RESOURCES

Charles Dilbeck’s architecture has been the subject of many newspaper and magazine articles through his long career. Below is a partial bibliography. Many other short articles in real estate sections exist for his houses that have come up for sale over the years. These articles are not listed here but please search for “Charles Dilbeck” online and enjoy reading these articles, most with photos.

ARCHIVES

Charles Stevens Dilbeck Collection, The Alexander Architectural Archive, The University of Texas at Austin Libraries, The University of Texas

https://www.lib.utexas.edu/about/collections/charles-stevens-dilbeck-collection


SAH Archipedia

[SAH Archipedia is an authoritative online encyclopedia of the U.S. built environment organized by the Society of Architectural Historians and the University of Virginia Press.] https://sah-archipedia.org/Architects/Charles-S.-Dilbeck


HISTORICAL MARKER

Texas Historical Commission Subject Marker “Charles Dilbeck Homes in Cochran Heights”, 2013. Located in Dallas at the intersection of Henderson Ave and Willis Ave.

https://atlas.thc.texas.gov/

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=159079


CITY OF DALLAS LANDMARKS

W. G. Underwood Residence, 5310 Park Lane, Dallas, Texas 

Date: 1939 -1940


EXHIBITIONS

Evolving a Personal Style: The Architecture of Charles Dilbeck

AD EX Dallas, Nov 2019

Organized by: architect Philip Henderson, FAIA, architect and author Willis Winters, FAIA, and photographer Carolyn Brown. Participating photographers include: Daisy Avalos, Justin Curtsinger, Lyndall Dyer, Don Essmiler, Gabrielle Pruitt, and Frank Richards. Presented by: the Architecture and Design Foundation with additional support from Katherine D. Seale, Mrs. Nancy Shutt, Nancy McCoy/McCoy Collaborative, Phoenix I Restoration and Construction, and Sachson Art

https://www.dallasadex.org/events/the-life-and-work-of-charles-dilbeck/


HOME TOURS

“Homes of Charles Stevens Dilbeck: A Private Tour”, presented by Preservation Dallas, 1997

“Charles Dilbeck: Cochran Heights Homes”, presented by the Cochran Heights Neighborhood Association, 2016

“Charles Dilbeck in Dallas”, Fall Architectural Tour presented by Preservation Dallas, Fall 2018

“Four Sisters Tour”, presented by the Dilbeck Conservancy, May 2024


SELECTED NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES [chronological order]:

Eubank, Karen. “The Dilbeck Conservancy Launches with an Extraordinary Tour.”, Candy’s Dirt, May 17, 2024,

https://candysdirt.com/2024/05/17/the-dilbeck-architecture-conservancy-launches-with-an-extraordinary-tour/


Wendlandt , Catherine. “See Some of Charles Dilbeck’s Best Architecture on This “Four Sisters” Tour May 18.” D Magazine, May 14, 2024,

https://www.dmagazine.com/home-garden/2024/05/see-some-of-charles-dilbecks-best-architecture-on-this-four-sisters-tour-may-18/


Lamster, Mark. “100 Reasons to Love Dallas Right Now: A Critic’s List of the places that make the city and its architecture special.” The Dallas Morning News, May 15, 2020,

https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/architecture/2020/05/15/100-reasons-to-love-dallas-right-now-a-critics-list-of-the-places-that-make-the-city-and-its-architecture-special/


“13. The enclave of fairy-tale homes by Charles Dilbeck in Cochran Heights.”


Sherman, Rebecca. “Beloved Dilbeck Houses Face the Wrecking Ball in Dallas: The Treasures of a Renowned Architect are in Demolition Danger Even as His Legacy Looms Large.” Paper City Magazine, July 19, 2018,

https://www.papercitymag.com/home-design/horsehead-house-dallas-4100-university-boulevard-wrecking-ball-charles-dilbeck-architect/


Westover, Donovan. “Charles Dilbeck’s Phoenix Lobello House Rises Again.” Candy’s Dirt, Sept 20, 2018,

https://candysdirt.com/2018/09/20/charles-dilbecks-phoenix-lobello-house-rises-again/


Knodel, Jamie. “Dilbeck lovers using famed architect’s original blueprints to rebuild 9,000 square-foot Dallas home lost to fire”, The Dallas Morning News, Oct 18, 2018,

https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/lifestyle/2018/10/18/dilbeck-lovers-using-famed-architect-s-original-blueprints-to-rebuild-9000-square-foot-dallas-home-lost-to-fire/


Dallasnews Administrator. “Home Tour: Dallas’ hidden Dilbeck neighborhood”, The Dallas Morning News, Mar 28, 2016,

https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/lifestyle/2016/03/28/home-tour-dallas-hidden-dilbeck-neighborhood/


