SERENE SERENDIPITY

How an Uptown couple moved back to the neighborhood and found happiness

STORY BY LISA KRESL | PHOTOGRAPHY BY DICKIE HILL

Sandy and Mike Landon did an empty-nesting about face.

After marrying 10 years ago and experiencing a life on St. Michaels Drive, then testing out a four-story townhome on Turtle Creek, the two decided to buy a 3,800-square-foot house on Valley Dale in October 2016. Sandy saw the “coming soon” sign and the couple offered a contract on the house less than 48-hours later. The Landons moved into the 1950s three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom home in August 2017 after gutting and renovating the structure. The house was recently featured on the Northaven Home Tour, which benefitted Kramer Elementary PTA.

“We wanted a yard for the dogs, a pool and a retreat,” Sandy says.

Mike has two sons, and Sandy has two sons — all in their 30s. The two entertain family and friends frequently. The home’s focus is a kitchen with a quartzite counter. Mike does most of the cooking, but Sandy makes her mark on the space with a giant floral arrangement she designs with succulents, quartz and seasonal flowers. A steel and glass

Designer notebook:

• Shannon Green of Shannon Rae Interiors and Christy Drew of Arveaux Interiors acted as architects and designers, according to Sandy Landon.

• Bar stools are from Scott + Cooner.

• The sofa in the family room is Italian from Arveaux Interiors.

• The dining room chairs are from the Scout Design Studio.

• The powder room sconces are by Kelly Wearstler.

“If you’re going to do something trendy, do it in the powder bath,” Sandy says. “The rest of the house should look timeless.” cabinet filled with art separates the kitchen from the bar, which used to be a breakfast nook.

“We wanted a big ol’ eat-in kitchen,” Sandy says. “It’s a good party pad.”

A sitting area between the kitchen and the family room welcomes guests with swivel chairs and a cowhide rug. “We sit here all the time,” she says, as a dog naps on the rug at her feet. “We have morning coffee here, look at our iPads, and sit and talk after work with cocktails.”

The round dining room table is the only thing of Mike’s that made the design cut from the couple’s past. He bought the table when he was living in Austin.

The house, which sits on six-tenths of an acre, overlooks a backyard with trees and a pool. The backyard fire pit is “Mike’s happy place.”

When Sandy was sick a year and a half ago and missed a month of work, the couple’s backyard found a new purpose. Doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her as she languished in bed. “The only thing that got me through was this view. It’s so serene.”

Meet The Neighborhood Activists Who Revolutionized Our Community

DANNY FULGENCIO

allas observed its first gay pride celebration in June 1972, and the next parade wasn’t until 1980.

While cities across the world observe pride in June to commemorate the Stonewall Riots in New York City, Dallas Pride was always in September to honor a 1982 court ruling against Texas’ anti-sodomy laws. The ruling was later overturned, and consensual sodomy was illegal in Texas until 2003, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on it.

The September tradition stuck, however.

While New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. got their pride on every June, Dallas collectively experienced FOMO, the fear of missing out.

But not anymore.

The Dallas Tavern Guild, the collective of Oak Lawn business owners who took over what is now the Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade in 1982, handed the parade over to Dallas Pride, a newly formed nonprofit, last year.

This year, Dallas Pride is in June, and it’s moving from Cedar Springs to Fair Park.

The new setup allows for more parade entries. Previously, Dallas police restricted the parade to 100 because there is a limit on how long the street can be closed.

And Fair Park can accommodate more vendors than Reverchon Park.

The 2019 celebration commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots with the theme “Stonewall strong, Dallas proud.”

In a nod to the new Dallas Pride, we talked to neighbors who were around in the early days of pride and the local LGBTQ struggle.