If you’ve never heard the phrase “Keep Little Forest Hills Funky,” you don’t know what you’re missing. This beautiful East Dallas neighborhood near White Rock Lake has some of the most interesting and charming houses you will ever find. The original homes were built as lake cottages and hunting cabins between the 1920s and the 1940s because the area was very much on the outside of town back then.
White Rock Lake was finished in 1910, but it took about a decade for developers to capitalize on the bucolic attraction. While the wealthier folks built large second homes in Forest Hills, there was plenty of room in the neighborhood next door for the construction of smaller cottages that were more affordable. By the 1980s, artists, photographers, and musicians discovered Little Forest Hills. They flocked to the area because pricing was still great, and it just kept getting funkier!
Driving through the neighborhood for the first time years ago, it was an absolute delight to see things like a front yard edged in vintage bowling balls and a retaining wall built out of colorful slag glass. I think you get the idea. Nothing is off limits, and the funkier the better. There was even a 2007 documentary called Subdivided: Isolation and Community in America filmed there, which cited Little Forest Hills as an example of good development. You can find it at the Dallas Public Library, and it remains incredibly relevant today.
Of course, Little Forest Hills is now a highly sought-after neighborhood. As I’ve mentioned before, affordable is in the eye of the beholder, but when you can find a fully updated 1,441-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom original lake cottage like this one for under $625,000, you have scored.
Built in 1940, this adorable Little Forest Hills lake cottage has been cosmetically updated, but it’s also been upgraded for energy efficiency. A new roof has just been installed, and there’s PVC plumbing throughout the house — no old clay pipes to worry about.
We always appreciate it when people have permit-ready architectural plans for additions or detached structures, as it eliminates the guesswork about what’s possible. The listing descriptions break it down:
“Ryan Withrow of Object & Architecture, a Dallas-based firm known for sustainable, context-sensitive residential design, drew up plans for a detached structure that can serve as a two-car garage, art studio, or city-approved ADU, as well as a second-story addition to the main house offering flexibility, rental potential, and long-term value.”
You have the unbeatable character of Funky Little Forest Hills, along with a completely move-in-ready original lake house featuring every modern convenience. It’s truly a charming cottage in an idyllic spot…