Homes That Make Us Happy

How SMU Shaped Douglas Newby’s Civic and Professional Career | The 1911 Group

The 1911 Group produces a thoughtful SMU Stories series that captures the experiences of alumni who have helped shape Dallas. In this episode, Mitchell Brown speaks with Douglas Newby about how an interdisciplinary education at SMU influenced his civic engagement, preservation work, and professional point of view — from revitalizing older neighborhoods to representing architecturally […]

Blair Pogue DMN High Profile Feature by Sarah Hepola also Profiles Dallas

The Blair Pogue profile by Sarah Hepola in the Dallas Morning News was actually a profile of Dallas. High Profile has always been a favorite section of mine because I understand Dallas better when I know more about the people who contribute to Dallas and make it an interesting and great city. High Profile Feature […]

Dallas Business Journal Features Highland Park Estate Home at 4400 Belfort Place

It is no wonder that the Dallas Business Journal chose the Highland Park estate home at 4400 Belfort Place to feature. Dallas loves business, not just the money element, but who is contributing, what resonates with Dallas, what is the market? The home at 4400 Belfort Place answers a lot of these questions. Journalist Alexa […]

Highland Park Home is Only Home Featured in Both Wall Street Journal and Dallas Morning News

The Highland Park home at 4400 Belfort Place was the only home selected this year to be featured in both the Wall Street Journal and the Dallas Morning News. How do editors select a home to feature? There are 30,000 homes for sale in MLS in the Dallas region and there are 2,000,000 homes for sale in MLS across the country. Why did they feature this Highland Park home for sale?

Why Do Spanish Revival Style Homes Evoke the Best of Highland Park?

Dallas is home to the best collection of 20th century homes in the country. Highland Park is associated with the best homes in Dallas. How did Spanish Revival style homes come to represent the finest homes in Highland Park – the best of the best – and evoke the excellence of Highland Park? The story […]

Home Value Hierarchy – Hal Thomson

For a perfect illustration of home value and the many factors that elevate a home’s value, consider the Hal Thomson-designed home at 3925 Potomac Avenue. As I’ve shared before, home value is determined by a home’s location, its neighborhood, its site and its historic and architectural significance. All these characteristics combine to make this architecturally […]

Homeowner’s Greatest Property Right is Single-Family Zoning

Some Confuse a Homeowner’s Greatest Property Right With How Many Uses the Homeowner can Utilize for Their Home A homeowner’s greatest property right is not how many uses a homeowner can use their home, in addition to that as a home, such as a tavern, rooming house, short term rentals (STRs), office suites, pharmaceutical production […]

How Wealth and Luxury Impact Homes and the Real Estate Market

The pandemic has us thinking about wealth and luxury in a more profound way—more than superficial opulence and privilege, but as a guiding force in determining homes that make us happy living, working and playing. Wealth and luxury impact homes and the real estate market more significantly than builder or industry design trends. Those with […]

Homes That Make Us Happy – Timeless Observations

In 2016, I did a TEDx Talk, Homes That Make Us Happy, based on my blog article, Characteristics of Homes People Love. I look back at those insights to show that the characteristics of homes people love were apparent even before the pandemic. However, the pandemic made us focus on the elements of the homes […]

Inspired Architecture Benefits Shelter in Place

Shelter in place has us focused on the characteristics of a home that makes us happy. What makes us happy in a home has not changed, but since we are spending more time in a home than ever, we are focused on what makes us happy in a home. Neighborhoods become more important during shelter […]