About Preston Hollow
Originally incorporated as a municipality in 1939 and provisioned by the Preston Road Fresh Water Supply District, the North Dallas town of Preston Hollow was named for the deep wooded area with creeks and hollows extending westward from Preston Road. The bramble in the area was unique in the Dallas area and all home builders in the area were to preserve it as part of the covenant.
In the early 1930's during the Depression, Edward James Solon, the treasurer of Interstate and the partner who came with Karl Hoblitzelle from Chicago to Dallas, purchased the first Preston Hollow corner property at Douglas and Avrille Way. Mr. DeLoach was to build a Dillbeck designed house on the property. This Tudor styled home was considered the first of many large homes built in what is now termed the Old Preston Hollow area. Originally, there was one large house in the area further over by the pond near Avrill, but it was considered as having been part of the farm. In the 1930's jumping across NW Highway was considered going into the sticks and risky in terms of attracting the affluent during the Depression. Later many people said that E.J. Solon started the North Dalllas migration. Preston Hollow originally extended from east of Preston Road, slightly north of Walnut Hill Lane, west of Midway Road and southwest of Northwest Highway. In 1945 Preston Hollow residents voted to join with the city of Dallas and the municipality was annexed to Dallas shortly thereafter. In 1956, the neighborhood association's covenant stated that only white residents were allowed to live in Preston Hollow (Cite 1) . This policy, though never legally enforced, and ruled unconstitutional by the US courts in the 1960s was repealed in 2000. That restrictive language is included in thousands of association covenants.
At present, the approximate two-square mile area lying north of Northwest Highway, south of Walnut Hill Lane, east of Midway Road and west of Preston Road remain the essential original boundaries of Preston Hollow, which is often now termed Old Preston Hollow. However, the neighborhood is broadly defined by real estate professionals for marketing purposes as land to the north of Northwest Highway (Loop 12), south of Royal Lane, east of Midway Road and west of North Central Expressway (US 75), which areas are grouped into the Preston Hollow Elementary school attendance zone. Preston Hollow is known as one of the wealthiest areas of Dallas. It is also one of the wealthiest areas in Texas. Within Old Preston Hollow can be found some of the most expensive homes in Texas as well as some of the state's wealthiest residents.
Old Preston Hollow has a wide variety of prominent residents including: Politicians - Former U.S. President George W. Bush,[2] Dallas mayor Tom Leppert, former Dallas mayor Laura Miller and her husband, retired Texas legislator Steve Wolens. Business Executives - Ross Perot, energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens, former American Airlines chairman Bob Crandall, software developer Larry Lacerte, Stream Energy Chairman Rob Snyder, investor Harold Simmons and businessman Charles Wyly. Sports & Entertainment Figures - Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, former Dallas Cowboys players Roger Staubach and Chuck Howley, Dallas Stars and Liverpool F.C. owner Tom Hicks, former Dallas Cowboys football coach Wade Phillips, golfer Lee Trevino, former Dallas Stars player Mike Modano, as well as British pop singer George Michael and his partner Kenny Goss. Noted residents of Old Preston Hollow who are now deceased include ClubCorp founder Robert H. Dedman Jr., trial lawyer and Democratic Party fundraiser Fred Baron, and Mary Kay founder Mary Kay Ash. Homes in Preston Hollow are among the most expensive in the state and have continued to increase in value in recent years. Currently houses range from $800,000 tear-downs up to $40,000,000 estates. The most expensive estate in the greater Preston Hollow area, a US$45 million mansion, caught fire while still under construction. George Perrin, the original owner of the house and the founder of PageNet, combined several lots to produce what would have been the biggest house in Dallas. Perrin eventually abandoned the project. The most expensive home currently available in the Preston Hollow area is the Park Lane estate owned by software company founder Larry Lacerte, which is priced at $40 million.
