7/27/2019 Real Estate Quarterly - Sept. 27, 2013

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BY MARGAUX ANBOUBA

People Newspapers

A

fter a summer of travels,

our bags and bookshelves

are filled with souvenirs

attached to favorite memo-ries. But instead of schlepping them

to the back of our closet, per usual, we

asked three Dallas interior designers

what their cherished souvenirs are, and

how they show them off in their impec-

cable homes. Read on for a little bit of

eye candy and inspiration.

JAN SHOWERS

Jan Showers is a woman of many col-

lections, including books, antique ciga-

rette lighters, and art. But her favorite

collection, which reminds her of her

travels to her favorite city, is her souve-nirs from Paris.

Housed on a mirrored tray, Showers

collection of le tours de Eiffel and

shagreen card cases have been amassed

over two decades of trips to the City of

Lights.

There are all of these souvenir shops

on Rue de Rivoli, which runs alongside

the Tuileries, Showers said. [My hus-

band] and I would be out walking, and I

would always look at the Eiffel Towers.

Its so cheesy, but also very fun.

The shagreen card cases are from

an antique dealer Showers frequents

when looking for pieces to stock her

Design District shop. Instead of usingthem to carry her own business cards,

she stacks them with the rest of her

Parisian keepsakes.

The whole tray reminds me of Paris

when I look at it, Showers said. Its

such a part of my life and huge part of

my business, and I love to have a collec-

tion to remind me of it.

Real Estate QuarterlyPEOPLENEW SPAPERS.COM SEPTEMBER 27, 2013 | 1B

Garden Tour

Showcases

Secret Plot

BY DAN KOLLER

People Newspapers

If youre looking for a

home in North Texas these

days, you have no time to

rest on your laurels. Those

who dont act fast will be

looking for a long time.

If youre a buyer, you

need to be prepared to

move pretty quickly, said

Teri LaJone, an agent with

Virginia Cook Realtors.

There are more buyersthan homes right now.

Ac co rd ing to statis-

tics compiled by the Real

Estate Center at Texas

A&M University, there was

only 3.5 months worth of

single-family homes on the

market last month in Area

25, which includes the Park

Cities, as well as Bluffview,

Devonshire, and Greenway

Parks. That means if no

other houses came on

the market in that area, it

should take 3.5 months forthe listed homes to sell.

In Area 11, a.k.a. Preston

Hollow, there was 4.4

months worth, down from

6.2 a year earlier. And in

Area 14, which includes

North Oak Cliff, the stat

was down to 2.7 months.

Theres just not as many

houses on the market, so

the choices arent as great,

LaJone said. So buyers

just have to be ready. If the

know they like a house,

they just need to be readyto move on it, because

there might be somebody

behind them that would

come in.

High demand and low

supplies lead to higher

prices. The median sales

price for single-family

homes in Area 11 increased

by 41 percent between

August 2012 and August

2013. In Area 25, the median

price went up by 21 percent

in the same span, but last

months median of $1.15million was a 12-month

high. In Area 14, the median

was up 20 percent.

LaJone recently showed

houses to a client who

e n d e d u p b u y i n g i n

Highland Park but would

have been happy to get

Editors note: This is onein a series profiling legend-ary figures in the Dallas realestate business.

BY MICHELLE SAUNDERS

Special Contributor

Allie Beth Allman didnt

exactly plan to become a

Realtor. But after quickly

selling her familys house,

the former stay-at-home

mom was approached by

friends who wanted help

getting their own homes

on the market.

A friend called and

asked me if Id sell her

house; then another friend

called, and then another

friend, Allman said.

That first friend hap-

pened to be Alicia Landry,

wife of the Dallas Cowboysfirst head coach.

T o m a c t u a l l y t o l d

[Alicia], I dont want a lot

of Realtors in my house.

Al lie Beth ca n sell any-

thing. Ask her to come

over here and see if shell

sell it, Allman recalled.

She took on the chal-

l en ge a n d s ol d the

Landrys home during an

open house that coincided

with a game between the

Cowboys and their big-

gest rival at the time, the

Washington Redskins.

The rest, you could say,

is history.A f t e r w o r k i n g f o r

another firm for about five

years, Allman founded her

luxury residential broker-

age in 1985 in the small cot-

tage behind her home.

I opened up in the

worst market that had ever

hit Texas, Allman said.

But I learned how to sell;

I started to trade. Ive

always enjoyed the cre-

ative part of learning how

to make a deal work, and

that really is my strength.

Frank Purcell, executive

vice president and found-

ing partner, was Allmansfirst employee. Hes spent

the majority of his career

working with Allman,

LEGENDS OF REAL ESTATE

Making Deals Came Naturally to Allman

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF ALLIE BETH ALLMAN

Real estate wasnt the first thing Allie Beth Allman sold. While

studying at TCU, she represented Pangburns candy company. See ALLMAN, Page 5B

Buyers

Have toPursueQuickly

BY KARLEY KIKER

Special Contributor

When visitors to the

Dallas County Master

Gardeners upcoming tour

arrive at Katherine and

Chris Harris backyard

gate, theyll be met with

winding flagstone path-

ways, cascades of clema-

tis, and almost certainly

the sense that theyve

somehow stumbled ontothe pages of The SecretGarden.

But the space behind

the homeowners English

Tudor in Highland Park

wasnt always quite so

dream-like. When they

moved into the home, a

greenhouse stood in the

middle of the yard. Years

later, an initial landscap-

ing venture removed the

greenhouse but left

behind a sunburned lawn

and layers of brick andpavement.

We found out that when

they moved into the house

in 1995, it was a sea of brick

and concrete, recalled

self-taught landscape

designer Skip Allen, who

was hired for the Harrises

backyard overhaul in early

March.

Unfortunately, the pres-

ence of that sea meant

Allens first order of busi-

ness had nothing to do

with planting. Rather, the

certified master gardener

who previously reno-

vated the Harrises front

garden in the spring of

2012 assigned two weeks

of jack hammering to his

team.We made a lot of noise,

and it was a big mess, and

then we had to level it out

and put all new soil in. It

was really an undertaking,

Allen said.

By April, however, it was

clear: Allens efforts and

all that racket had pro-

duced a winning result.

IF YOU GO

What: The Dallas CountyMaster Gardeners FallGarden Tour, showcasingsix home gardens andthe educational plantbeds at Robert E. LeeElementary.

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.on Oct. 19

How much: $15 inadvance, $20 on the dayof the tour. Children 12and younger admittedfree.

Website: dallascountymastergardeners.org.

All bets are offin this marketfavoring sellers

See MARKET, Page 7B

Beautiful oasis was once a

sea of brick and concrete

See TOUR, Page 5B

PHOTO: KARLEY KIKER

Chris and Katherine Harris beautiul backyard in Highland Park is

the result o a complete overhaul by master gardener Skip Harris.

Selling her ownhouse was firstforay into field

See SOUVENIRS, Page 4B

STAFF PHOTOS: CHRIS MCGATHEY

Jan Showers home is filled with acsimiles o the amed Eifel Tower to remind her o France.

Souvenirs Put The

Fun in Functional

Interior designers dish on decoratingwith mementos from their travels

Its so cheesy, she says, but also very un.