The Hollywood/Santa Monica Neighborhood
View BrochurePreserving Our Tomorrows
A Century of History
It was the ’20s, and Dallas was booming, Americans had returned from World War I with new perspectives on life. And architecture.
A century earlier, the Hollywood /Santa Monica neighborhood had been part of the land granted by the Republic of Texas to Robert Moore, an original settler of the Peters Colony whereas Santa Monica was part of the land granted to A.T. Nanny. By the late 1800s, according to the maps of the day, the land was designated as part of “Miss Martin’s Dairy”.
In the post-war ’20s, J.B. Salmon acquired this former dairy farm and formed the Hollywood Company to subdivide and improve the land. Also known as the developer of Kessler Highlands in Oak Cliff, Mr. Salmon was exceedingly careful in planning his property. The Hollywood Company, using deed restrictions, ensured development in the neighborhood was to the highest standards. In 1925, Bert Blair & Co. established the Santa Monica addition to subdivide and improve the land and used similar deed restrictions as well. As was the case with the adjacent Swiss Avenue and Lakewood Country Club Estates neighborhoods, masonry construction and rear-yard utility easements were required.
The first official grantee (sale of property) from The Hollywood Co., was June 16th, 1924.
Within these restrictions, home styles were not regulated. Nevertheless, Doughboys returned home enchanted by the stone Jacobean and Tudoresque mansions and cottages they had encountered overseas. This trend of bringing a little Old World to the New World led to overwhelming nationwide popularity of the Tudor style in the postwar years. It is not surprising that the majority of Hollywood houses are constructed of brick in the Tudor Cottage style as well as Spanish Eclectic, French Eclectic, Minimal Traditional, Craftsman, Monterey and Pueblo Revival. However, the cut-stone architectural embellishments – chimneys, arches, facades – are truly a Texas accent to an otherwise European architectural style.
Preserving Our Tomorrows, Today
Hollywood Ambiance
The big city lights are minutes away. But when you’re reading a book in the shade of a 100-year-old oak or in the soft glow of stained glass windows, the big city can seem light years away. So it is with Hollywood Heights/Santa Monica.
Conveniently located in central Dallas, you can explore the city when the feeling strikes you. Yet the timelessness of our area provides a haven to escape it all.
Snuggled between the Lakewood Country Club and Tenison Park Golf Course, the neighborhood consists of more than 800 homes bounded by the Santa Fe Trail and East Grand Avenue.
Due to the close proximity to I-30 (south) and Central Expressway (west), Hollywood/Santa Monica is only minutes from downtown Dallas and the Arts District. A quick jaunt up Mockingbird Lane provides fast access to Love Field. DFW International Airport is approximately a 30-minute drive and via the Dallas North Tollway, you can quickly be in North Dallas.
Nearby shopping includes Lakewood Shopping Center, Skillman Live Oak, Lakeview Center, Arboretum Village, Hillside Village, Casa Linda and NorthPark Center as well as the myriad boutiques and restaurants along Greenville Avenue, Deep Ellum, Uptown and Knox-Henderson. For the freshest vegetables and fruits in town, the Dallas Farmers Market is only minutes away.
In addition, major medical facilities such as Baylor Scott & White Medical Center, Children’s Health, Dallas Hospital, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital and Parkland Hospital are in close proximity.
Hollywood Neighbors
The architecture and beautiful surroundings make Hollywood Heights/Santa Monica unlike many other areas, and the people who live here make this community truly unique. The neighborhood is very diverse, attracting families, couples and singles of all ages.
The Hollywood/Santa Monica Neighborhood Association has been responsible for the Conservation District designation as well as many other social, political and quality-of-life improvements for the area. In fact, due to an active Crime Watch and Expanded Neighborhood Patrol (ENP), Hollywood Heights/Santa Monica consistently claims the lowest crime rate of any neighborhood in the Central Patrol Division.
Hollywood Living
For more than 100 years, Hollywood Heights/Santa Monica has been a wonderful home to thousands of Dallasites. Today, the neighborhood continues to work and play together, creating a welcoming community lifestyle.
