My walking buddy, Glenda, and I were walking past Church Road and Clearmeadow Drive a few weeks ago. Where a house had once stood was now just a pile of rubble. Another teardown — just around the corner from where I live.
I thought about the teardown on and off that day. What goes into the decision to raze a house, wiping out all the years of living that went on inside with a few passes of the bulldozer? Of course the answer is money, and supply and demand for new housing and amenities in a desirable neighborhood. I know a lot of neighbors have visions of dollar signs dancing in their heads when they see old structures torn down and new, larger structures put up in their place.
Honestly, I have mixed feelings. I realize we don’t live in an historic area, or a neighborhood full of charming gingerbread homes. Nevertheless, our neighborhood has character — character that will change with each new home built. I think what brings me most pause is the attitude of impermanence toward houses, not just in Lake Highlands, but in Lakewood and Highland Park and Preston Hollow (the list gets longer and longer). I grew up in Virginia, where history is revered and people live in homes that are hundreds of years old. Pains are taken to restore old structures and preserve the history of the area. Here the demand is for newer and bigger. Mind you, I’m not saying that there aren’t houses in Lake Highlands that aren’t in such disrepair that they shouldn’t be torn down. I just hope that these new houses are being built with the craftsmanship that will endure the test of time, rather than play out a fashionable function for 40 years or so.
Highland Classic Homes bought the house on Church and Clearmeadow, so I gave the owner, Mark Dann, a call. Dann has been tearing down houses in Lake Highlands and building new ones for about two years. He says he buys houses based on location and also on major structural issues that would be so costly to remodel that a teardown makes the most economical sense. Most of the houses Dann builds are sold before they are built, but some he builds on spec.
Both Dann and Jan Stell, a longtime Ebby Halliday Realtor, make a good case that redevelopment is positive. From conversations with the two of them, it appears that home values in Lake Highlands are pretty healthy, and rising. “Abused” properties are going for $85 to $90 per square foot; well-kept existing homes, $110-120; updated or remodeled $130-145; and new homes, $160-190.
Jan drew a comparison between Lake Highlands today and Lakewood 15 or 20 years ago. There were some dicey areas of Lakewood a while back, and the neighborhood could have gone a different direction. Jan gives credit to developers who were willing to go into those areas and redevelop them for where Lakewood is today. Also, Jan points out that we have 17,000 houses in Lake Highlands. If 35 new houses are built a year, it would take a long time to drastically change the tenor of the neighborhood.
Residential redevelopment, in conjunction with the Town Center project and hopefully other retail refurbishments, are important for the revitalization of our neighborhood. If we’re selling our homes or taking out second mortgages, we’re going to be happy that our property evaluations are increasing. But for me, it’s still hard to see some of these houses come down, and I believe it’s because I think of them as homes. Bill and I have lived in our home for 17 years. And I bet, like my husband and I, you have put a lot of yourself into your home, like the reclaimed wood floor that has a warm glow that no new wood can achieve, or the hand-painted sink you carried back on the plane from Cabo San Lucas in the days when airlines had hearts.
I presume my house will be a pile of rubble one day, too. I just hope I won’t see it.
