Thursday, March 28, 2024 Mar 28, 2024
71° F Dallas, TX
Advertisement
Publications

University Park Neighbors Join Properties-Uniting Two Very Different House Styles

Cy Barcus and Margaret Ryder bought the house between them, tore it down, and joined their properties. After all this, they’re still good friends.
By

+++

Cy and Yvette Barcus love to entertain in their modern, Texas-inspired manse.

Two houses, two architectural styles, and one big idea: Unity.

Like a lot of homeowners frustrated with the plethora of newly constructed McMansions ruining the look of their neighborhoods, friends Cy Barcus and Margaret Ryder worried about the future of their own University Park street, known for its charming and architecturally significant homes. So  Ryder and Barcus did an unconventional thing—they made an offer on the old house between them, bought it together, tore it down, and split the land in half. The challenge: joining Barcus’ spare, modern house and arid landscaping with Ryder’s rustic Dilbeck cottage and English gardens.

Cy and Yvette Barcus’ Modern Texas-Regionalist House

Home builder Cy Barcus teamed with architect Richard Drummond Davis to design a clean, contemporary house for himself that looks right at home with University Park’s more traditional architecture.

By Mary Candace Evans, Interior Photography by Stephen Karlisch, Flowers by Christopher Whanger, Styling by Janet Rosell

The family room’s sofas are from the estate of Clint Murchison Sr., which Cy Barcus found at East & Orient Company. French sculptor Bernar Venet’s iron “Indeterminate Lines” rests on the coffee table. The Rumford fireplace is framed by a sculpture created by Bruno Romeda. The two lamps that flank the fireplace were originally in the SMU law library. A sculpture of patinated bread pans by Arthur Silverman hangs on the wall.

In the beginning, it was all about the desire for additional backyard space—30 feet on the east side of his home versus 6. Then, Cy Barcus and his new bride, Yvette, an engineer by trade and an artist by hobby, built an art studio opposite the garage, which has now become what he calls “the largest air-conditioned dog house in Dallas.” The stone wall separating the two yards has a small opening behind the studio so the dogs can wander between houses. Sometimes neighbor Margaret Ryder wakes up with one of the Barcuses’ dogs in her house, or vice versa. The latest addition to the yard: a hand-crafted stone picnic table and benches that appear to be rising out of the earth. The extra space prevented the lap pool from monopolizing Cy’s side-yard and became a pets’ paradise.

ABOVE LEFT: Cy Barcus lounges in his favorite leather club chair beside pointing lab Rusty. A sculpture by Pascal Pierme is in the background. Across from them, a contemporary silver floor lamp that was once in the SMU law library. 
ABOVE RIGHT: A painting of Marilyn Monroe by Robert Silvers hangs in the gallery.

To link the two homes, Cy built a wall that took its cues from the styles and materials of each house. Ryder’s wall boasts red brick and Leuders limestone in various sizes to match her Charles Dilbeck-designed house. The Barcuses’ side features solid Leuders limestone blocks. Ryder’s fence was divided with wrought-iron panels and a blue iron gate that sports the clean lines of the Barcuses’ home, yet matches the color of Ryder’s windows and doors. Yvette suggested placing a huge 5-foot-tall round field stone smack in the middle of the fence, an idea inspired by Andy Goldsworthy’s book Wall, a gift from one of Cy’s clients. 

Each of nine original L.O. Griffith sketches is matched by the corresponding print. The family room’s floors are inspired by the pattern of those found in a railroad boxcar.

Although Cy is known as a builder of mansions for the city’s rich and famous, when it was time to build his own home, he hired architect Richard Drummond Davis to collaborate on the design of a clean, modern house. There was only one catch: “He wanted the shape and form of the house to fit into the traditional neighborhood,” Davis says. “The home is essentially a saltbox interpretation, incredibly indigenous to Texas.”

Cy picked all the materials for the house, from the cut Leuders limestone in the gallery to the flat clay tile roof, which coincidentally was used abundantly by Dilbeck. The dormers were covered in Corten steel, designed to rust on the exterior, with the rust providing a layer of protective coating. So those stains you see on the exterior stucco walls are art, Cy explains. He wouldn’t change a thing.

Clarke Barcus designed and fabricated the oak cabinets in the kitchen. Stools made from railroad spikes are from John Gregory Studio. A roadrunner, made from railroad spikes, finds a place to perch on the stainless steel countertop of the island.

Cy avoided frills, curlicues, or any sort of froufrou. No drapes to complicate matters. He insisted on clean lines and a sensibly sized, 3,800-square-foot home. “Some of these houses (in Dallas) are so damn big, you have to think of names for the rooms,” he quips. 

