When Estella and David Cuevas found out they were going to have to leave their 1907 home in St. Louis and head for Dallas, they pretty much knew where they wanted to live. David had been to Dallas before and visited friends in the Casa Linda area, which is how he first ran across Hollywood Heights where it was “like” at first sight.

“This is about half the size of the house in Compton Heights,” says David. “But our kids are gone and the ceilings here are high enough for the pier mirror and our headboard.”

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So the 1927 English Tudor cottage on Monte Vista became home to all the remarkable antiques and collectibles that the Cuevas hadamassed over their 21-year marriage. Well, not all of them actually. Many things simply wouldn’t “fit” and were either sold before the couple left Missouri or reluctantly banished to the attic for the time being.

The interior of the Monte Vista house is Arts and Crafts, and the vaulted timbered ceiling accommodates the 10-foot Victorian pier mirror to which David referred. The English Revival interiors of Tudor revivals, English cottages and English country houses were very popular between 1900 and 1930, were lauded for their charm and simplicity. The Cuevas chose light, soft colors to complement the open airiness and to showcase their furnishings.

The living room is decorated with 1890 Gentleman’s and Lady’s parlor armchairs. The ceiling lights and sconces are Mission, and were purchased from a lamp restoration shop in St. Louis for this house during the owner’s relocation.

The dining room table is quarter-sawed oak, has nine leaves and was designed to seat 20. All but six of the Cuevas 14 chairs and one of the leaves reside in the attic. Although the couple does have room to push out for a larger dinner party when necessary, they have to be careful how close the diner at the end gets to the lip of the room’s raised entrance, laughs Estella.

The table is set is an 1870s bone china set with silver inlays and the engraved initial “C.” The curved sideboard, 1897, is oak; the candleholders and covered dish are Bohemian glass.

The master bedroom is dominated by a massive Victorian Eastlake three-piece set made of walnut, bird’s eye maple and burled walnut. There are hand-carved crowns on each piece. Additional Victorian Eastlake pieces — a dresser and arm chair — complete the period setting. Within two weeks of purchasing the set, the owners were contacted about another three-piece set of the same vintage, which can now be found in their guest room.

The guest room is affectionately dubbed the “Presidential Suite”; there is an original lithograph of George Washington facing the foot of the bed. The dresser in this set has built-in candle stands, somewhat more useful in East Dallas than other parts of the city. A walnut Duncan Phyfe lady’s kneehold desk is tucked in a corner for the convenience of lucky visitors.

The Cuevas seem as at home here as their lovely things, and say they like “the neighborly camaraderie and community feeling.”

Cutlines – Niki, I have more information for cutlines depending on what photos you choose. Here are some of the ones I thought might be used:

Estella and David Cuevas.

The 10-foot Victorian pier mirror facing the front door dates from 1871 and is walnut, burled walnut and marble. The finish is original.

The 1870 mahogany Chippendale rocker in the living room sports hand-carved feet and was one of the couple’s first acquisitions.

Both homeowners have a favorite piece — the 1915 Czechoslovakian bronze grape lamp in the dining room. After carefully moving and unpacking it, they discovered a missing piece after the moving boxes had been given to a neighbor. A quick and frantic search produced the absent leaf.

The dining room table is quarter-sawed oak and was designed to seat 20; eight leaves are in the attic.

The owners were fortunate to find three-piece Victorian sets for both bedrooms; although dealers frequently get in matched pairs, usually the set has been broken up entirely.