When Emporium Pies founder Mary Sparks and her husband, Wheeler, were shopping for homes in 2019, what struck them about 2914 Gladiolus Lane was all the wildlife.
“When we were trying to decide about the house and we were walking around the property,” Mary Sparks says, “I saw just a turtle, hanging out, moseying around back there.”
The mid-century ranch house sits right in the middle of the .87-acre property and is surrounded by wilderness on all sides. The backyard is a blooming forest of magnolias, bamboo, junipers, cherry laurels, cedar elms, crepe myrtles, and pecan trees. And the multiple water sources—a koi pond and Crow Creek at the back of the lot—bring plenty of life. Sparks says after living on a main street for years, she was tickled to see all the critters: bunnies, cardinals, frogs.
“It makes you feel like you’re not so much in the city,” she explains.
The property is also just a few blocks from Kiestwood Trail. And although Gladiolus doesn’t have sidewalks to stroll down, it’s just a short drive or bike ride away from Kiest Park and Oak Cliff Nature Preserve.
Built in 1959, the home has plenty of mid-century sensibilities, like vaulted ceilings and large windows that bring the nature into just about every room. However, all the trees on the property make the home feel private despite all the windows, says Realtor Courtney Ellis. “You don’t feel like you’re in a fishbowl,” she says. “You feel like you’re in a treehouse.”
Although the Sparkses made plenty of changes to the home when they moved in, including converting the secondary bedroom into two, renovating the primary bathroom and kitchen, updating lighting, and redoing closets, this property is begging for a knowledgeable and eager hand to turn it into a veritable mid-century modern jewel inside and out.
Scroll through the gallery to learn more about the home.
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