Preservation Park Cities Landmarks Notable Homes
Preservation Park Cities on March 4 landmarked four additional homes from the organization’s list of the top 100 most historically and architecturally significant homes in the Park Cities.
The preservation group compiled a list last year of the “top 100” homes in hopes of educating about the homes’ significance.
Among the homes highlighted March 4 were:
- 4606 St. Johns Drive, a 1960s home by the Oglesby Group
- 4331 Belclaire Ave., a 1936 Hal Yoakum Tudor
- 3501 Drexel Drive, a 1923 shingle-style home
- 3517 Drexel Drive, a Fooshee and Cheek shingle-style home
The education effort is important, Preservation Park Cities leaders say, as increasing land values over the last 10 years or so, have, as Larry Good, co-founder of the design firm GFF who’s led the charge to identify the Park Cities’ most significant homes, has said, “outstripped the value of the physical improvements that are on the land.”
Preservation Park Cities has recognized hundreds of homes and structures over the years, and nearly 30 have since been razed, according to the organization.
The town of Highland Park and city of University Park don’t have ordinances or special protections for historic homes – Preservation Park Cities says proposed ordinances to that effect have been rejected in the past. Encouraging “the preservation of historically significant structures” is among the goals listed in the city of University Park’s centennial master plan, though.
