Old House, New Idea: How the Durant House in The Cedars Is Rethinking Historic Preservation

Dallas has never been particularly shy about tearing something down and starting over.

We are a city that builds, rebuilds, expands, replaces and reinvents. Sometimes that constant evolution creates something exciting. Sometimes it means losing a piece of Dallas that we realize mattered only after it is gone.

But what if there were another option?

What if an old Dallas house didn't have to choose between being frozen in the past and disappearing altogether?

That's what makes the story of the Durant House in The Cedars so interesting.

Instead of simply restoring a 123-year-old Victorian-era house to look exactly as it once did, or demolishing it to make way for something new, its owners and design team did something much more unexpected.

They built the future around the past.

A 123-Year-Old Dallas House That Almost Disappeared

The Durant House sits in The Cedars, one of Dallas' oldest and most interesting neighborhoods just south of Downtown.

According to a recent D Magazine story, Shannon Wynne and Casey McManemin purchased the approximately 1,400-square-foot house in 2021. By then, the Victorian-era structure was in serious disrepair. Vines were growing through its distinctive brickwork, the roof was deteriorating and one wall was reportedly leaning away from the rest of the house.

For a property in that condition, demolition would hardly have been surprising.

Instead, a sign appeared outside:

“Don't Freak Out. We Must Dismantle It To Restore It.”

And that is essentially what happened.

The team catalogued the original house extensively, dismantled what could no longer safely remain and then painstakingly reconstructed its historic character.

The project's contractor, RenPro General Contracting, says photographer Greg Piazza documented the house before demolition while architect Russell Buchanan surveyed the structure and created detailed plans intended to preserve its original proportions, details and character. Particular attention was given to recreating the intricate masonry of the Victorian façade.

But restoring the old house was only half the idea.

Then They Built Something Completely Modern Around It

This is where the Durant House becomes much more than another historic restoration.

Today, the reconstructed Victorian house sits inside a dramatically modern structure.

The new building uses clean lines, aluminum and a large expanse of glass to frame the historic house rather than disguise it. From the street, passersby can actually see the older structure inside.

D Magazine describes the finished project as approximately 3,800 square feet, with the original house remaining on its longtime lot while the contemporary architecture essentially surrounds and showcases it.

The contrast is intentional.

Old brick against modern metal.

Victorian detail against minimalist architecture.

Dallas then and Dallas now occupying the same space.

The construction team describes the result as a building existing at the intersection of two eras, combining the historic character of the Victorian façade with a completely modern structure designed for contemporary use.

That may be the most interesting part of the entire project.

Nobody tried to make the new addition look old.

And nobody tried to make the old house disappear.

Is This What Historic Preservation Has to Look Like?

Of course not.

There isn't one right way to preserve an old building.

Sometimes the appropriate answer really is a careful restoration. Sometimes adaptive reuse makes more sense. Sometimes a building can be expanded while keeping the original architecture intact.

And sometimes the condition, economics or circumstances of a property make preservation extremely difficult.

But the Durant House introduces another possibility.

Instead of asking:

Old or new?

Maybe the question can occasionally be:

Why not both?

The City of Dallas already recognizes that historic significance can come from many different things, including architectural style, an architect or master builder, cultural and historical heritage, architectural innovation and a property's importance to community identity.

Dallas also has formal preservation programs, landmark designations, historic districts and processes governing work on protected properties.

But the bigger preservation conversation extends beyond properties with official landmark status.

It is also about deciding which pieces of a city's built environment are worth carrying forward.

I wrote about that recently in Why Some Historic Homes Are Worth Fighting For.

Because once a distinctive old house is demolished, we can build something beautiful in its place.

But we cannot build another 123-year-old house.

Why The Cedars Is the Perfect Place for This Experiment

The Durant House story becomes even more interesting when you look at where it is happening.

The Cedars is one of those rare Dallas neighborhoods where several versions of the city still overlap.

There are remnants of its residential past, old industrial and warehouse buildings, lofts, studios, entertainment venues, newer townhomes, DART access and the Downtown skyline just beyond it.

If you aren't familiar with the neighborhood, I recently took a much deeper look at it in The Cedars: Dallas' Creative, Historic Neighborhood Just South of Downtown.