From the annual Home Tour, Margarita Contest, Luminaria, Easter, Halloween and Christmas celebrations, Hollywood residents know how to have fun. The neighborhood association hosts quarterly meetings, where residents meet each other and get involved with various volunteer opportunities.
Families continue to be attracted to the area because of the solid education alternatives. Lakewood Elementary is well known for its innovative progress and active PTA groups. Lumin Education Lindsley Park and Eduardo Mata Montessori are guided by the Montessori philosophy of education. Lakewood Elementary, a top-performing, A-rated campus, J. L. Long Middle School and Woodrow Wilson High School are recognized DISD schools. Additionally, there are many private schools, including Spanish World School for ages 3 months-adult, Lakehill Preparatory School K-12, East Grand Preparatory PK-8, Cityscape Early Childhood Center PK 3-4 and St. Bernard of Clairvaux Catholic School PK 3-8. All public and most private schools are within walking distance of our homes.
The area features beautiful parks, including Lindsley Park, Tenison Park Golf Course, Tenison Park Pollinator Garden and Samuell-Grand Park, featuring tennis, pickleball and Shakespeare in the Park. The Lakewood Country Club also offers golf, tennis and swimming or social memberships. And you’re just a short walk away from the Santa Fe Hike and Bike Trail that borders our neighborhood and connects to the White Rock Creek Trail. Trek around White Rock Lake, with its sailboats, picnic areas and colorful Dallas Arboretum. The Santa Fe Trail reaches to Deep Ellum, Fair Park and Downtown Dallas.
The White Rock YMCA is located on Gaston Avenue and features a swimming pool, gymnasium and programs for all ages. Additionally, many religious organizations are located in the community and in adjacent neighborhoods.
America’s Largest Collection of Stone-embellished Tudor Homes
While the Great Depression had a strangle-hold on most of 1930s America, Dallas experienced a local economic boom due to the East Texas oil fields. When the rest of the nation’s homebuilding industry virtually shut down, Dallas continued to construct homes similar to those found in Hollywood/ Santa Monica. Consequently, several other East Dallas neighborhoods – Lakewood, Greenland Hills – feature exceptional collections of eclectic-era architecture.
However, according to Virginia McAlester, noted architectural historian, no other American neighborhood is home to a larger intact collection of stone-embellished brick Tudor cottages than Hollywood Heights/Santa Monica. And the reason behind this preservation of early 1900s architecture was the deed restrictions put in place in the early ’20s.
By 1977, the original deed restrictions that had kept the neighborhood’s architectural integrity intact had expired. In areas throughout Dallas, the history and personality of neighborhoods was being destroyed. In a city in which the majority of historic landmarks had been sacrificed to make room for newer glass and steel monuments, it became clear that preservation of our neighborhood would be the responsibility of the neighbors who lived there.
A Future Worth Preserving
After countless hours of planning and meetings with homeowners and City Staff, starting in April 1988 Hollywood/Santa Monica became the City’s sixth Conservation District in March 1993. This conservancy designation preserves all the protections of regular single-family zoning, restores many of the original deed restrictions established by the Hollywood Company and preserves the right of property owners to make appropriate restorations, renovations and new construction additions consistent with their home’s original architectural style.
Homeowners just need to apply for a Conservation District Work Review Form from the Dallas Conservation Districts Planning and Urban Design Department and submit plans to obtain approval before they begin any exterior remodeling, repairing, or improvements to their home. This process helps to ensure the architectural integrity of Hollywood Heights/Santa Monica for years to come.
Hooray for Hollywood
If you like the idea of a historic neighborhood in the center of Dallas with tree-lined streets, Tudor style homes and a true sense of community, stop by and see for yourself. Or better yet, visit www.hsmna.org or write the HSMNA at:
P.O. Box 140763Dallas, Texas 75214
We feel sure that you’ll find the eclectic mix of people and the quality-of-life an exceptional choice for urban living.
Where is Hollywood / Santa Monica?
The Hollywood/Santa Monica Conservation District is bounded by the Santa Fe Trail on the North and West, East Grand on the East, and Valencia/Sarasota on the South.