Preston Hollow in the news. In 2006, Preston Hollow Elementary School achieved notoriety after a lawsuit claiming the school's class-assignment policies violated the 1954 Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision. Judge Sam Lindsay ruled in November that the school's practices were not legal because they attempted to keep white students together even if minority students had to be placed in inappropriate courses; this ruling was mis-cited in at least one local paper as indicating that "all-white" classes had been created.[3] The defendants noted that not a single "whites-only" class existed in the school, and that placement was based on test scores; however, Latino claimants in the suit argued that their children were placed in bilingual or English as a Second Language classes even when test scores suggested they should be in a general education program.[4] The district's attorneys also argued that no harm had been caused to the minority students, prompting the trial judge to write, "The court is baffled that in this day and age, that [DISD relied] on what is, essentially, a 'separate but equal' argument."[3] The policies were criticized in the judge's ruling and in subsequent news articles as being an attempt to lessen white flight by attracting more parents from the surrounding, mostly white community to keep their children in the local public system rather than sending them to private schools. In September 2008, Preston Hollow returned to national headlines when New York Post gossip columnist Cindy Adams wrote a column claiming that U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush had purchased a home in Preston Hollow.[5] Described as "a big house on five acres," Adams also claimed that this house would have "horse stables, lake views, mountain views, golf club views" and that Preston Hollow is "a town outside Dallas."[5] Dallas media pointed out the significant factual errors in the column[6] (perhaps, most glaringly, Dallas's location in the Great Plains region of Texas, where no mountains exist) and noted that the real estate agent cited denied both the report or that she had ever been contacted by the Post.[7]
Education. Public schools. Dallas Independent School District operates local public schools. Preston Hollow is zoned to: Grades K-6 Preston Hollow Elementary School Grades 7-8 Benjamin Franklin Middle School Grades 9-12 Hillcrest High School All of the zoned schools are located in Dallas.
Private schools. Private schools located in North Dallas which are very popular with Preston Hollow residents include: Grades 1-12 Coram Deo Academy Grades 1-6 Preston Hollow Presbyterian School Grades Pre K-8 St. Alcuin Montessori School Grades Pre K-12 Greenhill School Hockaday School Episcopal School of Dallas Parish Episcopal School [1] Grades 1-12 Covenant School St. Mark's School of Texas Winston School Grades 9-12 only Ursuline Academy of Dallas Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas Preston Hollow Early Childhood Association is a private preschool group for Preston Hollow area parents of children from newborn up to 6 years of age. The group organizes playgroups, social events, and other activities to support families of young children. As of 2007 most Preston Hollow residents send their children to private school.[8]
Public libraries Dallas Public Library operates the nearby Preston Royal Branch at 5626 Royal Lane. [edit] Media The Dallas Morning News is the local citywide newspaper. Preston Hollow People is a local community newspaper.
External links Preston Hollow Housing Statistics [edit] Notes and references 1.^ http://llnw.static.cbslocal.com/station/ktvt/docs/2008/december/meaders_estates_covenant.pdf 2.^ Crawford, Jamie (December 4, 2008). "Bushes announce purchase of post-White House home". CNN Political Ticker. 3.^ a b Kent Fischer. "Ruling: Classes divided by race: At Preston Hollow, principal tried to appease affluent parents, halt white flight, judge says," The Dallas Morning News, November 18, 2006 4.^ Matt Pulle. "Split Decision," Dallas Observer, January 11, 2007 5.^ a b Adams, Cindy (2008-09-23). "Prez will not be hiding in bushes". New York Post. 6.^ Wilonsky, Robert (2008-09-23). "New York Post Columnist Cindy Adams Too Busy to Talk, Fact Check". Dallas Observer. 7.^ Meyers, Jessica (2008-09-23). "Contrary to NY gossip report, Bushes are still house-hunting, Dallas agent says". Dallas Morning News. 8.^ "Split Decision." Dallas Observer. 3.
The above information is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Hollow,_Dallas,_Texas taken on 6/6/2011 and is reproduced here for convenience.