Couple learns their Mount Auburn house’s history as they renovate for the future

When moving to Dallas from Chicago in 2020, Jason and Amanda Dowling thought their Mount Auburn home was built in 1947.

They later discovered that it is over 100 years old.

A neighbor speculated that the Craftsman house was older. Another claimed that a fire had destroyed records, so homes in the area were mistakenly saddled with the wrong date. On a day that Amanda specifically recalled wanting to know more about the history, she soon got her wish.

“Six hours later, I’m in the shower getting ready for somewhere, and (Jason) doesn’t know I thought this, and he runs in the bathroom. He’s like, ‘Babe, there’s this lady on the Ring camera, and I heard her say something; she’s talking about her house.’ And I remembered my (thought from a) few hours ago. I was like, ‘No way. Get her in here,’” she says.

The woman in her 80s turned out to be the granddaughter of their house’s original owner. Her son, a local builder, told her someone was “loving the house again,” so she stopped by the home from out of town. Once the Dowlings spotted her, she was given a tour, despite the house being messier than usual.

“She loved that because she saw it being lived in,” Amanda says.

The woman told them that her grandparents built it after moving to Texas around 1915. Amanda obtained a photo of the woman’s mother and grandfather sitting on the porch dated 1923 and found the deed that recorded the land being bought in 1918. This was the confirmation and history she was looking for.

Having this connection with the original owners’ granddaughter left an impression on Amanda, who still keeps in touch with the woman.

“She said, ‘I just wish my grandparents were alive. They would be so happy to know that there’s someone that cares about their house so much because it was their first and only home they ever had,’” she says.

The Mount Auburn home is also the first one that Jason and Amanda Dowling have ever owned. They found the house online, and Jason toured it by himself when he was in town for a job interview. For Amanda, the house met her two requirements on paper – having hardwood floors and at least 10-foot ceilings. That’s what they were used to in Chicago. The price of the home and the fact that it’s under 2,000 square feet sweetened the deal.

Renovations had to be made. The Dowlings were somewhat advantaged since Jason has a background in architecture and Amanda in interior design, both in the commercial sector. They replaced the outdated knob-and-tube electrical wiring and clay plumbing pipe. The couple installed a new cedar fence and custom gate. They refinished the original pine floors inside before they moved in.

Rebuilding the front porch, which had soft spots that were exacerbated by the 2021 winter storm, was an especially big project. It lasted for over 10 months.

“We, on paper, knew it would be long, but when you get into it, you’re in it, and time stands still,” Amanda says. “It went slow. It couldn’t move fast enough.”

Jason, his brother and his father did the work themselves, and at one point had to jack up the porch. They replaced the old columns with slimmer ones and opted for a black metal banquette for a more modern look. The floor of the porch is pine that they stained themselves.

The renovations have continued on the back of the house. Amanda and Jason rebuilt the back exterior wall and added new clapboard siding. When replacing windows, they opted for new wooden ones with metal casing as opposed to vinyl ones, “as a way to respect the home’s original character,” Amanda says.

The next projects are working on the back office’s interior walls, repainting the laundry room, replacing tile with vinyl and installing wallpaper.

Art is hung on nearly every wall throughout the house. Multiple patterned rugs are laid out. Amanda says she tends to incorporate colors in her design and pull pieces together that may not seem like they would fit. And because of her work, she brings in commercial furniture as well.

“It is something I’d love the neighborhood to be able to be eclectic and have some new and keeping some things that could just look nicer and bring in some modern tones, but still keep that eclectic or that vintage look or older historical look,” she says.

As someone who grew up in Plano, Jason knows how Dallas tends to have a “slash and burn” approach to its history. That’s what makes learning the backstory behind his family’s home even more meaningful.

“I noticed in Chicago there’s history everywhere you turn,” he says. “So I found it very inspiring to come back and learn something about a house that we had bought. I thought it was really cool. And quickly started meeting the people around here … it’s like, ‘Oh no, there is a lot of history, and people who do care.’ It’s just not easy to find. It’s there. You just have to look a little harder for it.”