The Marcus House, Once Threatened, Is This Much Closer to Becoming a Historic Home

Speaking of Dallas iconic landmarks ... On August 11 of last year, Unfair Park discovered that Mark and Patty Lovvorn had filed with the Texas Historic Commission a demolition permit that would have allowed them to tear down The House Stanley Marcus Built. You can follow the links -- such...

By Robert Wilonsky

March 17, 2009

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Speaking of Dallas iconic landmarks ... On August 11 of last year, Unfair Park discovered that Mark and Patty Lovvorn had filed with the Texas Historic Commission a demolition permit that would have allowed them to tear down The House Stanley Marcus Built. You can follow the links -- such as this one and this one -- back to last summer, but long story awfully short: Because the Roscoe DeWitt-designed house on Nonesuch Road in East Dallas was not a city of Dallas-designated historic structure, it had no protection from the wrecking ball.

Alas, as you no doubt recall, the Lovvorns changed their minds and opted to keep the house after all -- and to have it designated as a historic building, no less, praise God. In September, the Landmark Commission voted 14-1 to initiate designation proceedings, which take a good long while even for so simple a slam-dunk. But at Thursday's meeting of the commission's Designation Committee, we'll find out how far along they really are: The lead item on the brief agenda says there will be a "discussion of draft designation report and preservation criteria, Stanley Marcus House, 10 Nonesuch Road."

Robert Wilonsky

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