A North Texas landmark falls into ruins and becomes nothing more than a memory.
The former mansion of the late Dallas oil magnate Edwin L. Cox at 4101 Beverly Drive in Highland Park is being demolished. Following his death in November 2020, many assets of his estate, including an art collection valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, and his opulent mansion were sold.
In the case of the mansion, it was sold to billionaire banker Andrew Beal in 2021. Although details of the deal were not disclosed at the time, Beal reportedly took out a $41 million loan to purchase the property. Since then, he has reportedly been working on renovations to the building worth an undisclosed amount.
The demolition of the property is a huge loss for preservationists like Larry Good, a former architect who now heads Preservation Park Cities.
Although he never set foot in the house, the loss of such a historic property, once home to a former president and notorious for its lavish parties, is a huge disappointment for Highland Park and Dallas, he said.
“(I feel) frustration, anger and sadness,” Good said. “The combination of its previous owners, the beautiful architecture and its prominent location overlooking the Christmas lights at Lakeside Park made it a joy for everyone. The house had an aura for many years. People knew about it and appreciated it. That makes it all the more tragic that we have lost it.”
It’s unclear why Beal is demolishing the property; he hasn’t yet made a statement. But it’s not the first time he’s demolished an iconic North Texas location. He bought the former Margaret & Trammell Crow estate at 4500 Preston Road in 2016 for nearly $60 million.
Beal demolished it and later sold the vacant lot to Dallas attorney Leslie Ware.
While preservationists like Good are baffled and distressed by the loss of the property, there isn’t much he or anyone else can do about it because of the lack of protection for historic landmarks in Highland Park, says Ron Siebler, director of Preservation Dallas.
“There are no ordinances or protections for historic buildings in Highland Park,” he said. “It’s frustrating that there aren’t more comprehensive protections. But then again, if you have the money and own the property, by and large, with a few exceptions, you can do whatever you want with it.”
Although Highland Park wants historic buildings to be preserved, city law does not allow it to enforce any rules to protect those buildings, a Highland Park official said. The Dallas Morning News by email on Friday.
“The city has long been committed to preserving individual property rights,” they said. “It is the city’s desire to keep historic homes intact, but decisions about property preservation remain at the discretion of the owner.”
The sight of the bulldozers came as a shock to Good when he first saw them on social media, he said, but he had known for more than a year and a half that the once-luxurious mansion was slipping through the city’s hands.
Good was one of many who followed Beal’s renovations closely, but with much skepticism. According to Good and his latest book The houses of the park citiesBeal’s renovations included removing select terracotta, brick and stone details from the mansion, replacing windows and adding a dome-like structure and additions to the Preston street side.
When Good saw the direction the property was heading, he feared the end was near, he said.
“The changes that were made had already taken away the historic character of the house. We had already lost it through inappropriate additions and renovations,” said Good. “I don’t know what motivated him to tear it down, but I can’t imagine there was an economic reason for it. It wouldn’t make sense to me.”
Cox’s mansion joins a long list of iconic buildings in Dallas and Highland Park that have been demolished, including a Hal Thomson-designed mansion at 4908 Lakeside that stood for over a century before being demolished in 2022.
Good knows now is the time for Highland Park to act, and if there is at least one positive to come out of the demise of Cox’s mansion, it is the hope that residents will recognize it, he said.
“We need to make sure that citizens, by and large, have had enough of this. I hope people will see this and write to their city council members, show up to meetings and create an atmosphere and attitude where no one would dare demolish this house,” he said. “A lot of these demolitions are being done by people who are out of state and we need to send the message that this will not happen in Texas.”
But he faces an uphill battle. The demolition of prominent buildings in Highland Park has been going on for years and is not expected to stop any time soon, which could potentially weaken the morale of motivated citizens, Siebler said.
“I’ve seen this over and over again, especially in Highland Park,” he said. “It will certainly lead to a greater awareness of the need for conservation and things like that. But I don’t think the political capital is there right now to make a difference.”
Good, who has lived in Dallas since he was two, fears that if something doesn’t change soon in Highland Park, the city will lose the homes that made it what it is today. He said he helped make sure the city would lose the homes it is today.
“If no one educates people about this and embeds it in society, we will continue to see the demolition of important buildings,” he said. “I just hope this is the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”
