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Architectural Styles of the Park Cities Several factors work together to make the homes of the Park Cities of particular stylistic interest, not only to residents of Dallas, but to all who have an interest in the evolution of house styles. First, architects designed a large percentage of the homes built in both Highland Park and University Park, and the two towns have a remarkable collection of archival materials that document this. Highland Park has original architectural blueprints for many of the homes, large and small, built between 1925 and 1954. University Park has a complete set of what are affectionately called the “Brown Books,” which contain information on each house including the original building permit, date, name of owner and builder, cost of the house, and an original photograph. The Brown Books are supplemented by a complete set of building permits for University Park that generally include the name of the architect for the years from 1930 to 1954 Secondly, although stylistically the homes of Highland Park and University Park follow a chronological progression similar to that found throughout the United States, the two towns are distinguished by the amount of construction that took place during the 1930s and early 1940s, a period when residential construction dwindled in much of the country Every size of new home was being built in the Park Cities during those years, making the two towns a living laboratory of late 1930s and early 1940s domestic architecture. Finally, the Dallas area, and the Park Cities in particular, have enjoyed an almost continuous prosperity since they were formed. This has been a mixed blessing. Most original homes have had one or more rounds of expansion and/or updating. In addition, over the last several decades original residences have been demolished at an accelerating rate — replaced by new and larger homes. This study was undertaken to obtain a general idea of the styles that prevailed in each decade of construction. The survey was first accomplished to double-check the authors’ field observations and general conclusions from surveying homes and studying blueprints during the research of Homes of the Park Cities. Any observations about the early decades of development are distorted by more than fifty years of teardowns and replacements, particularly of the smaller homes. continue to first style

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