According to Cy, a contemporary home is harder to construct. There are no moldings to hide imperfections or uneven corners. His glossy plaster walls required perfect tape-bed-texture skills and hours of sanding. Approximately nine months after breaking ground, he had his four bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths. The house is perfect for entertaining, with large doors in the family room that open to the exterior patio and create easy traffic flow for guests; stainless steel kitchen island countertop; Kuppersbusch glass ceramic, electromagnetic, cool-to the touch, easy-clean cook top with two burners and a wok; oiled oak flooring; oak woodwork and cabinets; French limestone floors in the master bath; and hard-coat plaster walls throughout that are “as smooth as a baby’s bottom.” We’ll take Cy’s word for it.

Cy and Yvette Barcus’ master bedroom is a place of serenity, thanks in part to two 6-foot Julio Laraz paintings. The parchment headboard is from John Gregory Studio. Distressed leather club chairs sit on each side of a lamp created from the cylinder of an airplane.

If the house had any dictates, they came from Cy’s vast art collection. The builder (who, by the way, didn’t own any tools until he got married—his wife came with the tools, he says) began his collection 30 years ago with the purchase of a painting by Dickson Reeder from a gallery owned by Dutch Phillips in Fort Worth. It was Phillips who sparked Cy’s interest in Texas regional art, including the Dallas Nine and the Fort Worth School, a group of young artisans who, during the ’30s and ’40s, turned to the land and flavor of the Southwest for their inspiration. Cy’s vast collection includes works by Jerry Bywaters, Otis Dozier, Alexandre Hogue, William Lester, Florence McClung, and Charles T. Bowling.

The additional 30 feet of yard, which was added when Cy Barcus and Margaret Ryder purchased the lot between them, features a sculpture garden, lap pool, and hand-crafted stone picnic table.

The east side of the residence is a stick-straight gallery showcasing a painting of Marilyn Monroe by Robert Silvers. The entry hall, slightly trapezoidal and wider at the front of the house, creates interesting spatial dynamics. As Davis puts it, “Any modern house should have at least one wall that is rotated to throw a different geometry into it.”

In the family room, there’s a spectacular iron sculpture called “Indeterminate Lines” by French sculptor Bernar Venet. A sculpture by Bruno Romeda frames the Rumford fireplace—something Cy knew he wanted after building it in a home designed by architect Frank Welch. Not only are these fireplaces tall and architecturally interesting, they also lose less heat than traditional fireplaces.

“First time I built it, I said no way in hell that will draft,” he recalls telling Welch. “I thought it was too tall, but it worked.”

Burt and Riley sit inside the Barcuses’ art studio. The frame for the table sits on a mechanical lift so it can be moved when not in use or to make room for other projects. Outside, a Merritt Yearsley water sculpture “Woman in Shower.”

In fact, Cy’s home is virtually a collection of the very best ideas he’s encountered in his 35-year building career. The family room’s hip ceiling paneled with long grain fir beams was inspired by a Bud Oglesby design; the idea for the sophisticated glass doors on his garage and art studio came from a home he built for a client on Lexington Avenue. And like about half of his art, almost everything in the home was purchased locally—from the Deco credenza purchased at Jan Showers & Associates showroom to the sofas bought from East & Orient Company that are from the estate of Clint Murchison Sr. Local sculptor Stanley Bell’s iron sculpture sits in his sculpture garden.

More than anything, Cy says he wanted a comfortable place to fit the way he lives, which always includes a dog or two.

The landscaping has a Texas regionalist feel, with minimalist grasses, bamboo, and evergreens. The sparse look is a counterpoint to neighbor Ryder’s lush English gardens, alive with French and Spanish lavender, caladiums, lamb’s ear, purple phlox, and butterflies. Still, you’re never really sure where one yard ends and the other starts. These neighbors—and friends—wouldn’t have it any other way. 

+++

Margaret Ryder’s Dilbeck Cottage

Ryder’s 1941 University Park cottage is somehow whimsical, elegant, and dog-friendly.

By Loyd Zisk, Interior Photography and Portrait by Stephen Karlisch, Flowers by Margaret Ryder, Styling by Tyler Cobb

Margaret Ryder and her dog Sophie at the front entrance. Ryder created the new gardens running across the property incorporating purple phlox, various EarthKind Roses, astilbe, and rosemary, among other plants.  

Margaret Ryder never knows who’ll be lying at the foot of her bed in the morning. It could be one of her three dogs—or one of three mutts belonging to next-door neighbor Cy Barcus. You might call it a constant canine exchange.

