One of the most beautiful historic Belmont Addition Craftsman homes has just been publicly listed for the first time. After 21 years, homeowners Philip and Melissa Kingston put their beloved home on the market.
As lawyers, the Kingstons participated in leadership with the Dallas Bar Association and completed the Leadership Dallas program. They got involved in acquiring neighborhood sign toppers, improving local schools, and getting Lower Greenville back in shape. So, of course, people kept asking them to volunteer. Deeply involved in the Dallas community, the Kingstons helped make their neighborhood a protected conservation district.
“After we moved into the neighborhood, we started seeing tear-downs,” Melissa said. “One day, a local firefighter came over to drum up support for a conservation district. We just kind of fell into leadership in the neighborhood and started a three-year project to get the conservation district.”
In 2004, Belmont Addition became the 12th conservation district in Dallas, with the consequent protections preserving the neighborhood’s unique historic character and architectural heritage.
The home has been owned by only three families since Mr. and Mrs. J.P. Massey built it in 1915. Mr. Massey was a principal and teacher at Central High School in Oak Cliff. The couple raised three daughters and a son here. According to the Dallas Morning News archives, the southeast bedroom was rented out on a regular basis, which was quite the norm then. Records show Mrs. Massey celebrating her 103rd birthday here in 1969…