoots for sustenance, so she never really learned to cook. The first time she invited Rockey over to her home, she pulled out a smorgasbord of 10 different types of cuisine.

“I think like a month before I met him, I was like, alright, I’m gonna try cooking. And I think God was like, ‘Thank you for trying. Here is your man,’” Tran says.

They had matched on Tinder while Tran was hanging around University of Dallas’ engineering school — she figured she was going to end up with an engineer and decided that was the best place to find them. Rockey, a Frito Lay food scientist and chef, happened to be visiting his engineer brother.

Eventually, Rockey left his corporate job to join the Kathy Tran team as a videographer, food stylist, writer and editor. The first few years they were together, he’d write the

stories, and she’d shoot the photos.

Most, if not all, of her original clients in the hungry years are still with her. (This includes the Advocate , for which Tran has worked as a freelance photographer for the past 10 years.) The Kathy Tran team is Rockey, Tran and two other staff members. They’re working three to four shoots a day still.

But it’s a new season for them. The house is just one part of it.

There are the normal quirks of owning a house built into the side of a cliff that was originally two separate buildings. There may not actually be a single straight wall in the 4,601-square-foot house. A little mix-up had the city shut off their water because records hadn’t been updated to reflect the buildings were combined. And an air conditioning hullabaloo.

“If you take the whole thing and put into the wash, it comes out fine still,” Rockey says.

He built a wall to turn a space into a guest room. They made the three-story spiral staircase dog-safe. They’re working through the cosmetic changes. Painting the kitchen black is on the short list. The bathroom in their treehouse-like master

suite needs to be gutted of the hot tub and mauve tiles. The next big project is building out the deck to even out the terrain, so they can have a backyard wedding with the Dallas’ skyline as a backdrop.

Rockey’s mother and one of their best friends live with them in the house. A friend with an educationbased nonprofit is renting one of the larger spaces to work out of. When her father was in the throes of dementia, her Asian parents moved into one of the rooms. The six-bedroom, six-bathroom house makes it feasible.

“I just love being able to have these different lives in here, that live a different pace,” Tran says. “And I think it’s like a great reminder of where you are in your life.”

Tran has always had penchant for compounds. Before she and Rockey lived in the loft, she was renting two duplexes.

“I wanted to run this creative community,” Tran says. “This is better than I’ve ever imagined. Because I wouldn’t have designed a layout like this that worked for us. We didn’t know what it was going to look like, but we knew what we wanted it to be.”

Their creative community is wellness-oriented. The team cycles together regularly, and neither Tran nor Rockey drink alcohol. They prefer “aggressively lounging” in their home, surrounded by their people.

“I know I work a lot, but I am very big about having a balanced lifestyle,” Tran says. “I spend a lot of time with family. It’s very half-and-half because I go real hard on both.”

The couple hosts yoga classes in the studio, dubbed Kessler Studio, and neighbors just walk over and walk in. They had an artist showcase with more than 100 guests earlier this year.

It’s all part of the bigger shift into becoming a lifestyle brand. A YouTube channel was launched late last year so she can share her story and the life Rockey and her are building.

“I want to just live my life a little bit more creatively,” she says. “I shoot for so many other people that I want to focus on shooting some things for myself. And I want people to know me better and hire me for who I am.”

Like murder mysteries, arguments about politics and unsolicited relationship advice from your weird Aunt Deb, it all started with a dinner party.

Well, many dinner parties. At potluck gatherings that met every month for years at the homes of Winnetka Heights residents who live south of Twelfth Street.

And over the course of these evenings, the neighbors discussed, among other things, the rapidly changing neighborhood of Oak Cliff and their concerns that their tight-knit community may eventually be taken over by developers.

Their neighbors to the north were protected from this worry.

The Winnetka Heights Historic District was adopted in 1981 and is the second largest historic district

in Dallas. Spanning from Twelfth Street to Davis, and Rosemont to Willomet, the district preserves around 50 city blocks worth of prairie and bungalow-style homes.

South Winnetka Heights was interested in that protection.

So neighbor Michael “Patty” Evans decided to say “screw it.”

PRESERVING THE STYLE

While Winnetka Heights is a part of a historical district, which protects all historic architecture and impacts any modification made to a historic home, the residents of South Winnetka Heights were more interested in pursuing a conservation district application.

A conservation district is an ordinance that is laid out by neighbors

during community meetings and is intended to preserve the physical look and style of the neighborhood it covers. Regulations are completely determined by the community members with minimum requirements in different categories such as architecture and development.

