Saturday, January 19, 2008

Developer gives homes in Richardson Heights a thoughtful rebirth

By Andrew Laska of Richardson Echo

RICHARDSON — A residential developer is seeking to gives homes in the Richardson Heights area a rebirth. Residential developer Peter Livingston is refurbishing the interiors – and more – on over one dozen homes in the Richardson Heights area.

Now this sort of thing might not seem like news but to Peter Livingston it is his business and his passion. Going into homes or buildings and reclaiming their life is what he does. I ask him if he calls this “restoration” or “renovation.” Before I can finish my words, he smiles and cuts me off.

“I call it restoration-renovation,” He says. For 25 years he has rebuilt homes in Highland Park, Preston Hollow, and Bonham, Texas.

Many people “fix up” houses for sale. However what caught my eye about Peter (or “Pete” as his friends say) Livingston is that he treats the houses as much more than commodities to be brought and sold. He treats them as elements that have a life of their own within the greater life of a neighborhood and city.

He bristles at the buzz word “update” when it only means “adds new counter tops, repaints,” and “changes the carpet” for the sake of “flipping” the house for quick sale. His refurbishment takes into account not just the house but also the neighborhood. These houses have ranged in size from 900 to over 7000 square feet and one having sold for over $3,000,000. Some of his renovations completely renews the interior of the home with brand new floorplans, electrical, plumbing, and heating/air conditioning, while maintaining and enhancing the character of the home's exterior. One visitor I spoke to viewing one of the houses said, “It is literally a brand new house on the inside.”

Actually to him, its business and it’s personal. Why? He and his parents moved into a house on the 600 block of Dumont when he was one year old and then his parents had a house built on Osage. His attachment is deep.

He seems to posses an encyclopedic knowledge of the facts pertaining to the area’s development and can rattle off all sorts of numbers. He has endeavored to understand the growth of the area and how it came to be through researching old news clippings.

“Underwood & Embrey started with 288 lots in about 1954 and by 1961 they were up to there 5000th lot,” he states. He refers to George M. Underwood and James Lindsay Embrey who developed almost all of the homes in the entire expanse of Heights area.

The area that is now the Richardson Heights Homeowners Association is situated south and west of the US-75 and Belt Line intersection and south to Spring Valley and west to Hyde Park. It was one of the first high growth areas of Richardson in its post World War II boom. However, most houses with the “Heights” name extend well beyond the borders of that current homeowners association. You can find homes that have the Heights name north of Melrose Drive and to the south and west just shy of Coit Road. Two other neighborhood associations bear the Heights name: One is Heights Park. The other is Cottonwood Heights, formerly Southwest Richardson, which renamed itself in order to rebrand itself closer to its roots. Both are part of the original Heights expansion. The homes Livingston is renovating are in the south and east portions of the original Heights area.

Historically, part of the area was once owned by one of Richardson’s founders. John William “Billie” Wheeler, the man who gave right of way land for Richardson as a town site after the Civil War, had a farm located on what is now Richardson Heights Shopping Center and Devonshire Drive.

When Central Expressway made its mark in the 1950s, Underwood and Embrey made their move after buying farmland near Belt Line Road.

“We figured on a shopping center and 299 lots, and estimated it would take five years for it to all build up,” Underwood said in a 1962 Dallas Morning News article, “but an ad in The Dallas news and a sign on Belt Line Road sold all the lots on the first Sunday.” Streets and landmarks in Richardson still bear the names of the farmsteads they bought and the families that owned them: Greer, Weatherred, Huffhines, Coit, Kindred, Bishop.

Heights has had its share of famous residents. Old timers have told me they remember Mike Ditka walking the streets long before his return to Chicago along with a number of other Dallas Cowboys. Author Anne Rice is rumored to have lived here when she lived in Richardson as a teenager and so did Pulitzer Prize winning editorial Cartoonist Steve Benson who is now with the Arizona Republic.

