Ah, May, summer’s sweet start. This is the month to read your copy of D Home while you enjoy a glass of cold tea. Dawdle, laze, wallow in the stories and photography your editors have put together for you. You will be delighted.
For your reading pleasure, may I suggest you click here to tour a Hal Thomson-designed house in Highland Park, now owned by Kelly and Mark Bunting. The Bunting house, originally built for the Ferris family, is awash in European detail: an Italianate loggia with stone balustrades, ornate carved wood doors, and magnificent stone fireplaces. Thomson was an Austin-bred architect and quite the darling of early Texas aristocracy, such as it was in the 1920s. A Dallas Times Herald reporter describes Thomson’s houses: “Nearly all have a distinct time-polished charm about them that makes it fun to imagine what Dallas must have been like when Woodrow Wilson was talking about the League of Nations.” What a thought. Imagine writers decades from now describing the newly designed and constructed houses of today, built “back when people thought it was a big deal that a woman and an African American were running for president.” Mind boggle!
Also in this issue, in a contemporary and Latin-influenced setting, you will meet two of my favorite people, Janet and Terry Kafka. The Kafkas are emblematic of modern Dallas: sophisticated, well-traveled, stylish, and smart. They moved here as a young married couple in the 1980s and started their own businesses, with Janet opening a public relations agency dedicated for the most part to championing Spain. Today she is the Honorary Consul of Spain, and she and Terry’s Lionel Morrison-designed house in Preston Hollow is the scene of Latin-inspired dinner parties and receptions throughout the year. Click here, and you will see the beautiful way in which the Kafkas live.
Finally, this is our seventh annual “Best of Everything” issue, with some of the most fascinating people, places, and things in the city. I always love chasing down the editors’ recommendations in this annual feature, which begins here. Do you agree with their findings? Can you think of someone or something that should be labeled a “best”? Don’t hold back—the moment this issue is published, the editors will be working on our 2009 “best,” and they’d love your thoughts.
Enjoy this issue, and let me hear from you.
Christine Allison
President, D Magazine Partners
[email protected]
