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Hello!
OPENING REMARKS
By JEHADU ABSHIRO
Did you hear? The Advocate is 35 years old.
For 27 years, our founder Rick Wamre wrote a monthly letter from the publisher. Then in our July 2018 edition, in a very fitting manner, our then-publisher Lisa Kresl wrote a column for our women’s edition. And the next month, Rick decided not to write another letter. Ever.
After 326 columns, perhaps you run out of things to say.
It’s been a while since that last letter from the publisher. Since then we’ve become a nonprofit and added Plano Magazine as a fifth magazine to go along with our four Dallas neighborhood publications.
Five years ago, Rick stepped down as Advocate president, was a part-time chief financial officer for a couple of years and then, a few years ago, he completely retired. If you’re wondering where Rick is, so are we. He might be at the Texas Rangers spring training camp in Arizona, or he could be touring Southeast Asia or cruising the Mediterranean or on a safari through Africa. I’m not exaggerating — he’s done all of those things during the past year or so.
Since July 2021, I’ve been president and editor-in-chief of Advocate Media. And I sincerely believe I’m at a time in my life when I should probably do a whole lot more listening than talking, hence the lack of letters from me. We did move offices after 29 years — same building, only four floors lower and still in one of the neighborhoods we cover — but we’ve tried to keep our focus the same as it always has been.
We’re still dedicated to neighborhood news. Those of us who work at the Advocate have always thought that news about street closures, alley trash, neighborhood schools and students, the interesting neighbor living down the street, the local organization that helps a niche need, and tidbits about our community’s quirks matter quite a bit. The little things are the sum of the whole, and no one else covers them in our neighborhoods like we do.
Because we’re actually your neighbors, that pothole bothers us, too. Caring about our neighborhood is the biggest reason we converted into a nonprofit publication. Sustainability and operational resilience are tricky in any business, but even moreso in a business like publishing that people have been saying is going out of business for the past 25 years.
So five years ago, we decided we’re going to keep covering neighborhood news in our print magazines and our online formats, but change our business structure to match our financial status. We became a nonprofit to give our readers (and neighbors) a better chance to help us, not only with story ideas, but also with donations from time to time.
We want to be here for another 35 years, and becoming a nonprofit is the best way we could think of to accomplish that goal.
Even after 35 years, when you pick up a copy of the Advocate or read our websites or email newsletters, we hope you continue learning something about our neighborhood and our neighbors. And hopefully yourself.
Because whether you’re one of our neighborhood advertisers, donors, vendors or readers, we’ll always be your neighbor.
SOCCER IS LIFE
At least for now,
Story by JAMES BAXLEY-CROSS
Photography courtesy of Jose Negrete.
for Lake Highlands senior Owen Faris
Soccer has been a constant fixture in Owen Faris’ life.
The Lake Highlands senior central midfielder was first introduced to the game at just 3 years old, running up and down the pitches of the Moss Soccer Fields. Faris remembers dominating other youth teams with his friend Caleb Swann, who is now with FC Dallas.
The technical side of the game came fairly naturally to Faris, especially once he really started to fall in love with the game. What stood in the way of his early success was a fear of failure.
“Elementary school, I was like, deathly scared to make a mistake,” Faris says. “(I) make one mistake, and I’m in my head the rest of the game.”
Fear of failure is not uncommon in youth and high school athletics. In fact, 91% of high school competitors reported stress due to playing a sport, according to a study published in Health Psychology Research. Of these, 64% of respondents cited a fear of failure as a cause of stress.
Faris credits his father, a former soccer coach at Naaman Forest High School in Garland, with helping him overcome this mental block.
“Having him by my side, it allowed me to kind of get over that,” Faris says. “Whether it was what I wanted to hear or what I didn’t want to hear. He wasn’t afraid to tell me. But I think that was what I needed to push me over that little hump in my career.”
His father wasn’t the only influence in Faris’ growth. He also credits his club team’s coach, Solar Soccer Club’s David Hudgell, and Lake Highlands coach Tim Guinnee for his success.
“(Hudgell) was able to teach me the game like no one else has, and I’ve had a bunch of great coaches. But without him, I wouldn’t be where I am,” Faris says. “Before Hudgell, I was kind of at a point in club where I couldn’t see my future.”
“He was able to get me over it. It wasn’t easy at all. It was a struggle, and it took me some time to kind of adjust to his style and for me to be more coachable in that aspect of the game. (Being) able to just take some criticism on the chin and just use it, find a way to learn from it.”
