Aldredge House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just the fellow passing it along. Now, when you've got a West Texas rancher who happens to hail all the way from Maryland, and he settles his family in Dallas, you know the house he builds is going to say something. William J.

Lewis and his wife Willie — she was a Newberry, a Dallas woman — had this residence constructed between 1915 and 1917. Two years of work, and they brought in architects Hal Thompson and Marion Fooshee to see it done right. Those two men reached across an ocean for their inspiration — English Georgian on one hand, French Renaissance on the other — and somehow they made it all sit together on a Dallas lot like it had always meant to be there.

Now that is a conversation between two continents, and the result is something worth slowing down for. But here's where the story turns. By 1921, the home had a new name attached to it — George N.

Aldredge, a prominent banker, purchased the place. He and his wife Rena, she was a Munger, moved through Dallas society not just as people of means, but as civic leaders, as contributors to the arts. Major contributors, the marker says, and that's not a word you throw around lightly.

So what started as a rancher's residence, designed with the elegance of two European traditions, became the home of a couple who poured something back into the city around them. The house still carries their name. Some places earn that.

What the marker says

West Texas rancher William J. Lewis, a native of Maryland, and his wife Willie (Newberry) of Dallas had this residence constructed in 1915-17. Designed by architects Hal Thompson and Marion Fooshee, it features influences of English Georgian and French Renaissance styling. In 1921, the home was purchased by George N. Aldredge, a prominent banker. He and his wife Rena (Munger) were active civic leaders and major contributors of the arts. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark -- 1982