One of Highland Park’s most polarizing structures is now gone for good, and another historic home is next.
The house atop 4200 Armstrong Parkway, commonly called the Mushroom House, was demolished Wednesday, and a permit has been filed to demolish the neighboring property at 4208 Armstrong.
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The homes are owned by car dealership magnate Clay Cooley, who has collected three adjacent properties in Highland Park, the two on Armstrong Parkway and a third at 4209 Bordeaux Avenue. The trio form a nearly 2.5-acre triangle across from Turtle Creek.
In late 2024, Cooley purchased the Mushroom House and the 4209 Bordeaux property. He has owned 4208 Armstrong since 2020. No construction permits have been filed at any of the addresses, and Cooley said in an email, “We do not have completed plans yet.”
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The home at 4200 Armstrong Parkway, also known as the “Mushroom House”, in Highland Park on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. This home and the homes next to it, 4208 Armstrong Parkway and 4209 Bordeaux Avenue, are owned by car dealer Clay Cooley and his wife, Lisa.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
All three are historic in their own way.
The Mushroom House, so called because it resembled the mossy, rounded silhouette of the eponymous fungi, was constructed in 1997 for owners Tom and Jane Ann Workman. Tom Workman was an architect who designed the house and its distinctive green shingles, while Jane Ann, an artist, picked the colors and decorated the interior.
Larry Good, a retired architect who serves as spokesperson for Preservation Park Cities, said that he is not surprised the unique home was demolished, but that it was a missed opportunity to save some unique elements such as the shingles, windows and cabinetry.
“Those should have been carefully removed from the house before it was demolished,” he said, “because those little elements could have been very useful somewhere else.”
The 4208 Armstrong property, which will be demolished at an unknown date, was designed by Dallas architect Anton Korn, behind “some of the greatest houses in the Park Cities,” Good said. Korn worked throughout the 1920s-30s. The mansion had structural issues as of early 2025.
“That house was not one of his best, but it was a house that we admired, and Preservation Park Cities would have been thrilled if it had been somehow incorporated into or renovated as a part of Clay Cooley’s vision,” Good said.
The home at 4208 Armstrong Parkway in Highland Park on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. This home and the homes next to it, 4200 Armstrong Parkway, also known as the “Mushroom House”, and 4209 Bordeaux Avenue, are owned by car dealer Clay Cooley and his wife, Lisa.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
No demolition permit has been filed at the Bordeaux address.
The Tudor-style home on Bordeaux was built in the 1920s and designed by Hal Thomson, a noted Dallas architect and member of the city’s high society. Thomson’s extensive résumé of Highland Park mansions introduced refined design sensibilities to Dallas, and he is hailed as a master of a variety of architectural styles.
The home at 4209 Bordeaux Avenue in Highland Park on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. This home and the homes next to it, 4200 Armstrong Parkway, also known as the “Mushroom House”, and 4208 Armstrong Parkway, are owned by car dealer Clay Cooley and his wife, Lisa.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
“I think, and I hope, that the vision is either to make that a separate guest house or something that’s an element on the property, or maybe he’ll decide to sell it to another owner,” Good said. “We’re trying to keep a careful eye on that one and hope it can be saved. … It’s a nicely preserved house, and I hope it stays that way.”
Good said he has spoken with Cooley, whom he called “so nice,” about the properties and showed the auto dealer a sketch of how he could still build the “fabulous house of his dreams” without tearing down 4209 Bordeaux.
“It was just unprecedented for somebody to come to Preservation Park Cities and engage us in conversation and find out what was important,” Good said.
The Bordeaux home at this point looks like it will stay, in part because no permits have been filed, it’s historically significant, and a Highland Park ordinance limits the joining of adjacent properties to just two parcels. No structure can cross the property line between 4209 Bordeaux and the Armstrong properties, should they be combined.
Update at 3:42 p.m.: This story has been updated to reflect receiving comment from Cooley.