Preston Hollow, Dallas

Beginning in the 1850s, the first settlers began receiving land grants for Preston Hollow’s land. Among them were the Lively family on Guersney Lane, the Howell family, and the Meaders family. Other smaller farms, such as the dairy farm at 6303 Meadow, were also in Preston Hollow. [1]

In the 1920s, the first people started moving to Preston Hollow for residential purposes. Ralph Stichter was the first, purchasing many acres at the northeast corner of Preston and Walnut Hill. He built two estates on his property, one right at the corner and another at what is now 6126 Lakehurst, which still stands, in 1922.[1]

6126 Lakehurst (1922)

That same year, real estate developer Ira P. DeLoache first noticed the area.[1][2] In 1924, DeLoache bought a 56-acre (23 ha) farm; Preston Hollow's first lots were carved out of the former farm parcels. He built his real estate office at what is now Ebby’s Little White House in 1926.[1] DeLoache and Al Joyce developed Preston Hollow, with development mainly occurring in the 1930s. Famous Pre-War architect Charles Dilbeck designed many monumental homes throughout the neighborhood in the 1930s and early 1940s.[1] At first, Preston Road was the area's only connection to Downtown Dallas. Terry Box of The Dallas Morning News said that the Northwest Highway "was nothing more than muddy right of way." The area that would later become Preston Center was a dairy farm in the early to mid-20th Century.[3]

The developers intended Preston Hollow to be what Box said was "more than a flatland suburb on the fringes of a new and growing Dallas."[3] Doctors, entrepreneurs, industrialists, lawyers, and oil businesspeople moved to Preston Hollow. Many built country-style estates that housed horses and stables. A private school which later became St. Mark's School of Texas opened in the area.[3]

In the early 1930s, during the Depression, Edward James Solon, the treasurer of a company called Interstate and the partner who came with Karl Hoblitzelle from Chicago to Dallas, purchased a Preston Hollow corner property at Douglas and Averill Way. DeLoache built a Dillbeck-designed house on the property. This Tudor-styled home was considered the beginning of the many large estates built in what is now termed the Old Preston Hollow area—an earlier large house in the area, by the pond near Avrill, was considered as part of the farm.

In the 1930s, moving beyond Northwest Highway was considered "going into the sticks" and risky in terms of attracting affluent homeowners. Later, many people said that E.J. Solon's estate started the North Dallas migration.

Preston Hollow was officially incorporated as a municipality in 1939, and DeLoache’s real estate office/Ebby’s Little White House turned into the town hall. [1][4]

The former Preston Hollow Town Hall

Provisioned by the Preston Road Fresh Water Supply District, the North Dallas town of Preston Hollow was named for the dark wooded area with creeks and hollows extending westward from Preston Road. The westward boundary is generally agreed to be Marsh Lane.[4]

In 1945, Preston Hollow residents voted to join the city of Dallas,[4] and the municipality was annexed to Dallas shortly after that. That same year, the residents of Preston Hollow's southern neighbor, University Park and its southern neighbor, Highland Park, (collectively, the Park Cities) voted to remain independent municipalities.

The book, Preston Hollow: A Brief History, covers the history of the neighborhood from the first settlers in the 1850s to the 2019 tornado. A neighborhood Facebook group called “Preston Hollow History” shares more historical information.[1]

Despite a 1948 U. S. Supreme Court ruling that state courts cannot enforce race-based restrictions on the occupancy of real estate,[5] a covenant was enacted in 1956 for 17 lots in the James Meaders Estates subdivision of Preston Hollow, which stated that only white residents were allowed to live on those lots unless they were "domestic servants of a different race or nationality in the employ of a tenant."[6][7] In July 2000 the residents repealed this restriction.[7]

Teardowns of mid-20th century ranch-style houses in portions of Preston Hollow began after land values increased in the 1980s.[8]

In September 2008, Preston Hollow returned to national headlines when New York Post gossip columnist Cindy Adams wrote a column claiming that U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife Laura had purchased a home in Preston Hollow.[9] Described as "a big house on five acres," Adams also claimed that this house would have "horse stables, lake views, mountain views, golf club views" and that Preston Hollow is "a town outside Dallas."[9] Dallas media pointed out the significant factual errors in the column[10] (perhaps, most glaringly, Dallas's location in a non-mountainous region of Texas) and noted that the real estate agent cited denied both the report or that the Post had ever contacted her.[11]