Guinnee deserves a lot of credit, too, particularly for helping Faris develop as a leader. Faris, who is more apt to lead by example, attributes becoming more of a vocal leader to Guinnee’s unwavering support.
“Coach Guinnee has seen that and allowed me to use that ability,” Faris says. “I’m able to talk more, use my voice (and) verbally lead, rather than just leading by example.”
“He’s never turned away from me, and he’s always been there, had my back. (He’s) probably one of the most supportive coaches I’ve ever had, if not the most.”
Leading with his voice has become increasingly important, with an abdominal strain sidelining Faris for most of the Wildcats’ district play.
While he’s been in physical therapy, Faris has needed to shift his focus to impacting the game off the field.
“Owen’s maturity has always been there, even as a freshman,” Guinnee says. “Everybody still looks to him, as to, ‘Hey, what are we going to do with this?’ because when he is on the field, he is very much the leader on the field and how he goes, we go. Luckily for us, there’s five other kids that do the same.”
Guinnee and Faris have both lauded the team for helping pick up the slack since Faris’ injury. With so many leaders, someone
is bound to step up. Faris, especially, has learned not to take his teammates or his health for granted.
“It’s a gutting feeling. And I think I’ve realized how grateful I am to be able to play the game,” Faris says. “So I think just the game’s awesome, and to be able to play soccer is just, in and of itself, it’s amazing.”
“Having people step up and to fill our positions and for us to have already clinched the playoffs says a lot about our team. And I think it’s important that we don’t take our team for granted either, and we just play for each other.”
Now, soccer has given Faris the opportunity to compete at the Division I level across the country. He officially committed to furthering his athletic career by signing with San Diego State last November.
That decision partially came down to a trip with his club team two years ago to San Diego. Faris remembers the late June sun, consistently beautiful weather, and being just a stone’s throw from the beach. It all felt perfect.
Helping further, that trip was when the Aztecs first started showing interest in Faris. From then on, San Diego State provided consistent communication, letting him know that playing on the West Coast could be a real possibility.
As with most high school athletes, Faris had to talk with his family first. His mom and dad helped to guide and support his decision, while his older brother, Will, provided some insight on the recruiting world.
Will Faris, who graduated from Lake Highlands in 2021, was the kicker for the Wildcats’ football team before playing Division I at Vanderbilt and later at University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Although there are notable differences between football and soccer recruiting, Owen kept in close contact with his brother throughout the process.
The nail in the coffin on Faris’ decision came down to the genuineness of the recruiting pitch.
“Talking to the coach, it didn’t feel as if they were trying to sell me,” Faris says. “It was almost like it was just a person talking to a person. It was a little bit more of a personable call, more than a business call.”
Faris knows he’s in for a challenge, but it’s one he is more than capable of taking on and succeeding in.
“It’s going to be a very hard first semester or first season, even,” Faris says. “So I think the best thing I can do is just look to other people for help, always find ways to learn, and really put my head down and work hard.”
Guinnee certainly has faith in Faris and knows that the San Diego State staff is in for a treat as he prepares to make the jump to college.
“He’s an amazing young man,” Guinnee says. “The things that I see in him – when he gets to college, he may be coming in kind of equal with several other players, but the little things he does will separate himself and put him above the other freshmen that are coming in. The coach will go, ‘Wow, I think we really found something here.’”
The joy of his future is not lost on Faris, who is happy every day to continue playing the game he loves. Hoping to join the ranks of professional soccer one day, he won’t take his connection with the sport for granted.
“I couldn’t see myself doing anything else,” Faris says. “I think about it a lot, like, ‘What would I be without soccer?’ Like, ‘Who would I be?’ Honestly, I find it hard to answer that question sometimes.”
A BACHELOR’S FOREVER HOME
After more than a dozen cities, Ken Williams found peace on Capri Circle
Story by JEHADU ABSHRIO
Photography by LAUREN ALLEN
Sunday mornings were for church, and then everyone congregated at Grandma Ruby’s “little shack house” in Midway, South Carolina. Everyone brought a covered dish or dessert. Gregory Kenneth Williams would play football with his cousins; Grandma Ruby had six living children – four boys and two girls.
“I have over 100 cousins. She had three generations of grandkids before she died,” Williams says. “Everybody’s at my grandma’s house … I mean, I’m surprised not all of us have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, but Sundays were the best.”
Williams grew up on a small farm in Ehrhardt, South Carolina, population 457, with an older brother and a younger sister in a family of educators.
