Dressed in its holiday best, the historic DeGolyer Estate at Dallas motivates and cheers winter people. Constructed by California architects Denman Scott and Burton Schutt from the Spanish colonial revival style, the property was home to the late Everette L. DeGolyer — a prominent oilman, geophysicist and philanthropist — and his wife, Nell, also no longer living.
The property, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, initially spanned 44 acres on the shores of White Rock Lake. Today the glorious estate is below the maintenance and supervision of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Society.
Tours: Monday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 pm through December 31, 2012; closed Christmas Day
Location: The Dallas Arboretum, 8525 Garland Rd., Dallas
Cost: Tours are included in the cost of admission to the Arboretum: $15 adults; $12 seniors; $9 kids; free for younger or 3.
Sarah Greenman
Two Christmas trees and an overhead garland trimmed in red ribbon frame the entrance to the grand house, a meandering 21,000-square-foot structure evoking the texture of a Mexican hacienda.
Sarah Greenman
A glittering 13-foot tree skirted with poinsettias greets visitors as they enter into the living room. A portrait of Nell DeGolyer hangs above a baby grand piano.
Sarah Greenman
The DeGolyers wanted their house to be grand enough to offer appropriate hospitality to scholars, heads of state, artists, intellectuals and international dignitaries, but informal enough to accommodate a more casual lifestyle, too. Particular features include an intricately designed coffered ceiling and an elaborately carved fireplace mantel.
Sarah Greenman
Sarah Greenman
A Nativity centerpiece adorns the dining room table. The first furnishings and tapestries reflect Nell’s preference for 17th- and 18th-century Language fashions.
In the front end of the room, a distinctive shell-shaped alcove offers the ideal framework for a 13-foot Christmas tree.
Sarah Greenman
Nell’s former bedroom glows with gold and pink holiday decorations. Minty green, it’s opulent architectural specifics and simple furnishings.
Sarah Greenman
Sarah Greenman
Greenery, garlands and Nativity figures dress the surfaces and windows. Pale red poinsettias sit round the base of a dresser.
Sarah Greenman
The bedroom features a beautifully large cabinet and washroom, nearly unheard-of luxuries for a house constructed in the late 1930s.
Sarah Greenman
Sarah Greenman
The lavish closet once organized all Nell’s dresses, shoes, hats, gloves and jewelry. It also has a dressing table and a three-way dressing mirror.
Sarah Greenman
A generously proportioned sitting room connects the bedroom with the remainder of the house. White poinsettias, swagged evergreens and a decorated tree keep company with the room’s womanly furnishings.
Sarah Greenman
A glass Nativity scene perches to a gold-trimmed coffee table. Garlands and green metallic Christmas balls cover the cozy hearth.
Sarah Greenman
Everette DeGolyer acquired tens of thousands of books in his life. The core of the house is a magnificent library with shelf room for 15,000 volumes.
Sarah Greenman
The library shelves are filled this year with a collection of crèche scenes from all over the world. The screens range from modern sculptural pieces to conventional carved figurines.
Sarah Greenman
The house was originally called Rancho Encinal (Spanish for “pine ranch”), because of the numerous live oak trees around the property. It has 13 rooms, and seven baths, a connected greenhouse, a four-car garage and servants’ quarters with two bedrooms. Of those 13 rooms, there is but 1 bedroom, since the DeGolyers constructed the house after their four kids had already left school.
Sarah Greenman
The property includes a long terrace patterned after the mission at San Juan Capistrano, California, and a charming interior courtyard reminiscent of Mexican structural layout.
Sarah Greenman
The property slopes gently down through the gardens to an infinity pool and ultimately to the banks of White Rock Lake. Glass art sculptures by Dale Chihuly will be on display in the gardens through December 31, 2012.