A map of Old Preston Hollow

Politicians include former U.S. President George W. Bush,[12] former Dallas mayors Tom Leppert and Laura Miller and her husband, retired Texas legislator Steve Wolens;[13] and Christina Crain, the namesake of the Christina Crain Unit women's prison and former chairperson of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice.[14]

Business executives included the late Ross Perot,[15] energy tycoon the late T. Boone Pickens,[15] and include former American Airlines chairman Bob Crandall, software developer Larry Lacerte,[16] Stream Energy Chairman Rob Snyder, and included the investor the late Harold Simmons.[17]

Sports & entertainment figures include Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban,[15] former Dallas Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki, current Dallas Mavericks player Luka Doncic, former Dallas Cowboys players Roger Staubach,[15] Daryl Johnston, and Chuck Howley, previous Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks,[18] former Dallas Cowboys football coach Wade Phillips, golfer Lee Trevino,[19] golfer Jordan Spieth,[20] and current Dallas Stars player Tyler Seguin.

Noted residents of Old Preston Hollow who are now deceased include ClubCorp founder Robert H. Dedman Sr.,[21] trial lawyer and Democratic Party fundraiser Fred Baron and his wife Lisa Blue Baron,[22] and Mary Kay founder Mary Kay Ash.[23]

Richard B. Spencer grew up in Preston Hollow.[24]

A house in Preston Hollow

Preston Hollow is located 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Downtown Dallas. Preston Road is the main arterial road in the area. Terry Box of The Dallas Morning News said in 1987 that the corridor Preston Road travels through, between the Northwest Highway and the LBJ Freeway, is referred to as the "golden corridor" of Dallas due to its wealth.[3]

Lisa Tanner of the Dallas Business Journal said, "The lines that define Preston Hollow are somewhat blurred." She said that Preston Hollow had been commonly defined as being bounded by the Northwest Highway to the south, Royal Lane to the north, and Hillcrest Road to the east. She noted that there were several "western measures."[25] Mary Jacobs of The Dallas Morning News noted that area real estate agents usually define the boundaries of Preston Hollow as the Northwest Highway, Royal Lane, Hillcrest Road, and Midway Road.[4] Roland Anderson, a resident, quoted by The Dallas Morning News, said that real estate agents use the name in the broadest manner possible because they believe the name has "panache."[4] He added that, in the words of Jacobs, "Preston Hollow is really an amalgamation of neighborhoods."[4]

Preston Hollow‘s map from Preston Hollow: A Brief History

A map in the book Preston Hollow: A Brief History shows the boundaries, which were concluded by extensive research, as a backwards L shape with the Mayflower Estates area as “disputed”.[1]

Preston Hollow’s city hall, which was used until the town of Preston Hollow was annexed by Dallas in 1945, is now an office for Ebby Halliday Realtors.[1]

The Dallas Fire Department operated Station #41, which opened on January 16, 1958, in Preston Hollow. The station was destroyed by the October 2019 tornado. Area residents and business owners refer to it as the "Preston-Royal Fire Department."[29] Fire Station #27, which opened in 1948, is adjacent to Preston Hollow.[30]

The United States Postal Service operates the Preston Post Office.[31]

Preston Center, a commercial area, is located close to Preston Hollow. The development includes two 20-story office towers that opened during a construction boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s. As of 1989, many of the Preston Center buildings were partially vacant. During that year, Terry Box of The Dallas Morning News said that the empty buildings were "viewed as intrusive symbols of the city's failure to control its growth" and "have come to exemplify much of what is wrong with North Dallas." Around that time, residents tried to pressure area politicians into making the development more low-rise and further removed from the Preston Hollow community.[3]

The Dallas Galleria and the NorthPark Center are in proximity to Preston Hollow.[4]

The City of Dallas operates two neighborhood parks, Netherland Park and Preston Hollow Park. The 7.2 acres (2.9 ha) Preston Hollow Park includes two baseball/softball fields, one soccer/football field, two tennis courts, one playground, seven picnic tables, and trails. The 5.3-acre (2.1 ha) Netherland Park includes two tennis courts and trails.[64] Preston Hollow East and Preston Hollow North, two homeowners associations that cover most of eastern Preston Hollow, organize recreational activities such as book clubs and chess games.[4]

The Dallas Morning News is the local citywide newspaper. The locally produced Preston Hollow newspaper is also distributed to residents of Preston Hollow.

A book, Preston Hollow: A Brief History, written by a Preston Hollow resident, covers the history of the neighborhood.