Prominent Homes in the Area - Like H.L. Hunt's Home on the Lake

I use the word "prominent" to define three types of homes which attracted me while growing up in Casa View.  Some were in my own neighborhood, some were around White Rock Lake and one house was in Lakewood.

I was attracted to "opulent" homes in my way of thinking.  Historic homes which anchored me back to earlier times.  And houses that were understandably "quirky" through no fault of their own.

The two most "opulent" home anchored both the south shore and the north shore of White Rock Lake.

Belle Nora on Garland Road across from White Rock Lake on the south.  I always wished I could live in a house which had a manor.  I tried to name my house in North Oak Cliff "Seton Manor" in honor of the former residents, but my wife would have none of it.

H.L. Hunt's house, "Mount Vernon," on the north side of White Rock Lake at 4009 W. Lawther Lane was a 10 acre estate.  It was featured in countless magazines and newspapers.  Always photographed was the hand carved staircase.  Hunt and his family lived there from 1938 until 2000.

Mayor R.L. Thornton's house on Gaston and West Shore Drive near Lakewood Country Club.  I would look at this house while riding the bus into downtown Dallas.  The two-story house was set in a low spot, featured iron gates, rock walls and turrets.  It looked like a castle as far away as you can get from the Bermuda-style homes in my neighborhood.

Ranch Style modern house near Belle Nora at 8234 Garland.  You could look in through the large plate glass windows in this sprawling house and see a TV set flat against a wall.  How modern and sleek.  I usually watched TV in our living room laid out on the floor with a cushion behind my head.  How did they watch their TV?

Another low-slung house was the Trapeze Artist house at 1960 Peavy Road between Estacado and Milmar.  Since elementary school we heard that "circus performers" lived in the house.  They were actually trapeze artists.  Who knew?

Two houses always intrigued me.  One house had a lake in front of it.,  Next door to 1806 Peavy Road and the other at 2440 Peavy Road which had a lake in the back.  Imagine having water in your own back yard!  We had to walk at least three blocks to a creek for our feet to touch any waters.  The huge lawns were always mowed and always had blooming flowers, especially large beds of yellow and blue irises.

The two-story wooden house at 1720 Gus Thomasson between Aledo and Desdemona Drive.  It was an old farm house.  As a kid, it looked run down without a single crop or vegetable planted.  A small house, probably used by the farm's workers, sat close to the street at 1802 Gus Thomasson.  Today the rehabilitated large house is used by a two-story church occupying most of the land.

Another farm house sat facing where Milmar and Peavy Road come together at one end of the Bryan Adams high school complex.  At 2120 Milmar, you did not have to go very far to see our agricultural roots.

The Hart family home at 2241 Hartline right around the corner from where I grew up.  Our house occupied their mule barn.  So they told me.  The Hart family will be treated in a separate article.

Quirkiness came with all the houses which constructed the Little Forest Hills neighborhood.  A little too far to go by bike.  I would look at all the houses from the bus window going into downtown.