The dogs romp freely between houses via an open portal in the neighbors’ adjoining wall, enjoying free reign of both properties, like best buds. Some days they snooze on Ryder’s kitchen floor; other times they chase squirrels in Barcus’ backyard, dodging large iron sculptures and a reflecting pool. “They come and go like we’re one big happy. Who’d have thought that the process of building a dividing wall would actually bring two neighbors closer together?” Ryder says.

ABOVE LEFT: Margaret Ryder’s entry is signature Dilbeck style, with brick flooring, railroad tie stairs, wood-beamed ceiling, and connecting Dutch doorway. Against the stairs is an 18th century Welsh dresser lined with Ryder’s collection of ironstone jugs and Staffordshire ceramic cottages. Sophie lies in the foreground.
ABOVE RIGHT: The view from the entry hallway into the living room illustrates Dilbeck’s unique arches and floors. Antique cast stone garden containers and a red, leather-bound collection of Shakespeare’s works sit on a 19th century pastry table beside the arching, inset window.

This sharing of dogs and property characterizes the rapport Ryder and Barcus have established since buying and dividing the lot that once lay between them. Barcus, a well-known Dallas builder, lives in a streamlined contemporary home of his own design. (Read about his house on page 116.) Ryder, a self taught, talented floral designer and antiques dealer, lives in a 1941 ranch-style house, designed by noted architect Charles Dilbeck.

Their properties, each recently expanded 30 feet by the joint purchase, are linked by a wall with a split personality—half country French, half modern minimalist. Upon close inspection, it’s evident that this is actually a carefully orchestrated rendezvous, designed to meld two potentially incompatible architectural styles. It all comes together easily, just like the relationship that has grown between the neighbors.

Ryder successfully melds personal collections, antiques, and Dilbeck’s eclectic architectural details in the central living room. Leather-bound books, art, needlepoint furniture, hand-painted barrel chairs, and a massive, carved wooden fireplace mantel and Heriz Persian rug create a warm atmosphere. 

“Even though our homes are very different, Cy and I agreed on how we would split this property, right from the start. We’re in this together,” Ryder says.

Ryder’s reverence for architect Charles Dilbeck resulted in a property extension that looks as though it has been there all along. With the help of local architect and Dilbeck aficionado Taylor Armstrong, Ryder’s new wall boasts the vintage feel of her 66-year-old cottage. Taylor used Austin stone and brick columns to replicate the crisscross design in the main house, and ironwork gates painted classic “Dilbeck blue” mimic the coloration of the upstairs screened-in porch. A cobbled garden path winds to the street, lined with lush blooming flowers. This combination of natural materials, geometric design, and color is definitive Dilbeck.

ABOVE LEFT: An antique Italian candlestick chandelier and coffered wood ceiling add drama to the intimate dining room. A wooden farm table is set with Rose Medallion china and green and white hydrangea, which Margaret Ryder imported from the Netherlands. Shades of red are repeated in the chair fabrics, draperies, and Oushak Persian rug. A Parisian portrait adds a touch of formality to the comfortable room. 
ABOVE RIGHT: The breakfast room has a Dilbeck-style vaulted plaster ceiling with rope detail, inset cabinetry, and whimsical wooden scalloping across the front of the bay window. A French wine tasting table purchased in Paris is set with blue-and-white Italian ceramic plates and yellow Thumbprint glasses that once belonged to her grandmother. Turn of the century tole chairs have light blue fabric cushions that coordinate with the blue-and-white crewel curtains. An antique lantern hangs from the ceiling.

“The biggest challenge of owning a Dilbeck is also the greatest reward,” Ryder explains. “You must consider and pay respect to the style of the house, even if it requires extra steps. However, some of the best things come out of attention given to the quirky details.”

Moving inside, it is clear that creating interiors to suit the style of this eclectic, whimsical house never daunted its dedicated owner. Ryder has added her own family antiques and old-world finesse to the house’s unusual mixture of natural and repurposed materials. She has created vignettes in Dilbeck’s most fanciful nooks and cozy spaces using a collection of antique furnishings, all full of vibrant color and personality. The effect is charmingly simple.

ABOVE LEFT: Also, in the bedroom, Ryder favors blues and browns as seen in the Brunschwig & Fils fabric bed panels. A cathedral ceiling travels to the roofline, set off by original wooden beams. An heirloom crystal chandelier hangs over an antique four poster bed, and a papier-mâché tray with mother-of-pearl detail hangs on the wall. 
ABOVE RIGHT: The blue iron gate ties both properties together—the color is classic Dilbeck, while the geometry of the design echoes the angles of Cy Barcus’ house.

Ryder has amassed a large stash of hand-painted English porcelain, turn-of-the-century figural glass in a St. Bernard pattern, turn-of-the-century iron sconces, and antique leather-bound books. “My parents were collectors,” she explains. “I guess I inherited the gene.”