None of this is lost on Livingston. He says the area is “in a time warp.” While other areas closer to the interior of Dallas have housing prices $200 per square foot and up, some Heights homes can be approximately $105 to $115 per square foot as is. Although the houses he has completely redone are at the highest end of the market in Heights, a 1950s house in a mature tree lined Dallas neighborhood would cost just as much and probably would not be completely redone.

Most of the houses, according to Livingston, were originally 1100 to 1550 square feet. Lots of developments did not restrict standards, but Richardson did giving a quality to construction that Livingston admires.

At that size, I ask the question that gives rise to trepidation to many a resident who has come to love the feel of the neighborhood: “With all sorts of houses being torn down in Dallas and replaced with ‘McMansions,’ why aren’t you tearing these down and starting over?”

“I love the quality and integrity of these pier and beam foundation houses,” he says, “and in this neighborhood ninety percent – maybe more – are original. By original, I mean they have not had additions.”

He says to me that the teardowns in other Dallas neighborhoods, while controversial to some, have come after the houses have gone through a cycle of additions and updates to the extent that is developmentally possible. This has not happened in Heights and he hopes Heights – at least the portion of Heights he is working in – tries to reinvent itself before it decides the houses are no longer needed. He thinks the lots can hold larger houses without having to erect huge houses or even tear most down.

…and people from the community are noticing what he is doing.

Randy Smith, President of the Richardson Heights Homeowners Association said, “Our homes were well built in the 50s and 60s, to meet the needs of families of that era. These kinds of renovations show us that that you can create a ‘new’ home that meets the needs of families of this era, while retaining the architectural character and charm of a home and maintaining the integrity of the neighborhood as it's existed for years.”

“I think he is the real deal,” stated Richardson city council member John Murphy, whose district is made up almost entirely of heights homes, “We really hope he succeeds.”

“Some need it all and some need to go. They don't all need to survive,” Livingston adds.

“I do intend to build some houses in Heights but the architecture will be thoughtful and my houses will fit the neighborhood. I will call them ‘Retro-Ranch’, and possibly new modern. I will build as high a quality as the buyers will allow. If I can't build good quality in the Heights market place, I will pull out!,” Livingston says.

“I am being really thoughtful to the existing neighborhood. I am not going to change it to the trendy current architecture,” he says by stating while a faux Tudor or a trendy house with imitation French accents might be appropriate in other places, including other places in Richardson, he would never do one in Heights.

Some of the houses Livingston has chosen for his “restoration-renovation” are in the family of America’s Modern movement. They are called “mid-century modern” or what he calls “California contemporary” style homes. They are some of the few on the west side of Richardson. While new builders imitate past styles in new homes, authentic American modern homes can be in high demand because of a growing appreciation for the architectural style amongst the young and upwardly mobile.

“I drive through here with architects and builders and they ask me, ‘What’s so special about these houses’,” Livingston says gesturing with sarcasm in the question, “I say that they are well built and quality houses.”

He then notes with a waving gesture that in many Dallas pier and beam houses the beams look like waves when you go under the houses and look at them, “I can go under these houses and the foundation beams are always straight.”

I ask him about Richardson’s architectural review committee, which is proposing standards that might be adopted by the City Council. (Note: We will discuss this in full in a future article.) These standards will allow neighborhoods to put certain standards in place for redevelopment and in some cases encourage radical redevelopment. Livingston thinks it’s a good idea and it is important.

“Richardson Heights is probably unequaled because the overall integrity is there and because two men did almost the whole things within a progressive city,” he says, “Richardson Heights was probably a one of a kind for its time.”

If Livingston has his way, it will be one of a kind once again.

Pegasus News content partner - Richardson Echo

Editor's Note: Andrew tells us that he's heard that The Daily Newspaper will have a story on this topic tomorrow.

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• Real Estate > Residential
• Citizen Profiles
• Home and Garden > Home Improvement

Comments

CastleHills Anonymous

I WANT that patio. Beautiful.

7 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Andrew Laska Verified

We have confirmed, from Mrs Rice herself, that Anne Rice lived in Richardson but not in a Heights neighborhood. I am glad I called it a "rumor."

We will have more on what she said to the Echo at a future date.

Andrew

7 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )