The history of Marquita Court in Lower Greenville

When Marquita Court celebrated its grand opening in July 1931, it was the largest capacity apartment building built in Dallas in more than two years. Situated just one block off Greenville Avenue at the southwest corner of Matilda Street and Marquita Avenue, it was only the second apartment building ever to be constructed in the neighborhood now collectively known as Lower Greenville.

Over the course of the next 94 years, Marquita Court became a storied and iconic East Dallas landmark. While its history lives on, the building itself has been significantly changed — and some would also say diminished — by its recent renovation following a partial roof collapse in August 2022.

“I am very glad they were able to save enough of the building to at least keep the scale and basic forms of the neighborhood,” says Norman Alston, an award-winning Dallas architect, FAIA, who specializes in historic preservation. “One of the primary concerns after the collapse was that it would be replaced by a new structure that ignored the local context and character of the older neighborhood.”

At the time it was built, Marquita Court represented a modern multi-family solution to Dallas’ ongoing post-World War I housing shortage. It featured a fashionable Mediterranean Revival influence in its Spanish-style tiled roof, central courtyard entryway with a modest fountain and ornamental vases in arched niches on the facade of each wing. Jalousied roof dormers and double-hung windows added practical and functional architectural interest by providing through ventilation, while innovative underground parking — virtually unheard-of in 1930s Dallas — provided what was advertised as a “fireproof garage” for residents’ motorcars.

One-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments with “everything furnished” offered a plethora of amenities: “solid carpeting throughout,” “tub showers,” ceiling fans and Kelvinator electric refrigerators that a Dallas Morning News write-up noted “provide the freezing of ice cubes in less than two hours with an extra-heavy capacity of ice for each apartment.”

No need to skimp on ice for sweet tea or cocktails if you live at Marquita Court.

Operated by the Apartment Service Company, life at 5750 Marquita — bills paid — included janitorial and maid services plus free laundry service. Lucky residents could also take advantage of an adjacent tennis court and children’s playground. Ads for the new building even promised, “We move you.”

Strategically located along the Belmont streetcar line running out from Downtown Dallas to Mockingbird Lane via Matilda, Marquita Court was conveniently close to the burgeoning Lower Greenville Avenue retail and entertainment district springing up around the Arcadia Theater, which opened in 1927 where Trader Joe’s is today. Neighborhood residents could walk or take the streetcar to catch a 10-cent talkie, then do their shopping or get their hair cut. The nationally recognized Hockaday School for Girls was located nearby at Belmont and Greenville, while brand-new Robert E. Lee Elementary School (now Geneva Heights) stood cattycorner.

Marquita Court and Robert E. Lee Elementary both were part of the second phase of Greenland Hills’ development. This vibrant and growing neighborhood just north of the already well-established Vickery Place area was an early suburb of Downtown Dallas, home to family-oriented middle class professionals attracted to its charming mix of Tudor Revival cottages, Spanish Eclectic architecture and Neoclassical influences.

From the get-go, Greenland Hills was designed to be a cohesive and high-quality residential area, complete with detached garages for automobiles. When it was originally platted, in 1923, ads proclaimed, “Build your home in Greenland Hills, where you are protected from the encroachment of apartments.”

Nonetheless, cities run on mass transit, so the Apartment Service Company went on to build five eight-unit apartment buildings right next door to Marquita Court at a total cost of $150,000. (In the 5700 block of Marquita Avenue, a zoning anomaly allows multifamily residences on the south side of the street while restricting construction to single-family homes on the north side.) All 40 “modern efficiency apartments” survived until the early 1980s, when two of the five buildings were torn down to make way for Marquita Carriage Place condominiums. The other three buildings are well preserved and still thriving today, looking from the outside much as they probably always have.

Meanwhile, Marquita Court soon became home to a lively mix of residents. Among the first were newlyweds W.B. and Dorothy Ramsey, who were “at home” there after August 15 following their honeymoon, an automobile trip to Corpus Christi and San Antonio. The Ramseys were one of numerous couples — a number of whom were raised in the Park Cities — whose wedding announcements in the Morning News gave their future address as simply “Marquita Court.”

Marquita Court also made the Morning News’s Dallas Social Affairs page for various festivities hosted by residents. In February of 1936, Mrs. A.L. Mallioux and her daughter Jacqueline entertained with a luncheon in honor of their uncle and aunt, Judge and Mrs. J.M. Shinn, of Harrison, Arkansas. A green-and-white color theme was observed in the decorations. (A precursor to St. Patrick’s Day, perhaps?) Such society page mentions reflected the social standing of Marquita Court and its residents.

Later in 1936, during the Texas Centennial State Fair, the Marquita Court and Apartments (5732-5750 Marquita Ave.) and McCommas Apartments (5800-5820 McCommas Ave.) were operated jointly with full hotel services under the consolidated name Marquita Hotel Apartments. A total of 48 two- to four-bedroom apartments were available on Marquita, along with 24 two-bedroom units on McCommas — an early iteration of AirBnB.

In October of 1939, the Morning News’ Classified Ads for Apartments — Furnished noted that 5750 Marquita, a.k.a. Marquita Court, was under new management, with newly decorated and refurnished one- and two-bedroom apartments for $50 and up, bills paid.

By then, Marquita Court was home to Mrs. T.L. Henrich, who moved to Dallas from Chicago that August to be married. Prior to her marriage, Miss Margaret Loyd (which she retained as her professional name) was a member of the Chicago Civic Opera and soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; she also won first place in the Chicago Musicland Festival. In March 1940, she sang for members of the Dallas Kiwanis Club during their luncheon meeting at the Hotel Adolphus. A year later in April 1941, when Dallas’ Majestic Theater held a contest for “girl musicians,” Miss Floyd was selected as a finalist for a special appearance with Phil Spitalny and his all-girl Hour of Charm Orchestra.

In July 1941, a full decade after its grand opening, Marquita Court was still advertising “attractively furnished one- and two-bedrooms, thru ventilation, $50-$60.” It was flourishing, as was Lower Greenville, which continued to establish itself as a premier retail and entertainment district.

When North Central Expressway came along in 1950, Greenville Avenue was a major artery through Dallas and thus a bustling hot spot for shopping and restaurants, conveniently interspersed among residential neighborhoods for purposes of walkability. But the advent of Central Expressway changed that dynamic, sucking traffic off of Greenville and onto the highway straight out to the mid-century suburbs of Richardson and Plano.

As a result, the once lively and fashionable neighborhoods just north of Downtown began to wilt and decay. Lower Greenville slid into desuetude; it hung on, but it wasn’t growing like it had been through the 1940s, especially after World War II. Residents were aging in place, letting property maintenance slip, while young families were moving north.

But … location, location, location.

Gentrification became a thing in the 1970s, with urban pioneers rehabbing beat-up but sturdy older houses that would once have been viewed as only suitable for tearing down. For these hippies and yuppies, Lower Greenville was prime real estate.

Ads for Marquita Court, waxing poetic, reappeared in the Dallas Morning News starting in March 1980. The apartments were described as “luxury,” “old but grand,” “old world charm,“ “redecorated for today,” “built in the days of graceful living.” Notably, between the springs of 1980 and 1982, the price jumped from $255 to $475, bills paid with central heating and air conditioning.

For the next 10 years or so, artists, musicians and other creative types snapped up these funky, quirky living spaces and brought Marquita Court and its surrounding neighborhood back to vivid life and new relevance as a walkable neighborhood full of interesting places to shop, dine and party.

Guitarist Ken Bethea of the Old 97’s remembers those years particularly well, because Marquita Court was (famously) Ground Zero for the band.

