Kessler Park is one of the biggest neighborhood housing secrets in Dallas real estate. For under $600,000, you can own your very own castle.At $599,900, this home at 1112 South Canterbury Court is a majestic rock English Tudor built in 1932, but you'd never know it. It has had an extra $25,000 of improvements injected and is an excellent buy for the location, architectural integrity and price.
At its current list price, it's 4 percent below the neighborhood's average list price of $611,000.
Except for the rolling terrain and creeks of Preston Hollow, where former President George W. Bush bought his post-presidential castle, most Dallas neighborhoods are fairly flat. Treed, but flat. Drive north to Plano, Richardson and Frisco, you'll see development after development on former cotton fields.
In contrast, Kessler Park, where legend has it the Texas Hill Country begins, is home to rocky cliffs, hills, trees, topography, creeks and homes with architectural integrity. It's an older community that was first developed in the 1920s, south of downtown Dallas.
The updated South Canterbury Court home features a fully remodeled kitchen with custom-period cabinets, granite counters, a stainless-steel Viking gas stove, and a travertine-tile floor. Original hardwoods remain throughout the house, as does a cast-stone entry with three stained glass Palladian arch windows. Plantation shutters, nine-foot ceilings, and original moldings abound. All walls are plaster -- which is rare in Dallas -- and those quaint archways lead to the formal areas. The layout includes four bedrooms, two-and-a-half updated baths, two living areas, a study with see-through fireplace and solid rock walls featuring an arched window to the huge yard made private by an eight-feet-tall privacy fence.
The 2,522-square-foot home sits on more than a one-quarter acre wooded lot with back porch deck.
Many of the area's homes are listed on the National Register of Historic places, and the Kessler Park Historic District boasts an excellent collection of 1920s to 1940s bungalows and large, revival-style houses. Pros: great cult neighborhood for art and historic home lovers. Cons: except for the Talented and Gifted schools, lower-rated DISD schools and a longer drive to Dallas private schools. Kessler is also enjoying the revival of the Bishop's Arts District in nearby Oak Cliff.
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