Who do you think you are? What business do you have? How dare you? In the seven years that we’e been crowning winners in our annual celebration of gorgeous homes, we’ve heard all that and more. Allow us to clear up any and all confusion. We are a gang of well-meaning shelter-magazine editors who have made it our business to run the roads of Dallas and select our very favorite houses based solely on curb appeal, with no regard for pedigree of home nor resident. And we dare to do it quite happily. To see the full list of beautiful homes, including our selections from past years, click here.
When the D Home staff divvied up neighborhoods to scout for our annual Most Beautiful Homes issue, I elected to handle Lakewood, because I am a glutton for punishment, apparently. I say that not because it was hard to find gorgeous homes here—in fact, just the opposite. I was drowning in them. After snapping a shot of a house, I couldn’t drive more than 20 feet without seeing another worthy contender. Up and down streets I went, stopping, pulling over, taking a picture, jotting down the address, lathering, rinsing, repeating. Stopping and starting and stopping and starting, circling back around and driving the street again if I missed a street number or needed a better angle. People absolutely thought I was a stalker.
I’d figured I could sufficiently cover the area in an hour and a half; I was out for four hours and felt like I’d barely made a dent. Probably half that time was spent on Lakewood Boulevard. That street is, like, the visual definition of the expression “throw a rock.” When making my submissions, I felt like a mother unable to choose a favorite among her children—just about every home on that street is lovely and, perhaps more importantly for an issue like this about a city with so many beautiful homes, interesting. These aren’t cookie-cutter McMansions. They’re not only attractive, but they have charm and individuality and idiosyncrasies, not unlike a great mate.
This house in particular jumped out at me for a couple of reasons. Of course, that pair of twisted columns in the front catches your eye right away, as does the vivid Spanish tile roof. I’m also a sucker for a stained glass window. Maybe it’s my Catholic upbringing, I don’t know. But something about that one mismatched window and the way it mimics the rounded arches between the banisters pleases my eye.
But maybe my favorite facet of this 84-year-old gem is the well-manicured ivy. Ivy’s one of those things that either works on a house or it doesn’t. It’s like a man with a beard. And this house wears it with confidence.
