Sunday, April 15, 2007

White Rock Home Tour and Art Festival to benefit Hexter Elementary this weekend

By Pegasus News wire

DALLAS — Architects, artists and creative types abound near White Rock Lake, which is how Hexter’s under-funded art program came to benefit from the PTA-created White Rock Home Tour and White Rock Art Festival. The previously separate fundraisers have raised enough to afford a full year of art education, an after-school drama club and art and music supplies for Hexter. To strengthen the event for the school and community, D Magazine and D Home are sponsoring the events, which will be held concurrently on Earth Day weekend with this year’s being April 21-22, 2007.

The home tour is the area’s only one known to feature contemporary homes exclusively and the renowned architects that built them. Several this year are owned by architects. The juried art festival is widely regarded by artists and visitors as exhibiting only well-known artists who create true fine art.

Home tour locations:

2001 North Buckner

2001 N. Buckner Boulevard: The 4,500 sq. ft. contemporary, earth sheltered (i.e. underground) home was built in 2000 by Architect Frank Moreland. It blends a Southwestern feel with its built-in bancos on the exterior that could seat 60, three fireplaces and hand-troweled stucco display walls and cabinets by Carmen Velarde, a noted Taos artist. With this tour, the home makes its public debut.

Despite its size and busy roadside location, utility bills average less than $275 a month and the home is virtually soundproof. This is due to the 800 tons of soil and concrete and steel in the roof and five feet of soil above the roof. Though the east, north and south sides are windowless, and yet plenty of light streams in from the creek-facing window and the clerestory glass block windows running the length of the house.

1019 Waterford Drive

1019 Waterford Drive: Architect Glenn Allen Galaway built only five homes and this is one of three that remain today. Galaway built the home for himself in 1954 in a virtually hidden spot that nestles up to a small creek. Galaway’s use of crisp, clean lines, minimalist details, materials, flat roof, and horizontality appear to be influenced by the work of famed local architect Howard Meyer. Though only 2,100 sq. ft., the space is enhanced through the open plan and unobstructed views.

Architect Cliff Welch of Clifford Welch Architecture and wife Donna have worked to restore and renovate the home in keeping with the architect’s original vision. In the process, their home received the 2000 Preservation Dallas Renovation Restoration Award, making it the first modern residence in Dallas to receive this honor. Their home has been featured in D Home, Dallas Morning News, Better Homes and Garden, Lakewood Advocate and Park Cities and Lakewood People.

10226 Vinemont Street: This mid-century modern was built by Lyle Rowley, founder of Ju-Nel Homes, and was originally designed with an Asian influence for a couple who had traveled extensively in Japan. Current homeowners Yung-Jen Tai, RTKL architect, and wife Lynn have preserved the original open spaces and now-unavailable South African wood paneling characteristic of Ju-Nel Homes. The fireplace is a mosaic of vintage tiles, and the courtyard is visible from most of the interior spaces. A native tree near the front door was spared during construction by Ju-Nel’s signature trait of cut-outs in the eaves. This residence was recently featured in D Home.

Architect Lyle Rowley will be on-site for one-on-one Q&A with tourists.

808 Sylvania Drive: Architect Jeff Good of Good, Fulton and Farrell and wife Susan extensively renovated their 1960’s "soft" modern home by opening the living areas and adding substantial glass walls to link the interior with the courtyard and pool areas. The recent master bedroom expansion includes a second stone fireplace, figured maple built-ins, motorized shades and a large steam shower. Special attention to interior lighting includes commercial lighting fixtures and iconic modern fixtures from the past. The home is complimented by a collection of classic modern furniture along with custom-designed and fabricated one-of-a-kind pieces. The home is on a corner lot facing a natural tributary greenbelt connecting to White Rock Lake. The original house was designed around a live oak tree which has become a specimen tree that now anchors the private courtyard and provides shade for the entire house.

954 Forestgrove Drive

954 Forestgrove Drive: The fifteen-foot drop from the back to the front of the house created a unique design opportunity for Architect Pedro Aguirre (owner of Aguirre Corporation.) A circular driveway ducks under the second story main floor, while a water fountain trickles down the entry way wall to greet guests on the bottom floor. Insider Marketing owners and homeowners Ellen and Steve Miller have preserved and restored the original floor plan, case lighting fixtures, doorknobs, stucco ceilings, cabinetry and trim detail that repeat throughout the home. Original artwork is found throughout the home. Vast plate glass windows give views to lush gardens. Bedrooms open to private patios and a shared courtyard. Aguirre recalls this 1969 home as “the best home he ever did” and hopes one day to live in it himself. It was also his last before shifting his focus to commercial design. The home has been featured in Park Cities People and Dallas Morning News.

Architect Pedro Aguirre will be on-site for one-on-one Q&A with tourists.

Artist overview: HGTV-featured Susan Tinkler O’Neal, local icon Dahlia Woods and more than 65 other acclaimed local artists exhibit their pastels, oil paintings, ceramics, sculpture, fine jewelry, textiles and more.

Source: Hexter PTA

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