Stafford, Brit. “Preserving Dallas’ Structural History”, People Newspapers, Nov 2, 2016,

https://www.peoplenewspapers.com/2016/11/02/preserving-dallas-structural-history/


Cullum, Lee. “Architecture Critic David Dillon on Dallas Houses.” D Magazine, March 13, 2006,

https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-home/2006/march-april/architecture-critic-david-dillon-on-dallas-houses/


“[Dillon] “Some of my favorite houses in Dallas were designed by Charles Dilbeck, who was a very fanciful architect who did tract housing as well as fancy estates. He built them by the dozen all over the city, and most of them are wonderfully quirky. I like Dilbeck’s work a lot. He took chances, didn’t mind being laughed at sometimes, yet usually managed to create at least one special room in most of his houses.”


Vardon, Susan Gill. “Historical Westlake home to be reassembled in about two years.” Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Nov 2, 1998.


INTERVIEWS

David Dillon, architecture critic for the Dallas Morning News interviewed Dilbeck in 1984


ADDITIONAL ONLINE RESOURCES

https://dougnewby.com/architect/charles-s-dilbeck/

What Makes a Dilbeck?


It is almost impossible to offer a standard “recipe” for typical Dilbeck houses and other buildings due to the wide range of their architectural styles (primarily French Norman and Ranch, but also Colonial Revival and Moderne) as well as their size (ranging from small, compact cottages to the most elaborate, sprawling estates). However, here are a few clues to search for if you believe you have found a potential house designed by Charles Stevens Dilbeck:


On the Outside

  • Look for houses with complex massing and composition…
  • Irregular rooflines and silhouettes…
  • Complicated roofs that might have a sagging ridgeline or that might “flair up” at the end, where they meet the gable wall underneath…
  • Elaborate chimneys and round chimney flues…
  • Dormer windows that interrupt the roof cornice…
  • Roofs made of wood shake shingles…
  • Round towers that may be an entry hall or a stairwell…
  • Covered vehicular passageways that separate the house from the garage…
  • Exterior walls made with “drunken brick” masonry, rough fieldstone, “klinker” bricks, or half-timbering…
  • Round masonry columns…
  • Porches and entryways with hewn wood columns and support brackets…
  • Dutch entry doors, four-feet-wide…
  • Windows trimmed with masonry that contrasts with the surrounding wall…
  • Bay windows and windows shaded by a shed roof…
  • Real shutters that are sometimes hung crooked...
  • Grilles in exterior masonry walls…
  • Exposed wood rafters under the roof eaves, with rounded ends…
  • Balconies supported underneath by diagonal brackets or limb poles…
  • Exterior screen walls and balcony railings with a strong geometric pattern…
  • Dovecotes (both real and false)—on the roof or built within a masonry wall or exterior wood trim…
  • Low, masonry walls that extend outward from the house (often, a half-circle in plan) to enclose a garden court.

If you are able to get inside the house, look for these features

  • Multiple level changes, with “step-ups” and “step-downs” throughout the rooms on the ground floor…
  • Abundant use of natural materials on the floors, doors, paneling, trim, and ceilings…
  • Exposed wood beams and trusses in the principal rooms…
  • Astounding masonry fireplace hearths in the ranch houses, with large openings, multiple stepped “shelves” or platforms on each side, a fire box to pass through logs from the outside of the house, and hand-wrought iron accoutrements… 
  • Dramatic timber staircases in the entry hall, or curving plaster staircases in the round tower, often with solid wood blocks at each riser...
  • Built-in shelves and cabinetry, with unique wood trim designs…
  • Window seats, especially in the corner of the room…
  • Wood, square-shaped, panel ceilings in the dining room (usually made with stained pecky-wood cypress) …
  • Leaded glass windows…
  • Round breakfast rooms, with cozy, built-in seating…
  • Screened-in porches or “lounges” with an exterior fireplace or grill (note: many of these have been enclosed by later owners).

DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE A DILBECK?

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Dilbeck in Detail

  • Lobello Residence

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  • Meeker Residence

    Photo By: John Doe
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  • Morse Cottage

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  • Dealey Residence

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    NEWS

    In our mission to support the preservation of Charles Dilbeck’s work, we are actively searching for homes that may require saving, are currently listed for sale, or that have been found by enthusiasts. 