“It so warms my heart, the fun we had!” he recalls. “There was a bunch of Gen Xers living there, all working at Terilli’s and the Blue Goose. We knew everybody who lived at Marquita Court.There was always somebody to get breakfast with.

“The guys in the right corner were outliers,” he continues. “They were cowboys. Everybody else was an East Dallas liberal. Then there were these total stoner dudes in the back who spent their whole day playing Sega Genesis. People from those days were our first fans. They still come to our shows!”

The Old 97’s instrumental “Marquita” is a tuneful homage.

“We knew it was historic, and we were really into living in a vintage building,” Bethea says. “I always liked the arch between the living room and the breakfast nook. The telephone niche in the hallway, too. And my half of the rent was $280!”

“Living there was just fun, man,” he adds wistfully. “It makes me sad that it’s no longer affordable for musicians. None of Lower Greenville is.”

Marquita Court’s 300-square-foot studio apartments currently rent for $1,500. The arches are still in place in the apartments now comprising Marquita Court, and so is the bathrooms’ original tile work. But the phone niches, built-in ironing boards, and geometric original exterior light fixtures are gone after most of the interior was gutted due to unexpected water damage found during the roof repairs and renovation.

“For its time, the building was simple and straightforward. Interesting architectural details were at a minimum,” Alston says. “The new iteration has really shorn the building of what little character it had.”

“The tile roof contributed substantially. Besides conveying the Spanish influences so popular at the time, that influence, the color and heavy texture have been lost. This disappointment extends to the loss of the small dormers that were originally part of the roof. Those were small but important details, and they’re all gone now.”

According to Seth Bame, CEO of Indio Management, owners of Marquita Court, the roof tiles were cement reproductions, and the dormers had to be ditched because they leaked. As with all older buildings, Bame said, there were surprises — such as heretofore unseen water damage — when they started repairing the roof. However, the symmetrical façade’s signature niches and their urns are still in place.

“Our goal was to make the building relevant for another 100 years,” Bame says.

Historic Marquita Court had character, says Alston, which extended to the area around it. “Neighborhood character is a powerful force in support of quality of life, both aesthetically and financially,” he explains. “It’s one of the reasons we have historic districts, conservation districts and the like. They all protect neighborhood character.

“Historic buildings provide a variety of essential qualities to society,” Alston continues. “Most importantly, they tell a story. Older buildings … paint a picture of life in days past. This provides a sense of place, providing depth and authenticity to our neighborhoods.

“Marquita Court was valuable because it did all of these things,” concludes Alston. “Mostly because it hadn’t been updated much, so you could still perceive the story it had to tell. All of that has been lost.”

Marquita Court’s residents

Dallas’ 1937 City Directory provides an interesting and fairly comprehensive peek at Marquita Court’s assorted residents, including their occupations:

Apt 1: Frances Donalson
(clerk, Universal Credit Co.)

Apt 2: Harlan H. & Dora Payne
(Assistant Zone Manager, Pontiac Motor Co.)

Apt 3: Ann and Janice Landrum,

Apt 4: Jean Sauls
(clerk, Federal Reserve Bank)

Apt 6: H & Annie Fowler
(Manager, Goodrich Silvertown Stores)

Apt 7: Marjorie Paynes

Apt 9: George E. Roedick
(pilot for Braniff Airways)

Apt 10: Ruth Strong

Apt 11: Glenn & Jeane Loomis

Apt 11: Cora L. Warren (maid)

Apt 12: Joe H. Mixon

Apt 14A: H.A. Parker

Apt 14B: Allen G & Meda Hatley (salesman)

Apt 14B: Ruby Bonner
(maid)

Apt 15: Harold P & Alice Suttle
(salesman, CS Hamilton Motor Co.)

Apt 19: D Doble & E Bogewold

Apt 20: Earl H. & Marguerite Whiatten
(salesman,
Walter H Allen Co)

Apt 21: John A & Betty Straitan

Apt 23: A.Y. & Anna J. Aydelotte