best places to live: Hills and Trees, The

D Magazine, Apr 01, 2004 by McGill, Adam

Easton Place

A little east of White Rock Lake, a road called Easton Place cuts a rectangle through pecan and oak trees. The road is so steep that when it ices over, cars get trapped. Perhaps only two dozen homes occupy this enclave. They were built in the late '70s and early '80s, each in a contemporary style rarely seen in Dallas: walls of glass, 18-foot ceilings, skylights, holes in roofs to accommodate mature trees. No fewer than two architects live on the street, and homes rarely come up for sale. At press time, the only one on the market was a 2,400-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath for $277,000.

East Kessler Park

Blend Austin with Dallas and you get East Kessler Park. This Hill Country-esque neighborhood in Oak Cliff is home to the most eclectic mix of architecture in the city-here you'll find English Tudor, mid-century modern, Spanish colonial, or quaint cottage. You'll also get some of the most dramatic topography in Dallas. Houses are everywhere: in valleys next to creeks, hidden in groves, perched on Cliffs, and even amid treetops. One particular area of Cedar Hill Road in East Kessler is carved out of mountains of limestone that loom 15 feet above the nearby roadway. The streets rarely follow a grid pattern, which makes for some twisty-curvy charm. But the best part of this neighborhood is the trees. On a warm, windy night, the swaying elms and cedars create a deceptive melody. You'll swear you're in the country, not in the shadow of downtown's skyline. At press time, a two-bed, two-and-a-half-bath 1950s soft contemporary home, with about 2,100 square feet, was listed for $350,000.

Van Dyke

At the northeast tip of White Rock Lake sits Norbuck Park. There you'll find a ball diamond and sparse playground equipment. But you'll also find White Rock Prairie, some of the last unspoiled blackland prairie in Dallas. The preserve is bordered by Van Dyke Road. On the other side, there are 40 homes, modest cottages that sell in the $200,000s only because their front yard is one big nature preserve. But the real gems are at the end of the street, on the park side, at the top of a hill. The park, then, serves as their back yard, giving them an unobstructed view of the take, with downtown Dallas in the distance. This handful of homes rarely goes on the market, but the asking price on the last one that did was $800,000.

Bluffview

The hilly area south of Northwest Highway and east of Lovers Lane is the Chippewa Falls of Dallas. Here in one of the city's most pastoral neighborhoods, kids ride their bikes over the river and through the woods down Briarwood, past the white picket fences on Shadywood, up the hilly slopes of Bluffview Boulevard to the cul-de-sac on top. From the crest of the hill you can overlook a true Texas creek spilling over limestone outcroppings on its way to nearby Bachman Lake. While some of the estates are 4 to 5 acres, there is nothing prim and proper about the landscaping-unkempt bushes separate houses like thick hedgerows. An updated 3/3 overlooking the creek fetches around $1.4 million, but we found several Austin-stone cottages in the area, proudly displaying Texas flags, listed for less than $400,000.