Fabrics, porcelain, and containers in robin’s egg blue, chocolate brown, and white are favorites, as are St. Bernard pattern collectibles and artwork. Portraits, both in oils and black-and-white photography, line hallways. Old English farmhouse benches and chairs are paired with formal antiques and heirloom sets of vintage crystal and porcelain. Fixtures of iron and cut glass hang from ceilings already intricately embellished with Dilbeck’s signature paneling and molded plaster.

“I believe in mixing and matching pieces that aren’t necessarily meant to go together,” Ryder says.

In every room, Ryder’s floral arrangements bloom. Natural light, filtered through the original small-paned windows, illuminates her work, often arranged in unconventional antique containers.

“Flowers change the look of a room by adding scent, color, and texture. An arrangement can make a traditional room look trendier and a trendy room more traditional. They give you a chance to experiment with different ideas or reinforce what you already have,” says Ryder, whose father inspired her love of flowers and subsequent floral business, Fleurt.

Ryder spends much of her time in a sitting room off the kitchen, overlooking her new yard through floor-to-ceiling bay windows detailed at the top with a row of white wooden scallops. A vaulted ceiling with a sculpted plaster rope pattern and large hanging lantern (inherited from her grandmother’s garden room) sets a playful, outdoorsy tone. Ryder carries a blue-and-white theme throughout in crewel curtains, a fabric loveseat, ceramic compotes, and Italian china. A French wine tasting table is surrounded by delicate iron chairs.

The dining room is filled with a mixture of European antiques, including an Italian candlestick chandelier, English wooden altar table, Italian farm table and English bench, French sideboard dating back to 1820, and a Parisian portrait, as well as pieces found at antique shows in New Orleans and throughout Texas. The table is set with Rose Medallion porcelain, a collection passed along from her father. St. Bernard pattern crystal containers and compotes decorate the dining table and corner shelves, a reminder of Ryder’s sentiments about dogs.

The second floor master bedroom, a comfort zone for Ryder and her dogs, is framed by a cathedral ceiling with exposed beams extending to the roofline. A four-poster bed is draped in blue and brown Brunschwig & Fils fabric. A crystal chandelier, previously her grandmother’s, hangs from the ceiling.

“I believe Charles Dilbeck would approve of what we’ve done here,” Ryder says. “For him, it was all about making the best use of the materials you had. I think he would understand and appreciate the blending of the old and new—it would appeal to his sense of whimsy.”

Charles Dilbeck’s Cottage Style

In 1922, Charles Dilbeck was 15 years old and designing cottages for Oklahoma lumber companies. At 20, he’d begun creating homes for wealthy Tulsa business owners. Five years later, pushed out of Oklahoma by the Depression and lured to Texas by oil money, he settled in Dallas and began building an architectural legacy.

Cottages, hotels, mansions, tract houses—Dilbeck did them all. In his self-trained, idiosyncratic fashion, he veered away from the strict course of “serious” architecture. He eschewed simplicity for mystery and eclecticism, swathing houses in Spanish tile and plaster, adding balconies, timbers, towers, dovecotes, and elaborate brickwork. French farmhouses provided the model for sloping roofs and arched doorways, but the homeowners themselves were the real inspiration. He asked about their hobbies and lifestyles before starting plans. He celebrated whimsy. Dilbeck’s daughter, Elaine MacIntire, says that he believed that people did not need so much house. By the time Dallas had begun to spawn entire neighborhoods of huge houses complete with walk-in closets and enormous kitchens, Dilbeck would drive around, pointing out houses that looked dark and empty except for one small light upstairs. “That’s where the people are,” he would say. “In that little room.”

By 1970, Dilbeck had designed more than 600 homes in the Dallas area, sampling Tudor, Spanish, Colonial, and French styles. His homes still stand on each of the four corners of Shenandoah Street and Douglas Avenue in University Park, merging laid-back Texas flair with idyllic European charm. Even now, new houses hearken back to the playfulness of Dilbeck’s glory days with limestone porches and copper roofs.

 “He always believed it was his God-given gift to draw homes,” MacIntire says. “He never doubted.” And neither do we.
­— Meg Watkins

Related Articles

Image
Basketball

Kyrie and Luka: A Love Story

It didn't work last season, but the dynamic duo this year is showing us something special.
Image
Politics & Government

Q&A: Senate Hopeful Colin Allred Says November Election Is ‘Larger Than Our Own Problems’

The congressman has experience beating an entrenched and well-funded incumbent. Will that translate to a statewide win for the Democrats for the first time since 1994?
Advertisement