“As much as Texas can remind me of upstate New York…Lake Highlands is it,” says DSO violinist Kristin Jutrus, looking out over the terrain. “We really like the hills.”
Jutrus and her fellow musician and husband, Peter, found themselves in Dallas when he chose SMU as the place to complete his graduate degree. The couple camped out in an apartment at the Village while they were getting to know the city. After looking around, they decided that East Dallas was nice, but… “The houses in our price range were small,” Jutrus says. “And we needed a place that would hold two grand pianos – a house where we could both teach.
“Once we discovered Lake Highlands, we just scoured it.”
Even though the Jutrus’ piano-capacity house was painted Pepto Bismol pink when they found it, they weren’t deterred. After all, there was all that woodsy ambience to lure them and provide romping space for their two dogs, Oscar, a golden retriever, and Sebastian, a border/lab mix.
“Oh well,” she laughs. “Everybody in Lake Highlands probably knew which house it was. It’s right on a corner not far from a main intersection, and there’s no way you wouldn’t notice ‘the pink house.’ We painted it white as soon as possible.”
Jutrus is just one of the many members of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra who have chosen to make Lake Highlands their home, proving once again what a magnet for the creative soul our neighborhood, with its gentle hills, wooded streets and winding creeks, continues to be.
The business of music / Janet Cherry and husband, Kal, both DSO members, also found their way to our neighborhood. Janet is a violinist, and Kal plays the timpani (the Kettle drums) – in fact, they happen to be playing next to each other in the orchestra these days, a development that Janet Cherry likes very much.
But when the performance is over: “Sometimes our idea of having fun is coming home and relaxing – home as a nice retreat,” she says as the couple discusses their hectic schedule with a world-class orchestra, and the importance of having found a place to live that provides a sense of sanctuary.
Since beginning May 22, 1900, under conductor Hans Kressig, the DSO has grown to both national and international renown, attracting members from throughout the world. Conductors such as Antal Dorati, Eduardo Mata and, since 1992, Andrew Litton have helped further the orchestra’s recognition. A number of Carnegie Hall appearances, television debuts and recorded compellations propelled DSO members to international stardom; yet even with travel to places such as England, Sweden, Germany and nearby Vail, Colo., all in a year’s itinerary, the job is not all fun and games.
“We have four rehearsals and four concerts a week; people don’t realize it’s a full-time job,” Kal Cherry says by way of explaining why many orchestra members need to practice their instruments at home.
“It’s great, but it’s a lot of work,” Jutrus agrees. “Eighteen to 20 hours of rehearsal and performance time a week doesn’t look like much on paper – it’s all the stuff that has to go on individually outside. And it’s also the continuity of it…every single weekend. You really never have a Friday or a Saturday night with your family, not even a Sunday afternoon. That can get grueling and tiring, but it’s also really exciting, really fun to do.
“Not too many people can say they do something like this, to enjoy it and make a living off it.”
Not to mention playing at the Meyerson.
“Yeah, it’s a pretty nice place to work,” Jutrus laughs.
If you build it, they will come… / Since Lake Highlands is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Dallas, past homeowners and builders have left a variety of imprints on the community through the different styles of homes and landscape.
For William Scobie, DSO violinist and 25-year resident, it’s “the rolling hills and the reasonable prices. I like the way it looks.”
The greenery and nearby lake all impart the feel to Lake Highlands of the “typical neighborhood.” Kal Cherry says, “We both grew up around water, and it’s nice to have the lake near us.”
On an architectural note, Janet Cherry adds: “I like every single room in my house here. It’s more open than a lot of houses in East Dallas, but not ‘too’ open like most of the new houses, which all sort of look alike to me.
“I also enjoy our enclosed courtyard and the two box turtles who hibernate and reappear every year, which is kind of fun. They dig themselves in, then come out. We leave food for them and a low basin (for them to swim in).” Apparently the more athletic, and possibly the more determined, of the turtles managed to get in the Cherry’s tall fountain, but then couldn’t get out on his own – necessitating some remodeling, albeit on a small scale.
The Cherrys did a bit more significant remodeling, in part to accommodate their extended family. With two grown daughters, Jennie and Beth, Janet seems both surprised and rather pleased to have one daughter along with the Cherry’s son-in-law and their grandson, Daniel, on board these days.
“It’ll be lonely someday when we’re all by ourselves again…maybe we’ll be too old to notice,” she chuckles.
Jutrus adds her own architectural observation: “We have a lot of really high ceilings here. Many of the homes that we looked at in the area had tall ceilings and a lot of natural light.”
The others who chose to make their home in Lake Highlands are themselves a draw. Scobie says: “I have a good relationship with all my neighbors, they’re all very supportive and very kind.”
“There’s a lot of variety in age of the residents, but everyone seems to have a real commitment to their neighborhood,” Kal Cherry says.
And there’s the family-friendly aspect of Lake Highlands. Jutrus, who says she enjoys playing Brahms, may have lullabies on the brain as she and Peter are expecting their first child this fall: “One of the reasons we picked where we are – we started thinking about schools as we were searching for a house and thought that Richardson schools would be a good thing. It was definitely a consideration.”
Scobie’s wife actually works for RISD: “We’re big fans of the school system.”
The commute / Lake Highlands provides a comfortable distance for those who traverse a busy downtown schedule during the day, but who want a cozy neighborhood experience the rest of the time. The fact is, rehearsing at the Meyerson together with monthly performances can make an orchestra member very interested in travel time.
“The Meyerson is about eight to 10 miles away, and it takes about 12 minutes to get there,” Jutrus says. Lake Highlands’ close, small town feel within such close proximity to the hustle and bustle of Dallas has another advantage: With the developments of the DART rail, DSO members have a big-city option for the Meyerson trek.
“The rail has made it very easy to get to downtown; the area provides perfect commuting,” Scobie says.
Jutrus has also utilized DART to get to and from work but remarks, like a true auto-loving converted Texan: “From where I live, it’s just too easy to get to the Meyerson. I would rather take my car because it’s so easy to hop on Central and get to the parking garage quickly.”
No place else / In the end, the sense of community is the biggest draw for the musical contingent. “Homeowners are fierce about keeping their neighborhood a neighborhood in Lake Highlands,” Janet Cherry says.
Jutrus says: “As long as we stay in Dallas, there’s not anyplace else we’d live…maybe another house in our same neighborhood – but definitely Lake Highlands.”