His mother Janet Halyard Capers and father Williams worked at Westinghouse Electrical Co. Halyard Capers went back to college in her sixties to get her bachelor’s degree and work with children in social services. She just got remarried in her 80s last year. His maternal side of the family lived in New York where his maternal grandmother, Olivia, was the chief nurse of New York’s Jacobi Hospital. His godmother was a teacher. His aunt was a New York Times writer, and all three of his paternal uncles served in Vietnam.
“My family is always about neuroplasticity, continuous learning,” he says.
Mrs. Lenora Dobbins, his elementary school teacher, told him he was going to be a doctor and his best friend, Ronnie Crosby, would be a lawyer.
They both headed to The Citadel College, where Williams played defensive back before tearing his ACL. Mrs. Dobbins kept tabs on both of them through college.
He was stationed in Germany before being involved in the Desert Storm operation. Then Johnson and Johnson recruited him to start his career in
The main living area surrouded by windows, has original terrazo floor tiles from the 1960s.
medical devices in Manhattan. He spent his mid-20s in New York, where he would see Tupac, Jay-Z and Russel Smith.
”I grew up in a different era,” he says. “We saw the people who were famous now just on the street.”
Then he headed to Charlotte, North Carolina, and then back to New York in 1998. He lived next to musician Issac Hayes and played basketball with members of the Wu-Tang Clan who were also his neighbors. Then he headed to New Jersey and West Virginia, before settling on the West Coast, bouncing between San Francisco and Seattle. He built a home in the community of Kalaheo in Kauai, Hawaii in 2003 and lived there for 13 years.
During his stint at Microsoft Health Care & Life Sciences, he
was mentioned in the 2005 Urban Influences Magazine’s Men of Influence edition alongside then-senator Barack Obama and Mos Def.
And then by way of Austin and New Orleans (he has two homes in New Orleans, where he goes back every Mardi Gras to be part of the Krewe of Endymion), he moved to Dallas to be centrally located between the coasts for his job as a health care executive. He bought a Lake Highlands Estates 1955 Eichler, which he refreshed with architecture firm RGD + B in 2018.
Yet, the home he picked for forever is a Ju-Nel on Capri Circle in Highland Meadows.
“What really caught my eye was that when I walked in, and
This Asian-inspired wooden room divider mimics the metal front gate of the home.
I’m very particular about what I want, when I came into this home, it was about the feeling,” Williams says. “Seriously, it just captivated me because I felt at peace. My job is very stressful, and when I do come home, I want this to be my sanctuary, but also want family and friends when they come in, they feel at peace too.”
The mostly untouched 1962 2,550-squarefoot home sits on about a half-acre. The original courtyard flagship stone, corkboard floors, plumbing, electrical and terrazzo floors are all still there. That’s what happens when a home has only two owners over the course of more than sixty years.
He moved in September 2025, breaking his postdivorce lease at The Village.
“I’ve always been inspired by the midcentury modern era,” he says. “My uncle was an architect. He lived in Milwaukee, and he had a midcentury modern ranch. And I still remember as a young kid going to my Uncle Earl’s house and just loving the flat roof lines, loving the wood, and it just felt so warm.”
Williams visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in Laurel Highlands, Pennsylvania and his Taliesin out West in the McDowell Mountains of Scottsdale, Arizona. It’s probably why the entry door into the courtyard will be Wright’s favorite burnt red.
“When I became a homeowner, it fit my style,” he says. “You know, I love nature. I love the windows. And I just like watching some of the movies that have these (mid-century modern). I love Palm Springs. I wish I could get one there. It just fits my flow.”
Williams utilizes one of the bedrooms as his office, where his accolades hang alongside a picture for Uncle Ken by his neighbor’s 5-yearold daughter. Two of the bedrooms are for his stepsons, an aspiring veterinarian Daniel and a marine biology enthusiast, Nicholas, who go to Hexter Elementary and Henry W. Longfellow, respectively.
“They are my heartbeat. They really are. Nicholas and Daniel changed my life,” he says. “I don’t have biological kids, but those are my boys.”
Part of his motivation for strengthening his roots in Dallas is building a future for the boys.
RGD+B, which specializes in mid-century modern, will be tapped for the renovation plans to expand the home by another 1,000 square feet, predominantly in the primary suite and the kitchen. Williams, who is an avid cook, wants to add a larger stove, island and refrigerator. Replacing the electrical system, with hopes to revitalize some of the original fixtures, and plumbing will modernize some functional ele -
Williams commissioned this Bob Marley piece from Ray Stephenson, who has created art for Hank Williams Jr, Willie Nelson and Oprah Winfrey.
ments of the house. The windows, which will need to be custom cut to fit the unique framing, will most likely be replaced as well. The corkboard floors will be replaced by warm, period-appropriate hardwood flooring.