That feedback is then drafted up by city staff and ratified by the City Plan Commission and City Council.

South Winnetka is small, only around 95 residential homes that sit within the borders of West Twelfth Street, South Edgefield Avenue, West Brooklyn Avenue and South Polk Street.

The majority of the homes are one-story, and all but three were built before 1940.

Evans has lived in the area since 2005, and he says he joined the

Neighbors in South Winnetka Heights are preserving what is important to them

neighborhood because he was drawn in by the homes’ charming aesthetics.

It’s a sentiment shared by many of South Winnetka’s residents.

After witnessing a historic home on Willomet Avenue get demolished, and a new modern one replace it “within a matter of days,” Evans and other neighbors realized they needed to work toward conservation district status “sooner than later.”

He “didn’t know anything” about the process of becoming a conservation district, so he began reading online and calling city staff about the prospect.

“I think a lot of people don’t realize that, actually, most of the city employees will work with you a lot. You know, they don’t get calls like that very often,” Evans says.

In July 2020, nearly one year after the neighborhood’s first inquiry into the conservation district application, city staff determined that South Winnetka Heights was eligible for conservation district status.

The city verbiage that surrounds conservation districts emphasizes the importance of neighbor consensus in creating the districts.

“The neighborhood committee meets with property owners to ensure awareness of the process and active participation throughout the neighborhood,” says an introductory presentation that is given to the community at the start of a conservation district application. “Ensure all voices are heard and everyone is aware of the process.”

Evans, with a team of other involved neighbors, began canvassing the neighborhood asking for signatures in support of the conservation district application after several pre-application meetings.

Evans says that speaking with neighbors was a chance to inform them about the ins and outs of the conservation district application process. Ensuring everyone knew what the neighborhood was going

to undertake was key to gaining support.

“Some of it was a language barrier, and my wife speaks Spanish, so I drove her around going door to door for a while,” Evans says.

By July 2022, 71 petitions were submitted, and 76% were verified by city staff, a wide margin from the 58% required.

EMBRACING INDIVIDUALITY

Kathi Kibbel moved to her home on North Clinton Avenue in 2000. At the time, she says people throughout Dallas often responded with confusion when she shared that she lived in Oak Cliff.

“It was living on the edge a bit,” Kibbel says.

But, like Evans, she loved the charm of the homes in South Winnetka Heights. She and her husband spent several years waiting for a home in the neighborhood to be put on the market, and they jumped as soon as one was.

Kibbel was one of the original dinner party attendees who was interested in becoming a conservation district, although she credits Evans with being the “fearless leader” who got the process started.

But once community meetings began, Kibbel was sure to be in attendance.

Over the course of 10 meetings in seven months, South Winnetka Heights homeowners gathered with members of the City of Dallas Planning and Urban Design team to discuss everything from paint colors to parking density to roof form.

While South Winnetka Heights flew through the 10 community meetings required by the city — in comparison, neighbors in Lakewood have been through 15 meetings to expand the existing conservation district — Kibbel says the first few meetings showed there were some neighbors “on defense.”

“They were afraid we were going

to make them do things that they didn’t want to do. I think a lot of people thought we were really going to be restrictive,” Kibbel says. “And then they realized, no, that’s not what we want to do. We’re just trying to keep people from tearing down a house or building some zero-lot-line or McMansion.”

Kibbel says there was no interest in using the conservation district regulations to force neighbors to change the look or feel of the hous es that already exist. In fact, the whole point of the application was to “preserve the look of the neigh borhood,” as it exists now.

While a historic district designa tion would strictly regulate things like materials used to build a home and keeping the paint colors of homes historically accurate, the nature of a conservation district al lowed neighbors to build the quirks of South Winnetka Heights into their regulations.

It was important for the neigh borhood to continue embracing individuality, Kibbel says.

“If you look at the front of my house, the colors, it’s obvious we don’t care what color you’re paint ing,” Kibbel, whose home is tur quoise blue and trimmed in orange, says. “This would not be approved in a historical district, you know, that’s not historical colors. In the Bahamas it is, but not for Dallas in the 1920s.”

The regulations laid out in the conservation district ordinance will dictate parameters for any future development, once it is adopted.

If a house has a feature, such as fixed shutters and stained wood siding, that does not comply with the parameters, it can remain until it needs to be replaced. At that point, the element will have to be replaced in a style that complies with the conservation district reg ulations.

A GROWING MOVEMENT

The 10th and final conservation district meeting was held March 6.

Trevor Brown, chief planner for the city Planning and Urban Design department, commended the South Winnetka Heights neighbors on their swift and agreeable handling of the process.

Winnetka Heights is the first neighborhood to go through the process from scratch in over 10 years.

Brown says it has been so long since a neighborhood has created a new conservation district that there is not currently a staff member in the office of Planning and Urban

policy for how many applications the city can handle at a time, Brown says the process requires “considerable commitment of department time and resources.”

The department will likely stagger new cases it takes on, so once the South Winnetka Heights application has been finalized it’ll be an arms race for who is next to ensure their neighborhood stays exactly as they like it.

For Evans, and for all of the neighbors who began thinking about becoming a conservation district all those years ago at those dinner parties, an approval from the City Council will be the final chapter of this story.

But there may be an epilogue.

Street Sign toppers marking the South Winnetka Heights Conservation District will make things feel all the more official. And Evans wants to figure out how to raise money or obtain grants for “some of those historic fancy streetlights” to line the blocks of the neighborhood.

“That’s the big you know, the candle on top of the cake,” Evans says. “If we can get some lights. That’d be cool.”

CONTRIBUTING STYLES:

Most homes within South Winnetka Heights were built before 1940 and fall within the following two styles:

ARTS AND CRAFTS

The 20th century Arts and Crafts home style was an early modern movement that rejected the historical precedent of decoration and opulent design. The homes modernized ornamentation by simplifying it. The Arts and Crafts movement is credited for its influence on prairie style homes, which are found throughout Winnetka Heights, and craftsman style homes.

Key Features: Low-to-the-ground facade, low-pitched roof with wide eave overhangs, prominent porches, framed windows.

TRANSITIONAL CRAFTSMAN BUNGALOW

The word bungalow can be used to describe a small home of any style, but in South Winnetka Heights, the bungalows act as a stylistic bridge between the Arts and Crafts and Craftsman styles. The relatively small homes were often built with the working class in mind, and were popular throughout the U.S. for the first few decades of the 20th century. Because these homes are a stylistic transition, many elements reflect the true Arts and Crafts homes throughout the neighborhood.

Key Features: Low-pitched and front-gabled roof, large porches often supported by columns, one story, beams under gables.

Source: A Field Guide to American Houses

Retrofitting 1960s-era

Airstreams (above) and welding for function, form or both (above right) are just a couple of the things happening at Stash Design, whose offices and warehouse are inside Tyler Station.

Gary Buckner (right) owns Stash Design and Stash Signs, is a partner in Tyler Station and has significant projects underway around the state of Texas.

Renaissance man

Factories, furniture, recreational vehicles and actual towns — artist and contractor Gary Buckner breathes new life into old things

Story by CHRISTINA HUGHES BABB | Photography by LAUREN ALLEN

In 2015, Delta Industries left its 100-year-old factory to the pigeons; birds and rodents gained entry through portals opened when bandits uninstalled two air conditioning units.

There was talk of tearing down the place (originally the Dixie Wax Paper Company) to make way for apartments. But a couple of neighborhood visionaries, Gary Buckner and Monte Anderson, had another idea.

The plan: Save the building, air out dank hallways where mosquitos swarm over standing pools of water and remove 200,000 pounds of scrap from the roof. Turn it into a place of doers and makers, and rebrand it Tyler Station.

“Most people looked at it all and thought it was too much work to fix,” says Buckner. “To me, I see there are walls, a ceiling and infrastructure, so we can fix it.”

INTENT AND RE-PURPOSES

Buckner, owner of Stash Design and partner in Tyler Station, is loath to give up on an object, be it a discarded toy or a 110,000-squarefoot mill from the 1920s.

A front-angle look at the building in 2023 reveals an eclectic array of storefronts — skate shop, book

boutique, hair salon, artists co-op, brew house, pet supplier, comic and collectibles trading post.

Stash Design occupies a quarter of the building. His is one of 70 businesses within. On a tour, Buckner greets his neighbors, Oak Cliff Bike Synergy owner Jorge Samano, a couple of shear-sharpening stylists at For the Love of Hair and the “amazing, classically trained woodworker” Sean Springer.

Adapted iron cattle panels, rather than opaque walls, divide the suites, a layout that encourages conversation.

Buckner admires the way fellow occupants find uses for every cranny of the building, he says, pointing to a kiln in a space where pottery classes are held. “It’s really turned out better than I ever hoped,” he says. “They can carve out a space for themselves, and share, and it is affordable.”

In an upstairs office, overlooking his firm’s 25,000-square-foot warehouse, Buckner stands at a white board, marker in hand, attempting to help a reporter grasp his various enterprises and projects.

TYLER STATION

Most days, business partner Monte Anderson is the public face of Tyler Station.

But Buckner is the soft-spoken, metal-welding, long-haired and

flannel-shirted yin to Anderson’s public-lecturing, investor-courting, close-cropped and sports-coated yang.

At a recent talk about gentrification and incremental development, Anderson pointed at Buckner, who was sipping coffee in the back of the auditorium, and told the audience they’d been “scheming for years and years” to create a space for makers.

“Because of Gary’s influence, we really did this project,” Anderson said. “He’s an artist and a furniture maker and he has all kinds of creative things.”

Add to that real estate investor, tiny-home maker and philosopher, and it’s a start. He’s also building a town.

STASH DESIGN AND STASH SIGNS

Back in the office hang clipboards with business names printed at the top — Longhorn Ballroom, Sketches of Spain, Musume Restaurant, Raising Cane’s, Ritz Crackers, American Airlines, City of Dallas. Those are a few Stash Design (and subsidiary company Stash Signs) clients.

Restaurants, not the only focus, make up a significant portion of Stash clientele.

Buckner, while an artist with an indie heart, enjoys earning money and paying his 12 staffers. In the best

cases, when restaurateurs allow him a measure of creative freedom (think Enos, Wild Detectives, Oddfellows), dining establishments make a perfect palette for Buckner’s brand of green, functional art.

Building out Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters on West Davis, Buckner used cast-off parts, metal and wood from a shuttered auto shop across the street.

In one forthcoming restaurant they plan to install bleachers that used to be inside SMU’s natatorium, Stash Design’s chief financial officer Matt Davis says when he joins Buckner in the office.

It’s not just about the environment. People like the story. It’s a marketing point, he says. “SMU students or alumni are going to love that.”

Part of Buckner’s mission is to “help people see trash differently.”

He also wants us to see signage anew. That’s why he launched Stash Signs and brought on Stephen Kirkpatrick, who, using a computer numerical control (CNC) machine, a huge 3D printer-type of equipment, makes business signs art.

Abbas Diba, a graphic designer and Iranian refugee who moved his family to the neighborhood by way of Ireland, also operates the CNC machine, and Buckner says “he can do anything.”

Stash Signs can be seen at Gold Dust Tattoos, Vivian’s Boutique or Starship Bagel, to name a few.

MILLER’S COVE

Alongside the rear loading dock at Tyler Station is a 1960s-era Airstream Trailer, which Buckner is retrofitting for a client. The job illustrates Buckner’s gift for maximizing every square inch. He installed floors, marble tile, high-end fixtures, a wine bar, kitchen, toilet and a tub, all inside a 200-square foot trailer.

It’s one of a half dozen silver bullets parked in the Tyler Station lot. He has been turning them into fully functioning homes, because people need them, and glamorous

campers, because glamping is a popular pastime.

He’s reasonably sure Dallas’ code would prohibit an RV park at Tyler Station, or make permitting too onerous. So Buckner is working on a deal near Mount Pleasant, in a 109-acre burgh called Miller’s Cove, population: 72.

There, 111 miles from Oak Cliff, he plans to turn an old race track into an event center (for concerts and quinceaneras) and create a destination RV park with long- and short-term rentals.

He and Miller’s Cove business partner Justin Treaster say this project could be both a housing solution and a “lifestyle solution.”

They envision sustainably remodeled tiny homes and trailers with solar panels, “where you won’t have to tax the crap out of people,” Buckner says.

CAB STATION

Meanwhile Buckner is a minority shareholder in a Gainesville project.

Denton County entrepreneur James Combs is redeveloping a

60,000-square-foot building, and the plan sounds familiar. Save an old mill, install solar panels, use repurposed and upcycled materials to contemporize and transform the block into a haven for doers and makers.

This Tyler Station cousin is called CAB Station (for Community and Business).

Combs has said he wants to give it a “resto-mod feel.” Restored and modified is Buckner’s modus operandi, and he is charged with designing the lower level with about 200 small vendor booths inside. It will be modeled after Tyler Station, Buckner says CAB is just the beginning. CAB and Tyler Station offer “a model that can be used anywhere in the world.” This brand of development is about building wealth and opportunity within neighborhoods and among local independent business owners rather than developers from out of town, Buckner and his partners believe.

As Anderson said during his lecture, “It takes a village to raise a child, and it really does takes a whole community to develop a building.”

