Skip to content

Dallas Architecture and Real Estate Insights

by Douglas Newby, Real Estate Broker

Dallas Architecture Blog discusses Modern Architecture and Mid Century Modern Homes, Dallas Neighborhoods, Dallas Real Estate and the Aesthetics of the City.

Mayflower Estates, the New Neighborhood of President Bush

President and Mrs. Bush Moving to Mayflower Estates

George and Laura Bush are moving to Mayflower Estates, a little known Preston Hollow estate area neighborhood of just over 100 houses.  The neighborhood’s anonymity is understandable, but still remarkable considering it is the location of the two largest estate properties in Dallas – the Hicks Estate on 25 acres and the Phillips Estate on 15 acres.  What better place to enjoy some degree of privacy than a neighborhood so discreet that a 25 acre estate goes unnoticed.

Why Mayflower Estates Goes Unnoticed

The Tollway is a boundary on the east which prohibits any access in that direction, and Walnut Hill Lane is on the south which only allows access from Gaywood and Holloway that loop across each other.  The access from the north is too confusing to explain.  As you can see, Mayflower Estates deviates from the standard Dallas grid.

Mayflower Estates Vague Borders

Here you will find three small lakes and winding, looping, tree-lined streets and cul-de-sacs with a substantial creek meandering through them.  This beautiful environment deliberately leaves vague boundaries.

Mayflower Estates Homes Have the Greatest Range of Ages, Styles and Prices.

Well-known neighborhoods are the easiest to understand.  They have a definite age, look and price that the real estate community can peg for their buyers.  Mayflower Estates on the other hand has the greatest range of prices, age of homes and styles in the city.

The Crespi Estate, now the Hicks Estate, was designed by Maurice Fatio, the leading New York and Palm Beach architect in 1939.  This classical French style estate home remains the most impressive in Dallas and yet right behind these 25 acres on a cul-de-sac are 1960s homes built on one-acre lots close to the Tollway that are the least expensive homes in the Preston Hollow estate area.

Important Architects Designed Homes in Mayflower Estates

In the heart of Mayflower Estates on Gaywood there is one of the most important modern homes built in Dallas on 2.63 acres designed by architect Scott Lyons and then a few doors down you have important eclectic style homes designed by Cole Smith and Wilson Fuqua, and a midcentury modern home designed by a protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright and a John Astin Perkins designed home on 1.28 acres.

Good houses have been designed in every decade since 1939.  The most desirable estate lots are found here because of the extraordinary setting.  The values range not only from $1 million to $100 million, but the square footage prices range as well from $200 per sf to well over $1,000 per sf.

Prominent People Enjoying Secluded Mayflower Estates Neighborhood

There are many high profile streets in Dallas and Highland Park.  Strait Lane, Park Lane, Swiss Avenue and Beverly Drive quickly come to mind.  The residents of Mayflower Estates are high-profile people who enjoy the relative obscurity of the beautiful and hidden neighborhood of Mayflower Estates.  Besides Tom Hicks there is Ruth Altshuler, the former chairman of the SMU Board of Trustees; Robert Wigley, the former vice-chairman of E.F. Hutton; Robert Murchison, a successful investor; Ron Vargo, the former CFO of EDS who helped negotiate their sale; John Runyon, a prominent young art dealer; and Bud Smith, prominent in business and politics.

Mayflower Estates is a Favorite Neighborhood

Mayflower Estates has always been one of my favorite neighborhoods and a neighborhood in which I have sold many homes.  The neighborhood’s many prominent citizens love the relaxed atmosphere of this hidden and disguised neighborhood, as will President and Mrs. Bush.

2 Responses to “Mayflower Estates, the New Neighborhood of President Bush”

  1. Neighborhood Gates for President Bush New Home Will Double Land Value on Street. Says:
    January 28th, 2009 at 9:17 am

    […] Mayflower Estates, the New Neighborhood of President Bush, is the Most Prestigious in Preston Hollow… 12-09-2008 […]

  2. DeeVee Says:
    May 30th, 2009 at 10:37 am

    Excellent reportage. Could you please expand photos to include more landscaping and interiors? Thank you, DeeVee

Leave a Reply