The neighborhood's history goes back to the late 1800s, when The Cedars was a fashionable residential area filled with Victorian homes. Over time, railroads, industrial development, highways and changing land uses dramatically altered it.

Many of those early homes disappeared.

That makes surviving pieces of the neighborhood's residential history particularly interesting today.

And preservation is not disconnected from the area's plans for growth.

Dallas adopted the Cedars Area Plan to guide future decisions involving land use, zoning, urban design and transportation. Later City planning documents specifically noted the area's older houses as valuable assets that could help preserve the unique character of The Cedars while also encouraging redevelopment and reuse of older buildings.

In other words, the conversation happening at the Durant House reflects a much larger question The Cedars has been facing for years:

How do you allow a neighborhood to become something new without erasing everything that made it different in the first place?

This Is Bigger Than One Old House

That's the part of this story I keep coming back to.

Dallas is growing and changing. It should.

Cities aren't museums.

Neighborhoods need new housing, businesses, investment, infrastructure and ideas. Buildings sometimes reach the end of their useful lives. Not every older structure is historically significant, and preservation isn't practical in every situation.

But there is a difference between allowing a city to evolve and allowing every layer of its history to be replaced.

Neighborhood character is cumulative.

It's the old brick building next to the contemporary townhome.

The mature trees.

The strange little house that doesn't look like anything being built today.

The warehouse that became apartments.

The former commercial building that became a restaurant.

The architecture that tells you, without a historical marker, that people were here before us.

Remove enough of those layers and neighborhoods can start to feel interchangeable.

That matters in real estate, too.

Why Character Matters in Real Estate

Buyers don't experience a neighborhood through a spreadsheet.

They experience it from the street.

Architecture, scale, trees, sidewalks, old buildings, new construction, local businesses and the relationship between all of those things contribute to how a neighborhood feels.

That sense of place can become part of a property's appeal.

It is one reason neighborhoods with distinctive architecture and recognizable character often inspire such strong emotional reactions from the people who live there.

The Durant House isn't an argument that every old Dallas home should be preserved at any cost.

It's a much more interesting argument than that.

It suggests that preservation and development don't always have to sit on opposite sides of the table.

Sometimes preserving the past can actually become the thing that makes new architecture more interesting.

Old House. New Idea.

I love the Durant House because it doesn't pretend Dallas hasn't changed.

The modern structure surrounding it makes that impossible.

Instead, it puts the two eras right next to each other and lets you see both.

There is something wonderfully Dallas about that.

We are a city constantly looking toward whatever comes next.

Maybe the challenge now is learning how to do that without automatically assuming everything that came before has to disappear.

The Durant House gives us one very creative answer.

And in a neighborhood like The Cedars, where Dallas' past, present and future are already colliding, I can't think of a better place for the experiment.

More Dallas Neighborhood, Architecture & Preservation Stories

If this story caught your attention, explore The Cedars: Dallas' Creative, Historic Neighborhood Just South of Downtown for a deeper look at the neighborhood, its history, real estate, redevelopment and why it is one of the Dallas areas I am watching.

You may also enjoy Why Some Historic Homes Are Worth Fighting For, where I look at the larger question of what Dallas loses when architecturally significant homes disappear.

And you can explore more changing Dallas neighborhoods in my Neighborhoods to Watch Near Harold Simmons Park coverage.

Thinking About Buying, Selling or Investing in Dallas?

Understanding Dallas real estate is about more than bedrooms, bathrooms and price per square foot. Neighborhood history, architecture, redevelopment and what is happening around a property can all be part of understanding its bigger story.

If you're considering buying, selling, relocating or investing in Dallas, Richardson, Plano, Addison or North Dallas, I'd be happy to help you look beyond the listing and understand the neighborhood, the market and the factors that may matter to your decision.

Let's chat.

Kelly Reber, REALTOR®
eXp Realty LLC | Texas License #0483312
Licensed since 2000
Dallas | Richardson | Plano | Addison | North Dallas

Dallas native Kelly Reber has been helping buyers, sellers, relocating clients and investors navigate Dallas-area real estate since 2000. She combines deep local knowledge, data-driven strategy and straightforward advice to help clients make confident real estate decisions.

About Kelly Reber | Dallas REALTOR®
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Source inspiration and additional reading: D Magazine's September 2026 feature on the Durant House, RenPro General Contracting's project profile, and City of Dallas planning and historic preservation resources.