Travis Ripley began Ripley Renovations in this Munger Place Craftsman. What have I told y’all about buying the home of a builder? Yep. Run to their Realtor and sign that contract instantly. You will never, ever find a better constructed house than the personal home of a builder.
Ripley and his wife developed a love for old homes while living in Pittsburgh and New York. In 2012, when they decided to move to Texas to be near their respective parents, the search was on for a home with character.
“Our Realtor took us along Swiss Avenue,” Ripleys said. “We took a wrong turn and found this house. It was a great price, but in rough shape. The fireplace was actually falling through the floor.” They set up a trail cam to see what was going on and found that possums and raccoons had been calling it home on a regular basis.
But Ripley was confident he could bring this 1913 Munger Place Craftsman back to its former glory. “The big hail storm came the year we moved in, so we started with a new roof. I built the detached garage and carriage house, restored the exterior, and rebuilt the porte cochere, which was basically being held up by a nail! That carriage house is a real bonus. It features a Murphy bed and a kitchenette, making it perfect for guests or short-term rentals. Ripley used mesquite and mahogany and put in five gables with windows. “When you are sleeping there, you just see trees,” Ripley said.
The carriage house with tree-top views.
Ripley saved as much of the long leaf pine trim as possible, then reproduced the rest of it with quarter-sawn oak. He built the dining room bar, reproducing the original fireplace columns as accents, and milled all the wainscotting in the room. You’d swear it was all original. He was able to save and restore all of the windows and stained glass that is now in the kitchen.
Liz Gibson, the lead designer for Ripley Renovations and a recipient of a Preservation Dallas Achievement Award, was instrumental in recreating the 1913 historic look. She used William Morris wallpaper, which is hand-crafted in England with the designs drawn from their original 19th-century archives. Gibson is clever about resourcing and found light fixtures that you’d swear were have been here since 1913.
I’m not sure you could tear me away from this cozy breakfast nook with a built-in Italian leather bench.
The kitchen features a walnut island, soapstone counters, double ovens, a gas cooktop, a custom backsplash, and exposed brick accents.
One of the truly brilliant nods to modern-day living was transforming the original sleeping porch into a giant closet. It took six years, but now this 2,478-square-foot- foot, three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom Munger Place Craftsman is truly ready for its close-up and a new family.
If anyone knows how to take a home from the 1900s and adapt it to today’s lifestyles, it’s Ripley Renovations. And as I mentioned, this is a rare opportunity to nab a builder’s own home that is not only beautifully remodeled, but also picture-perfect.
Compass Realtors Neil Broussard and Nina Sachse of the Rhodes Group have this Munger Place Craftsman at 4901 Victor Ave. available for $1.2 million.
Open House Sunday, September 14, from 2 to 4 p.m