A house in Peaks Addition, 4513 Gaston, is on the list of 2022 Preservation Dallas awardees, but the home’s recent $3.5 million remodel is about more than aesthetics or preservation.
Gaston Avenue remodel. Omniplan.
The project’s architectural soundness and the beautiful results are no doubt alone enough to warrant the award that, according to Preservation Dallas, “honors inspiring preservation projects and people involved in preservation.”
But what happens inside the building is worth discussing (which is why you’ll find a feature story about it in our upcoming April magazine).
The 1904-built estate is home to The Magdalen House, a nonprofit where women have been coming since 1987 seeking treatment of alcoholism.
Prior to moving to Gaston Avenue last April, The Magdalen House was located in a big home in Little Forest Hills.
When it was on Redwood Circle. Google Maps.
While that old house was cared for and loved by staffers, volunteers and inhabitants, it could no longer shoulder the burdens of the work and the massive need in the community, according to executive director Lisa Kroencke, who spearheaded a capital campaign to raise funds for the new property and the remodel.
Kroencke, who is in recovery herself, tells us there came a point while serving on the board (a volunteer back then) that she realized the women of The Magdalen House, women trying to recover from alcoholism, deserve more.
.“A lot of these women, including me, had felt so much shame that they thought this dilapidated building with asbestos and faulty wiring was about as good as they deserve,” she says. “I recognized that if we were going to grow, it was not going to be in that physical space. We either had to rebuild there or we had to find a new facility.”
That launched a whirlwind three years of fundraising, navigating code and historic overlay rules, facing storms (including a tornado) and a pandemic and building.
The $600,000 grant to purchase the property came from David Crowley Foundation.
The project’s success relied on the expertise and generosity of an entire village of people.
The executive director highlights a few, including Hector Patino, executive vice president of Hunt Realty who she says served as a guide through the long process of permitting. He managed the entire project as a volunteer and now serves on The Magdalen House Board of Directors.
“This home represents the true mission of Maggie’s house to help alcoholic women,” Patino says. “The remarkable beauty and design at 4513 Gaston is representative of what these women deserve as they prosper and grow.”
She also thanks Tip Housewright, CEO of Omniplan. “This is the architectural firm that partnered with us from day one in the design of the restoration and worked with us every day for three years during the construction process,” she notes.
And Barry Buford, owner of Buford/Hawthorne Construction, and his team served as construction contractors.
“Their attention to detail helped build our home with the vision of it lasting for 100 years.”
This project, this renovation marks the pinnacle of everything she has ever dreamed of, she says.
“To give alcoholic women a dignified space to recover from a disease. Where their children can come visit, where they don’t ever have to feel shame because they reached out for help,” she says. “This team helped us turn our dream into a reality. They are the gold standard of home restoration and the result will help us serve thousands of women for years to come.”
Preservation Dallas has not yet published the full list of 2022 awards but has begun notifying the awardees.
The foundation is celebrating a milestone year with a dinner in May.
Notes the invite, “Our Preservation Achievement Award ceremony is always a special event, but this year promises to be even more spectacular with the celebration or our 50th year!”
Learn more and get tickets here.
Look for our upcoming issue for our story on Maggie’s House, or visit magdalenhouse.org.
