Architect Charles Dilbeck is truly one of Dallas’ favorite sons. He may have been born in Arkansas, but we claim him because Dallas has more of his eclectic and whimsical homes than any other city in America. Luckily for buyers, a Dilbeck Texas ranch home has just come up for sale on Park Lane, and it’s a beauty.
Of course, I turned to another of our favorite sons, architect and former Dallas Parks Director Willis Winters. Winters is finishing the definitive book on Charles Dilbeck, so there is truly no one more knowledgeable about the man and his work.
“This is one of his larger houses, and it’s in great shape,” Winters said. “Although it’s a Texas ranch-style home, it has Colonial Revival details like the front door surround. The fanciful door is typical of whimsical Dilbeck elements, with what look to be intertwined dolphins or seals that appear to be kissing. It has all the signature Dilbeck elements from leaded-glass windows, exposed roof rafters, cantilevered second-floor balconies, and portal windows. As was typical in later years, owners enclosed first-floor outdoor porches in glass and often converted second-floor balconies to create more closet space.”
This Dilbeck Texas ranch-style home was originally built for entrepreneur George Underwood. He and Claude C. Ezell were partners and introduced the drive-in movie theater concept to Dallas. In fact, they also held the regional franchise rights in Texas. It was a great partnership and friendship. The two men had neighboring Charles Dilbeck-designed homes. This one belonged to Underwood, and Ezell’s, another magnificently large Texas ranch-style home, was on Meadowbrook Lane.
5310 Park Ln. has had only three owners since 1939, which, of course, speaks to its extraordinary livability. This is one of Dilbeck’s more spacious homes, and it has an unusual interior feature: a huge horseshoe bar in the family room. He usually recessed bars into a nook or cove, but this one comes out into the room. Underwood must have really enjoyed entertaining!
Another feature of this home is the amazing pool house in the back with a major dovecote on top.
“The two big round windows inset in the pool house are references to wagon wheels,” Winters said. “Dilbeck liked complexity. He would set up a symmetrical composition like the pool house but then purposely not make something symmetrical. On the left is an octagon with the dovecote on top. On the right, it is just a rectangular wing. My guess is one side was the mechanical room, and the other was the dressing rooms.”
Legendary Dallas landscape designer Joe Lambert, Jr. collaborated with Dilbeck to create grounds that befit the house and offer exceptional privacy in the heart of Preston Hollow. The present owner, Nancy Shutt, created the extraordinary Shutt Garden, documented in the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Gardens…