    Clueless Teen’s love of Charles Dilbeck Architecture

    October 16, 2023
    BY BEVERLY RAY Growing up in Fort Worth, my friends and I loved to drive around and pick out our favorite houses dreaming of someday owning one like it. Mine was a beautiful limestone home on Simondale Drive on a big lot with a huge oak tree, flagstone walkway and a warm and inviting entry. Lovely diamond-shaped leaded glass windows on one side of the entry added to its charm. There was a big turret that came up the side with a rustic balcony accessed by French doors. The turret and roof were covered in wood shake shingles randomly applied and topped with a copper cone. An outdoor rustic wooden staircase led up to a second floor area that teased the imagination about what would be found at the top. Many, many years later my life moved from Texas to New York and on to California. My new husband and I were looking for a small home in Dallas, and the realtor was urged to show properties similar to that teenage dream house in Fort Worth. That picture in her mind led to finding and falling in love with a house on Lorraine, exactly as we’d described. It turned out to be a 1940’s Charles Dilbeck-designed one-story with the same shake roof, diamond-shaped leaded windows, and built of Texas limestone with heavy wood trim and latticework, screening one side of the porch. The typical Dilbeck round brick pilasters bordered the steps with flat tops for flower pots full of color. Another front entry was topped with a gabeled roof and the heavy wood columns and brackets typical of Dilbeck designs. Both wood entry doors had black iron decorative hinges and metal peek holes to see who was knocking. The big hexagonal chimney was magnificent with a round one attached, smaller and stepped down. There was a small iron door to the side for the firewood, just one more fanciful Dilbeck doodad to charm your sox off. Just imagine, It even has a stylize dovecote in the gable over the garage. Learning finally, that my long-loved teenage dream house was actually the work of noted Architect, Charles Dilbeck was enlightening. Once you learn the unique trademarks of his designs you will realize this architect’s intent was creating a warm and welcoming aura of hospitality to his homes. You’ll be happy to learn that there will soon be a book of Charles Dilbeck’s Homes by Willis Winters, the true fan and expert on CSD’s work, pointing out the many unique markers of this famed architect’s work. It will be a must-have photographic record and inside knowledge of the remaining Dilbeck Designs for all of us rabid fans to pour over while we continue the dream.

    Restoration Stories

    September 29, 2023
    BY ERIKA HUDDLESTON This Dilbeck house in the Cochran Heights neighborhood was built in 1936. The original brick chimney appeared intact until the decrepit metal chimney cap was removed and suddenly the top line bricks were seen to be loose and were easily knocked off. The Portland Cement mortar had somehow detached from the brick due to moisture over time. To repair the chimney, the mason mixed a wheelbarrow of lime and cement mortar on-site and added shovels full of sand little by little until the mix color-matched the original. Historic bricks were found in the backyard from an old patio and they matched the “Crown” and “Ferris” stamps which were found on the loose chimney bricks. These extra bricks were unneeded because the loose bricks were just relaid on the chimney yet it was nice to know that the chimney could have been repaired with extra historic bricks! Extra old bricks with specific stamp markings can often be located on eBay, Craig’s List, and at Orr-Reed (in Dallas), for example. Charles Dilbeck used “Crown” and “Ferris” bricks to build this house and chimney— and they were dry pressed very close to Dallas in Ferris, Texas! Today, the little town of Ferris still has a small but charming Main Street and is famous for its bluebonnet trail in the spring. In and around the 1930’s, the Ferris Brick Company in Ferris supplied many of Dallas’ new buildings. In 1904, the Dallas Pressed Brick Company was founded in Mesquite… those bricks are found here and there, stamped with “DALLAS”. After a few hours of work, this 87 year old Dilbeck chimney was good as new for another 87 years!”

    Notes from Dilbeck's Daughter

    September 29, 2023
    BY ELAINE MACINTIRE The picture of 7623 Midbury Dr. —pre 2019 tornado, which removed all of the trees—middle windows were my room and right end windows were Dad’s drawing and Mom’s sewing room— a house of much creativity! The first question someone asks me upon finding out that I am Charles Dilbeck’s daughter, is usually , “What was it like growing up in a Dilbeck ?”. In all honesty, I have to say that I was “the cobbler’s kid who had no shoes!”. Dad’s days were very busy designing and drawing many amazing houses, hotels and restaurants. So, we moved into a simple 3 bedroom, mid-century modern house, on Midbury Drive. At that time it was considered far North Dallas and very much a quiet family neighborhood. The plan was for us to live there for a few years until he would be able to create “our Dilbeck”. But the years flew by and the best laid plans were dormant until Dad approached retirement. Finally, he fulfilled a promise made to my Mom by designing the house of her dreams. As life would have it, they moved in the year I graduated from college. So, though I never grew up in “a Dilbeck”, I enjoyed many years of visits and special occasions in our family home. It was finally my dream come true and it was a time filled with memories I’ll always cherish---- memories that were made richer from living in a beautifully designed house made with love by a beautiful man, my Dad.
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