Prestigious Turtle Creek High-Rise Nears 50th Birthday

A first luxury high-rise on Dallas, TX own ‘Gold Coast' boasts a VIP list and an intriguing past according to writer David Flick.

"There was a time, during one of the most colorful eras in Dallas history, when the building at 3525 Turtle Creek Boulevard, was so famous, it didn't matter that it had no other name," he said. "During the early 1960s, heartthrob Fabian stayed there while in town for a play."

When construction of 3525 was announced in 1957, it was the first luxury high-rise along Turtle Creek, a strips that has since become Dallas' version of Chicago's Gold Coast, according to research.

Residents are working to put the building on the National Register of Historic Places, according to a recent article.

Preservation Dallas, which is helping residents apply for historic status, has called the design by Dallas architect Howard Meyer "the most fully realized and successful modernist apartment building in Texas, perhaps in America," writes Flick.

The 22-story building has a rich history of celebrities, a raid, crime, and theft among other legends.

But Meyer, who died in 1988, once said in an interview that when builders Edward Dicker and Jerome Frank hired him, they gave him a simple marching order: "We're giving you the best site in Dallas," wrote Flick.

The building's pinwheel design gave each unit three views and nonconjoining walls that assured greater privacy, according to literature.

The building's most notable feature - the latticelike concrete brise soleil - was designed to filter the harsh Texas sun, states Flick.

There were powder rooms on each floor for the maids, a large staff contractually forbidden to accept tips, a daily courtesy carwash, a swimming pool, and a dining room, according to a website.

All that luxury came with a price, according to the article.

Dicker's explanation in 1957 that the luxury high-rise was needed "because the rich man has been neglected in the past 30 years" triggered nationwide snickering.

In less-security-conscious days, the elite residential building had a restaurant and beauty shop open to the public.