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By EMMA RUBY

Our neighborhood’s roots

Mrs. Blake was positive that the ring she wore was a real diamond, even if her daughter didn’t believe her. The two women stood near a large window in the front parlor of their home, which looked out over a young and developing Winnetka Heights neighborhood.

Mrs. Blake removed her ring, handed it to her daughter, and they both took turns using the diamond to carve their initials into the glass window pane.

The Blakes lived in their Oak Cliff home until 1917, and it changed many hands throughout the early 20th century. By the time the Oak Cliff Society of Fine Arts became owner of the property in 1957, it was in disarray.

Getting the home — which was named the Turner House in 2002 — into shape has been an arduous and ongoing process. But, according to Bart Thrasher, historic house specialist and vice president of the OCSFA executive board, many original features of the Blakes’ home still remain today.

One of those features is the crudely scratched initials that can be found on the front window.

The Turner House was built in 1912 by John Phillip Blake, one of four early developers of the Winnetka Heights neighborhood who moved to Dallas from Chicago and named the neighborhood after an affluent suburb of their hometown.

Blake made his fortune off sheet music and piano lessons, and the prairie-style home cost $55,000 to build — over $1.6 million in today’s dollars.

Donna Miller, president of the

society, says the four early Winnetka Heights homes acted as show houses that advertised the developing neighborhood. The home designers implemented stateof-the-art technologies and spared no expense on the latest “novelties,” and the Blakes hosted “lavish” parties at the home to show those novelties off.

For example, the Turner House boasts one of the first steam showers that was ever put into a Dallas home. (Miller says the shower looks scary now, but was an impressive technology at the time.)

Another novelty are the windows themselves, which were built with pockets in the walls that hide the lower panes from sight when the windows are slid open.

“I’ve talked with several other architects and people, and they’ve never seen that before. It might have been something that they custom made just for this house because they were quirky,” Thrasher says.

One of the most stunning features in the home is a large, stained glass bay window that sits over the stair landing. Panels of pearly milk glass make up the majority of the window, and purple and green flowers and vines trail across the top and the sides of the window like a floral frame.

Thrasher says when a professional came to the home, she confirmed what the society had believed about the window. It had been ordered from a Tiffany’s catalog.

The professional said the colors in the wisteria flowers were “signature Tiffany.”

While parts of the frame need to be rebuilt, and some of the pieces of milk glass need to be replaced, the floral pattern is in relatively good condition.

“A miracle,” says Miller.

Another quirk of the home was its integral gutter system. At the time, homeowners did not want to see gutters on the outside of their homes, so rain spouts were routed behind the roof fascia.

“Let’s introduce rot,” says Travis-Lee Moore, a director on the society’s board.

And introduce rot it did. That integral gutter system has since been removed, and the society completely replaced the soffits and fascia boards on the home.

Preserving one of the two remaining homes from Winnetka Heights’ pioneer days is no small task, and Thrasher says much of his time on the board has been spent figuring out how to prioritize all of the projects that need to be tackled to fix up the home.

One of his first — and most urgent — projects was fixing the home’s

The Turner House is one of Winnetka Heights’ most historic homes

The home’s wisteria stained glass window was ordered from a Tiffany’s catalog. Photography by Lauren Allen.

porte-cochère (the porch-like structure on the side of the home where cars could park).

While replacing the soffits and fascias, Thrasher noticed the porte-cochère was suffering from rot and water damage, and he jumped into action after realizing the structure’s roof, which is made up of Ludowici tiles, weighed over 3,000 pounds.

“I called an emergency meeting of the board and said ‘We need to find the money to get the damn tiles off of the roof because this thing is going to collapse and possibly kill someone, and certainly will destroy all of the stuff below it and the tiles,’” Thrasher says.

The first time a roofer stepped onto the porte-cochère, his foot went straight through.

Other problems have included finding craftsmen in the modern day who are able to do work that is becoming less and less common. Window beveling, for instance, is a craft that requires a decade of apprenticeship at a time when fewer and fewer people are joining the industry.

But all these problems are worth working through to fix up “the old girl.”

“If you look around Dallas, if you look at Downtown, we’ve torn down seven Greek cities over and over again of beautiful things,” Moore says.

The society raises money for the home’s preservation through fundraising and grants, and seems to have the next decade’s worth of home improvements already planned out. On the second floor of the Turner House is the office room where the Oak Cliff Society of Fine Arts operates. And in that office is a framed oil painting of Mrs. Blake herself, looking out over her home.

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On the second story of the Turner House is the “Bride’s room,” which is posh and pink. Photography by Lauren Allen.