Sol and Zach Whitt had always liked the Little Forest Hills neighborhood, with its short walk to the Dallas Arboretum and White Rock Lake and abundance of bungalows. So, when they were ready to move out of their M-Streets duplex in 2018, they knew where to look.
They picked 8702 Forest Hills Blvd. The little blue house “reminded us a little bit of a New England-type cottage,” Sol says. It needed some work, but they could see its potential. “We could tell it would be a fun project.”
Sol is a traditionalist who likes separation between rooms, but the house’s layout needed some adjusting. She and her husband like to entertain, but the kitchen was too small, and a wall blocked them from talking to their guests in the living room while they cooked. So, they demolished the wall between the living room and kitchen to open it up. They also moved the laundry out of the kitchen and got rid of the small dining room, opening the space for a large galley kitchen. An old office became the new dining room.
They tore out the outdated brown tile and installed white oak hardwoods. During the installation, the couple recovered some of the original floorboards in the kitchen and bedrooms, “which was a nice surprise,” Sol says. They smoothed over the “heavily textured” tan walls and added new windows in the bedrooms and expanded and replaced others. They installed French doors to the backyard in the new dining room and in the nursery. They completely gutted both bathrooms, adding in Carrara marble and new showers.
The backyard was a completely blank slate, Sol says. The Whitts strung up lights across the yard and set up several seating and dining areas. They planted lots of ornamental trees and put in flower beds of pink muhly, sedges, black and blue salvias, and more. Zach built several planter boxes, too. “We use those a lot to add colorful annuals and just create an environment,” Sol says.
They felt some pressure “but in a good way” to invest time into their outdoor space, Sol says. Many of their neighbors liked to garden, and the Whitts liked that about their community. “That makes it a really pretty place to live.”
That pretty environment certainly attracted potential buyers. The home is already under contract, but you can scroll through the gallery to learn more about the home and the Whitts’ updates to the property. And keep an eye out for another home that might open up here in the future.
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