8 December 19 - 25, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Dallas became a boomtown. Droves of peo- ple seeking work in the oil and finance in- dustries flocked to the city, further amplifying the demand for housing in a city with a limited supply. Even if there had been enough housing to match the boom, people couldn’t afford it; the average downpayment in the ’20s was 50%. “You had all these people that couldn’t af- ford a house or people who just couldn’t find a house, and there was no way to build them fast enough,” Firsching said. “It’s that way now. A lot of people can’t afford to buy a house because housing prices are so high.” Across the city, young professionals with not quite enough money for a house, but still craving proximity, live in the former servant quarters. On King’s Highway and in Junius Heights, de facto servant quarters make for affordable rent, and have for decades. On Swiss Avenue, bona fide servant quarters are tucked behind Colonial Revival castles. Downtown, historic luxury apartment com- plexes have quarters deep in the bowels and high up in the attics. In Old East Dallas, there were small full-service apartments for servants above garages. Other homes had entire buildings tucked behind sprawling homes. The old servant quarters in both Oak Cliff and East Dallas are in conservation dis- tricts, so they remain protected. “The rent is absolutely worth not having big apartment amenities,” Christine Pullen said. She lives in servant quarters above a ga- rage in Bryan Place. She pays $1,300 for the 750-square-foot unit. “There is so much character in the unit and the neighborhood, and living where I do at the cost that I do is truly a gift.” Pullen’s unit was built in 1921. It still has gas ranges, which is nice, she says, but the windows, sealed with nails and years of paint, don’t open. The wood floors are frigid in the morning and the unit is stuffy in the summer. There are lots of caveats to the antiquated units. The old wood floors bow, bathroom tiles chip, doors often jam and insulation is less than perfect, agree Pullen and Jackson. “An old building is really charming and this sacrifice, it’s worth it,” Jackson said. “I feel like it’s one of those places that still seems to get the right kinds of people to it, even though it’s not highly marketed or pro- moted.” Jackson found the apartment on Craig- slist. Most tenants find them by word of mouth, and others rely on “for rent” signs in the front yards. The quarters are one of the city’s best-kept renting secrets. Preservation Is a Double- Edged Sword D allas has 27 historical districts. Each one, unique in its own way, serves as a time capsule of the past. Wrap- around porches hug Victorian-style homes on the Wilson Block. Ivy climbs up the beaten bricks of Tudor homes in Greenland Hills. The facades are untouchable, pro- tected by the conservation societies that oversee them. But preservation is a double-edged sword. New owners are required to retain the histor- ical context of any designated building. Sig- nificant effort goes into restoring the homes, as many of them aren’t up to code. Aves spent $390,000 of his own money in 2001 to gut his property on King’s Highway. Some of the old servant quarters are sal- vageable, but many aren’t. The sacrifice of living in homes that come with a hundred years of smells doesn’t appeal to everyone. The cost of preservation needs to be weighed against the evolution of the city. “Many of our historic buildings that we hold in high regard sit on the ground where something else wonderful was before that was torn down in the past,” Firsching said. “Buildings are constantly turning over and changing and churning.” Still, the homes tell an interesting story of the past, one that deserves remembering and one that connects young Dallasites to the generations that built this city. “Architecture establishes a sense of place, but historic architecture creates a profound connection to the past, capturing the time- less appeal of authenticity,” said representa- tives of Architexas. “These buildings quietly tell stories of bygone eras, allowing people to experience history as part of their daily lives.” The Cycle Repeats T he servant quarters are a relic of the city’s past, and in their newest itera- tion, they write history as we speak. The past and the present are starting to blend, and the cycle has reached completion and is ready for repetition. A hundred years ago, the tenants of King’s Highway would walk through the al- leys to Davis Street and board the old street- car that carried them into the city. It was the busiest stop for the trolley. Some would walk down the hills to the nearby mansions for work. Either way, the neighborhood was bustling with young people desperate to make ends meet in an economy that was not designed for them. Today, more than ever, the neighbor- hood looks like it did a hundred years ago. Apothecaries, boulangeries and brewpubs dot the adjacent streets. With the addition of a few stoplights, the section of Dallas is a tributary to the past. A hundred years from now, the old servant quarters will be re- membered as the cheapest rent in the city for starving artists. “It’s interesting how they were built for people who serve millionaires,” Jackson said. “Now we all live here and we’re still serving the billionaires in this city.” ▼ EDUCATION FLUNKING OUT DOZENS OF DALLAS-AREA TEACHERS ARE IMPLICATED IN CERTIFICATION SCANDAL. BY ALYSSA FIELDS F orty-nine North Texas educators have been implicated in a certification cheating scandal emanating from Houston. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) released a list of 102 teachers from across the state whot are accused of paying someone to sit in their place for the teacher certification test. The list is the first batch from an investigation into a total of approxi- mately 200 teachers. In a statement to KHOU, the TEA said it will “review any and all information shared by law enforcement and pursue appropriate action against any educator involved in this scheme. The State Board for Educator Certi- fication will make a final determination on possible sanctions.” Since the scandal unfolded, five people have been charged with criminal offenses. Some teachers have been terminated and others have been placed on administrative leave. None of the teachers have been stripped of their licenses yet. “As new information surfaces, districts will be notified accordingly,” said the TEA in a statement to ABC13 in Houston. “These outreach efforts are critical for district lead- ership so that they can keep their communi- ties apprised.” The scheme operated at several levels. The Houston Police Department has identi- fied the supposed mastermind behind the plan as the head basketball coach at Hous- ton’s Booker T. Washington High School, Vincent Grayson. For a payment of $2,500, hopeful teachers would appear at testing centers, sign in for their scheduled test, then leave. Then a proxy, Nicholas Newton or Darian Nikole Wilhite, would complete the test for them, according to investigators. Grayson allegedly roped in Tywana Gilford Mason, a test proctor, by offering her 20% of the $2,500. LaShonda Roberts, a high school assistant principal in Houston, is said to have recruited the teachers paying for the service. Grayson is believed to have taken in more than $1 million from the scheme. According to reports from NBC, the TEA noticed teachers who had failed the certifi- cation test were passing by “flying colors” on their second try in Houston in mid-2023. Over 400 fraudulent tests were taken dating back to 2020, according to authorities. Schools from North Texas employed a significant number of teachers on the list. Independent School Districts under investi- gation include Allen, Cedar Hill, Crowley, DeSoto, Duncanville, Fort Worth, Garland, Irving, Lancaster, Mansfield, Mesquite, Princeton and Richardson. “On Dec. 1, the Texas Education Agency notified Dallas ISD of individuals implicated in a statewide cheating scandal who are cur- rent employees of the district,” said a state- ment from Dallas Independent School District. “A total of six employees Nathan Hunsinger 1235 King’s Highway today. courtesy Rick Garza 1235 King’s Highway in 2005 Unfair Park from p6 >> p10