The terrazzo will remain untouched.
A 20-by-30-foot linear pool, a small space for turf and workout gear, and more trees and grass are slated for the rock-heavy, unruly backyard. The garage will be redone into a glasshouse for the Ferrari and Lamborghini.
Custom pieces featuring Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley from Nashville-based painter Ray Stephenson, who is also a Grammy-winning singer/songwriter, are focal pieces in the home. A piece from New Orleans gallery Caliche and Pao is featured in the dining room. In the hallway, a photograph of a male lion reminds Williams of his time in Africa. He’s been to all of the continents, including Antarctica.
In the forever home period of his life, he’s teaching himself Spanish, is involved in the Dallas Opera and is an avid music lover, from Bad Bunny to Andrea Bocelli. He volunteers where he finds opportunities and funds a scholarship to The Citadel College.
“Just making sure I can give back,” he says. “God didn’t bless me with all of this for me to hoard it, right? He wants us to share.”
He’s thinking about what’s next. Starting a business or two, finding new love or designing a home in Puerto Rico. He’s got time.
After all, Grandma Ruby lived to 102. At the end of the day, Mrs. Dobbins was right. Gregory Kenneth Williams works in the medical field and Ronnie Crosby is a lawyer.
And every Sunday, he’s volunteering at the children’s ministry at his church, because that’s what Sunday is for.
Every week, he buys roses for his kitchen, so the first thing he sees after the gym is flowers.
“They make me feel at peace,” he says. He spent a weekend in March planting 20 Knock Out rose bushes and hundreds of tulips, the way his mom and brother do.
“Who doesn’t smile when they see flowers? See, look at you smiling, right? Who’s not happy?”
The restaurant uses Marcella Hazan’s tagliatelle alla bolognese recipe
CENTRALE ITALIA
The newest Italian restaurant is from the old guard
Story by JEHADU ABSHIRO
Photography by KATHY TRAN
CENTRALE ITALIA, WITH ITS LIGHT, AIRY INTERIORS AND GREEN TONES , brings an Italian restaurant to Preston Hollow Village in a space that has seen several restaurant turnovers since the shopping center opened.
The farm-fresh concept from Patrick Colombo’s Restaurant Works taps Chef Matthew Antonovitch to lead the kitchen. Neapolitan pizzas with dough that’s been rested for 48hours, house-made pastas (except for one or two) and traditional crafted cocktails make up the menu.
It’s a very Dallas Italian restaurant, which makes sense since Colombo has spent the better part of his career making Italian food for Dallasites.
Long Island native Colombo, along with a few classmates who lived around the corner, started washing dishes at a family-owned nightclub, Jupiter’s, when he was 14 or 15 years old. His mom would pick them up after their shift ended in the wee hours of the morning. They’d hear Ray Charles, The Spinners, and Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. And when there wasn’t a live act, it was disco music.
It was just the right taste of the hospitality business. Colombo completed a hotel degree at a community college before starting at Hilton hotels like Waldorf Astoria. Food and beverage at a hotel with several departments was a different beast.
“When it’s big properties like that, sometimes you’re insulated. You don’t even know if the guests had a good experience or a bad experience,” he says.
He ended up at the Washington Hilton Hotel in D.C. in 1981. It was his third day on the job when John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan, firing six shots and wounding Reagan and three others. A year and a half later, he was in Dallas opening the boutique hotel Mansion on Turtle Creek after Caroline Rose Hunt acquired and repurposed the historic mansion.
“I figured it would be something that would help round out my career,” he says. “That’s what got me to Dallas, and I thought I’d get here, and then I would go to California and go back home to New York. But I never left.”
If you use his stint at Jupiter’s as the
Top: The salmon with grilled asparagus and citrus sauce has been changed to a grilled version recently.
starting point of his career, Colombo has spent five decades in the hospitality business, most of it in Dallas. In the mid’80s, Colombo, along with his brother Robert and two other partners, started Sfuzzi’s on McKinney Avenue, where Trader Joe’s currently sits.
“The success of it was about timing,” he says. “It was kind of the first time in Dallas where high-energy restaurants started to get popular.”
After a 20-location, 10-year run ended in the mid-’90s (there have been several short revivals since then), Colombo went back to hotels to manage food and beverage across the country for Paul Nussbaum’s Patriot American Hospitality, which rebranded as Wyndham International in the late ’90s.
Then the hum of a restaurant came calling. Phil Romano, of Eatzi’s, Fuddruckers and Romano’s Macaroni Grill, wanted to launch a steakhouse in Uptown. Nick & Sam’s – Nick is Colombo’s oldest son – opened in April 1999.
