An aerial view of the estate on White Rock Lake taken between 1938-1940. Photography courtesy of Cissy Humphrey
Before Dal-Tile founder Robert Brittingham built his 12,000-square-foot home on White Rock Lake, Thomas D. Humphrey Sr. owned 25 acres on West Lawther Drive.
Humphrey bought the property in 1936, and a year later, he finished work on his home at 4535 Chapel Hill Road, his granddaughter Cissy Humphrey said.
He sold the property to Doris Dudley Jenkins in 1960, and he divided the property into lots for a walled and fenced development called the Cloisters.
The original stone fences from Lueders are still intact along West Lawther, and a few of the original magnolias, shipped from Shreveport, Louisiana, by Joe Lambert, still remain, Humphrey said.
Humphrey’s house is still located on Chapel Hill Road next to what was Brittingham’s home. Brittingham’s 1967 residence, built on 3 acres of Humphrey’s original property, was demolished last week.
This photo taken in 1989 shows 4535 Chapel Hill Road. Photography courtesy of Cissy Humphrey
