The Italianate Mansion of Mrs. Rose Lloyd by: Diane Galloway
The Italianate mansion of Susie Rose Youree Lloyd, built around 1915 above the limestone cliffs of Turtle Creek, was designed by noted architect Herbert M. Greene and was the site of many elegant parties and club meetings. Photo courtesy of Ralph Pearson
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bove the limestone cliffs of Turtle Creek stands the Italianate mansion built around 1915 by Susie Rose Youree Lloyd, daughter of a wealthy banker-plantation owner from Shreveport, La. Set on 6.6 acres at the southeast corner of Preston Road and Beverly Drive, it was modeled after a villa in Italy. Architect Herbert M. Greene designed the socialite’s stately, antique-filled home, scene of lavish parties and club meetings. Mr. Greene came to Dallas in the late 1890s and a few years later established the firm of Hubbell and Green. His grandson, John Taylor, who lived in Highland Park all his life, said Mr. Greene was the first architect in the area to be elected to the American Institute of Architects. Known mainly as a commercial architect, Mr. Greene designed the original Dallas Morning News building, the old Neiman Marcus building downtown, Titche’s, E.M. Kahn, Volk Bros., the Masonic Temple and many others, including some buildings for the University of Texas in Austin from 1923 to 1933. Just below the Lloyd home, Turtle Creek had been dammed in 1890 to form Exall Lake, popular site of many turn-of-the-century outings and parties. Across Beverly Drive from Mrs. Lloyd’s home was the Dallas Country Club, with which she carried on a continuing battle over the smell from the club’s sewage floating downstream and the debris that blew onto
her property. When the country club offered to buy her estate, thus removing a thorn from its side while acquiring more land, Mrs. Lloyd responded by offering to buy the country club. She remained in the home until her death in 1974 at the age of 94. In 1990, this home and all the others in this magnificent Lakeside area, stretching from Beverly to Wycliff Avenue between Preston Road and Lakeside Drive, were designated the Lakeside Historic District by the Park Cities Historical Society. The featured photo is one of the popular historical postcards sent by the Park Cities Bank as part of an advertising campaign in the late 1960s when the bank was at Preston Road and Mockingbird Lane in Highland Park Village. Called the Heritage Series or the “Remember When” series, these 5-by-8-inch postcards were mailed monthly to Park Cities residents. This photo on the postcard must have been taken around 1924, just after the newly developed Highland Park West opened west of Preston Road. Beverly Drive has been split into two streets west of Preston, and in the upper right corner of the photo, the land where Highland Park Village now sits is still undeveloped. During the intervening years, the sapling trees shown in the photo have grown and matured, lush landscapes have blossomed and magnificent homes have filled every lot, making this lovely neighborhood one of the most sought after residential areas in Dallas. THE 2014 HISTORIC HOME TOUR | 31