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These spring 2019 home tours will open doors to dazzling DFW houses

Stephanie Hollman home, 3816 Turtle Creek Blvd.

Stephanie and Travis Hollman of The Real Housewives of Dallas will let the public peek inside their Turtle Creek mansion.

Photo courtesy of Turtle Creek Association

There’s nothing that architecture and interior design fans love more than making a weekend of touring fabulous homes. If you’re in love with North Texas real estate, then you’ll be happy to know that the spring 2019 home tour season is going to be a spectacular one, featuring some of the best in architecture all over Dallas and Fort Worth.

To help you get your schedule in order, we offer a roundup of upcoming spring home tours so you can buy your tickets and make your brunch reservations afterwards. This list will continue to grow, and we will take a closer look inside the featured homes as each tour approaches.

Turtle Creek Association Tour of Homes
April 7, 2019, from 1-5 pm; After Party from 6:30-9 pm
Purchase tickets here.

The Turtle Creek Association, a non-profit organization whose primary focus is to enhance, preserve, and protect Dallas’ 87-acre Turtle Creek Corridor, provides a special look inside three high-rise residences and one single-family home with their 2019 Tour of Homes. Following the tour will be a separately ticketed post tour reception. Of special note on this year's tour: Stephanie and Travis Hollman of The Real Housewives of Dallas will let the public peek inside their $5 million mansion.

Park Cities Historic Preservation Society Historic Home Tour
April 13, from 10 am-3 pm
Tickets available in mid-March at participating Park Cities Tom Thumb stores.

The Mission of the Park Cities Historic and Preservation Society is to preserve and promote the history, architecture, aesthetics, and cultural traditions of the Park Cities. Funds raised help preserve and maintain the Park Cities House at Dallas Heritage Village, support the new PCHPS archives at the University Park Library, fund the Society’s landmarking initiatives, award scholarships to Highland Park High School graduating seniors planning to study architecture or history, and fund the Distinguished Chair for History at Highland Park High School. This year’s tour homes include: 3615 Cornell, 3910 Gillon, 3524 Saint Johns, and 3657 Stratford.

Hollywood Home Tour
April 25-28
Tickets available soon on the website.

This popular annual fundraiser for one of the cutest historic neighborhoods in Dallas — Hollywood Heights/Santa Monica — is a full-weekend event. It features Art in the Park, where you can shop for cute trinkets and beautiful works from local artists while enjoying the vibe of the neighborhood’s Lindsley Park, as well as the home tour, which guides you through the hilly topography of this East Dallas enclave to its quaint traditional and Tudor homes. On this year’s tour, see a full-scale revamp of floral designer Kate Arani’s home at 7006 Santa Monica, completed by Joel Greenwald’s CRE8 Homes.

White Rock Home Tour
April 27-28, from 12-5 pm
Tickets on sale now.

One of East Dallas’ most popular spring tours is back with six new homes to wander through. The two-day tour benefits Hexter Elementary in the Old Lake Highlands neighborhood. Tickets are on sale now, and this year’s tour will feature some spectacular new builds as well as midcentury modern classics. Advance tickets are $15, and the price goes up to $20 per ticket on the day of the tour.

Dallas Builders Association Parade of Homes
May 4
Details available via the Dallas Builders Association soon.

This recently revived annual tour is a fantastic showcase for the top-notch builders of the Dallas Builders Association. The event, which is slated for May 4, is especially intriguing if you’ve been searching for inspiration for a remodel or if you’re building your own home soon. Last year’s tour showed off the high-quality construction of five Dallas Builders Association members. This one is bound to be bigger and better.

Save the date:
Here are other tours you should put on your calendar:

Fairmount Historic District Mother’s Day Tour: May 11-12

Swiss Avenue Mother’s Day Home Tour: May 11-12

AIA Fort Worth Homes Tour: May 18-19

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A version of this story originally was published on CandysDirt.com

home-for-sale tours

greener grass in tx

Texas leads the nation as the No. 1 best state for homesteading

Photo by Zoe Richardson on Unsplash

Homesteading isn't a pipe dream for those who want to begin that journey in Texas.

If social media is any indicator, homesteading has been one of the hottest trends of 2024. And Texas is leading the charge as the No. 1 best state for homesteading and gardening, according to a new report by First Saturday Lime.

Analysts at First Saturday Lime, an insect repellant company featured on Shark Tank, evaluated the "suitability for sustainable living" across all 50 states based on six factors: Climate, community interest (a.k.a online search trends), gardening resources, farmland costs, and others.

The Lone Star State led the nation with the most farms and ranches on the market and the highest total acreage for sale. As of the study's publication, there were 7,520 total properties for sale, spanning more than 2.19 million acres of land.

Texas also ranked favorably for its farmland affordability. The state came in at No. 9 nationally with its average farmland price coming out to $2,800 per acre, the report said.

For comparison, New Mexico (which ranked No. 11 overall) had the most affordable average price per acre of farmland at just $700 per acre. Massachusetts (No. 48) and Connecticut (No. 42), however, tied for the most expensive price per acre, at $14,300.

Among the three remaining categories in the study, Texas performed the worst for its "gardens on Yelp per capita" rank. The study calculated Texas has 0.30 gardening and community garden establishments on Yelp per capita, placing Texas at No. 49.

Meanwhile, Texas' historically hot weather meant it ranked No. 43 out of all 50 states in the "favorable climate" rank, and the state earned a middle-of-the-road No. 35 rank in the "search interest per capita" category.

"Homesteading and gardening are growing in popularity, but some states provide better opportunities than others," the report's author wrote. "Whether you're after fresh produce or the freedom of self-sufficiency, choosing the right state can make all the difference."

Following behind Texas to complete the top three best states for homesteading and gardening are Oregon (No. 2) and Washington (No. 3), two notoriously rainy West Coast states.

Meanwhile, three East Coast states ranked at the bottom of the list as the worst states for homesteading and gardening: Rhode Island (No. 50), New Jersey (No. 49), and Massachusetts (No. 48).

The top 10 best states for homesteading and gardening are:

No. 1 – Texas
No. 2 – Oregon
No. 3 – Washington
No. 4 – Vermont
No. 5 – Delaware
No. 6 – Arizona
No. 7 – Wyoming
No. 8 – Montana
No. 9 – Hawaii
No. 10 – Colorado

The study sourced its data from Yelp, Google Trends, and the UDSA to determine each state's ranking.

gardening sustainability nature farmers

Welcome mat

These spring 2019 home tours will open doors to dazzling DFW houses

greener grass in tx

Texas leads the nation as the No. 1 best state for homesteading

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