Image courtesy of Dave Perry-Miller
The Chateau Des Grotteaux, one of our neighborhood’s most iconic properties, is now up for sale. The average passer-by can see its slate roof and turrets, but beautiful grounds are hidden behind the stone walls.
A salt water pool, concrete statues, ponds, flagstone walkways, bridges and outdoor seating populate the property, much of which was updated by the current owner.
Preservation Dallas Events and Development Coordinator Donovan Westover writes in Candy’s Dirt that there was once a cave (now sealed behind a fountain) that ran to White Rock Lake and was rumored to be used to smuggle liquor during prohibition.
Image courtesy of Dave Perry-Miller
Image courtesy of Dave Perry-Miller
The home was built in 1928 for the brand new Pasadena neighborhood and was inspired by a French castle in Normandy, France. Former Dallas mayor and highway namesake R.L. Thornton purchased it after he saw it in a State Fair of Texas brochure. Thornton’s daughter Rosemary Brinegar, grew up in the home.
Brinegar talked to the Advocate way back in 1993, when the home was listed for $849,000, and recalled memories from the early days of the neighborhood. “We called White Rock Trail ‘The Old Dirt Road’ because that is what it was then,” Brinegar said. “A lot of dirt would come through the windows into the house, until the road was paved.”
“There was a stable where we kept two horses. My mother and sister used to ride around White Rock Lake each morning. (Today) there’s a greenhouse where the stable used to be,” she said. Today, the stable is no longer there. Brinegar said the home had Dallas’ second swimming pool, and that they donated one of the gates as scrap metal during World War II.
Westover writes that “the house is ripe for visionary interior updates,” and it appears to have some intricate wall paper and what looks like a real stuffed giraffe head in the home today. The home at 6941 Gaston Ave. can be yours for a cool $2.89 million.
Image courtesy of Dave Perry-Miller
Image courtesy of Dave Perry-Miller
Image courtesy of Dave Perry-Miller
Image courtesy of Dave Perry-Miller
