Portrait of an Artist

Alexander Benjamin “Alex” Clayton came to Dallas in 1954 to paint a portrait of Mrs. Alstacheia J Hub Hill of Dallas. She was the wife of the president of Acme Brick Company. Alex was quickly commissioned by several Dallas notables to paint their portraits as well. They included Miss Era Hockaday, Harold F. Volk, Bishop …

It’s Only Original Once

You may have noticed the unassuming house for sale at 4331 N. Hall. Beyond the overgrown shrubs, you will find how many of the homes in Perry Heights looked 80 or 90 years ago. You can see the extremely narrow driveway going straight back to the garage ready for a Model T. The original single-paned …

The Rise and Fall (and Rise?) of Lemmon Ave.

As Perry Heights developed house by house in the 1920s, Lemmon Avenue was the address of some of the grandest homes in the city. Prominent houses and trees lined the avenue from Downtown to Lomo Alto Drive. Lemmon Ave. was named after William H. Lemmon who was a Confederate captain turned real estate developer in …

E. Gordon Perry’s Dream Neighborhood

E. Gordon Perry, the founder and developer of the Perry Heights neighborhood, had an ideal neighborhood in mind for his family and built his dream from the ground up. Mr. Perry just moved to Dallas from El Paso after establishing the Perry Motor Company selling Model T Fords since 1915. He also began some housing …

The Outlaw of Perry Heights

Otto and Norma Beutel married in 1916 and moved into a home on Hood St. in Dallas. Along with Norma’s mother and brother, the household soon added a daughter, Betty G, and a son, Jack Allender Beutel. In 1928, the four members of the young family moved to 4338 Vandelia St. in Perry Heights. Otto …

How Luby’s Really Began

Luby’s Cafeterias and Dallas go together like peas and carrots. While Luby’s own company history calls San Antonio the birthplace of the Company in 1945, the reality is that there were Luby’s Cafeterias all over the Dallas area for years before then. So why the disconnect? Not surprisingly, the answer lies in family dynamics. Earl …

Leader of the Band

Paul and Margarita Guerrero and their six children lived in New Braunfels and all played in the family band in the late 1930’s and 1940’s. They played dance-band music and Mexican boleros as they traveled regionally around Texas. The father, Paul Sr. also played trumpet and valve trombone in many top Afro-American bands, such as …

We love our park, but who was Craddock?

Our beautiful park, as you know, was donated to the City of Dallas by the Craddock family in 1922 when Gordon Perry platted Perry Heights. It was the first privately donated tract of land for the purpose of a public park in the City’s history. The land was just short of 10 acres and it was …

The Preservationist

Catherine (“Cay”) and Nathaniel (“Key”) Kolb moved into the house at 4402 Rawlins in 1964 and in it raised three boys and three girls. They had met in Dallas in 1958 while Cay, who had just graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, was working as a buyer for Sanger-Harris and Key had just graduated …

The Opera Stars in the Kitchen

If you were lucky enough to get an invitation, your senses would be overwhelmed with garlic, lemons, and sweet oregano while listening to the chic couple talk about their adventures living all over Europe, singing in the most beautiful opera houses, and probably tennis. Plato and Dorothy Karayanis loved to entertain in their condominium at …