Colombo sold his interest to Romano, left the steakhouse and went back to the hotel industry long before opening the CRÚ Wine Bar & Bistro in the West Village in 2002. One of the first concepts of its kind, CRÚ was recently acquired and is planning to rapidly expand its 10-location portfolio.
In 2011, Tuscan-inspired Princi Italia opened on Royal Lane. Later, another location opened in Legacy West.
“We’re going to start our 15th year in September, you know. So we feel really fortunate that the consumer and the community has accepted us,” Patrick Colombo says. “It’s unbelievable how many regulars come in and out of there, multiple times a week.”
That’s the hope for the newest concept, Centrale Italia, located in Preston Hollow Village.
This time it’s a little different. It’s a family affair.
“If something’s not right with a guest experience, it hurts more as a family versus before it probably hurt me more,” Patrick says.
Julian Colombo, his youngest, joined Restaurant Works two and a half years ago after spending a little time in finance post-graduation from the University of Utah. Finance didn’t seem like it was the path for him.
“I just wasn’t loving it,” Julian says. “I find that I’m very creative and have an entrepreneurial mindset, so I think I wanted to try something where I could have more impact.”
He assisted in the food and cocktail menu development of Centrale Italia with Patrick and Antonovitch, who went to Johnson & Wales University with Emeril Lagasse.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Julian says. “We get to collaborate on things. Always have something to talk about, bounce ideas off each other. Obviously, there’s a couple of ups and downs, but overall I’d say we make it work really well.”
Antonovitch also got his start in hotel food and beverage and cooked in Los Angeles at the Century Plaza Hotel. His hotel and Ronald Reagan experience was cooking for the President’s inaugural dinners. He did a stint at the Mansion on Turtle Creek, worked with Wolfgang Puck and owned Spango on Knox Henderson.
“When I came here in ’94 I was competing against him [Colombo] and his corporate chef for the last 20 years,” Antonovitch says. “So then I said, if you can’t beat him, join him. So I joined him this year.”
Catherine, Patrick’s wife, whom he met at a Sfuzzi’s in Colorado more than 30 years ago, designed the interior of the restaurant with Julian. Restaurant Works keeps project management in-house for its concepts, so Patrick focused on the flow and structure of the restaurant, while Catherine and Julian focused on the finer points like the color, fabric and lighting.
The split-level restaurant only has one TV for the just-in-case, mustwatch events. The bar is not the focal point in the room, a step away from restaurant interior trends in the city.
There have been a few changes since the opening in December 2025. The difficult-to-prep Chicken Spiedini was removed from the menu. But then they made several additions – a roasted beet and burrata salad with a sherry thyme vinaigrette ($16), a rock shrimp scampi toast with Calabrian chili butter ($18) and a regularly requested, despite not being on the menu, chicken parm ($25). Then there were the dish adjustments – the salmon is now grilled ($30), not pan-seared. The cooking techniques on the chicken piccata ($24) were adjusted so the dish presented golden brown.
It’s all par for the course. Some of the adjustments are to remove obstacles for the kitchen to execute better, and some of the changes are to better guest experience, says Patrick.
The fig and rosemary old-fashioned and the espresso martini are popular items. The new Centrale Gardener, which is a cilantro, ginger, lime and serrano mezcal or tequila cocktail, tastes exactly how you imagine and not at the same time. Patrick’s favorite is the fedelini pomodoro ($21), which features burrata and thinner noodles. Julian likes the Romano chicken breast with the rigatoni à la vodka ($25).
Centrale Italia doesn’t exactly have a seasonal menu, but Antonovichto believes in cooking with the season.
“Tomatoes have been sitting there for almost 10 days before we even use them,” he says. “So they’re super ripe … We think about every little thing that we could do that’s authentic. And it’s not like we’re copying someone. We’re learning from the masters of Italy and we’re learning from our local market. And then we create a menu that we hope is fun.”
Centrale Italia , 7859 Walnut Hill Lane 469.780-9463
‘A VILLAGE IN LAKE HIGHLANDS’
Inside Forerunner Mentoring’s mission to heal the father wound
Story by SYRA CASTILLO
NESTLED AT THE CORNER OF FERNDALE ROAD AND MCCREE
ROAD sits Forerunner Mentoring’s golden-brown brick haven. The makeshift basketball court, made out of cut pieces of wood placed in a large square on the asphalt, stretches across the front of the building, patiently waiting for the arrival of young boys who will soon play one-on-one against their mentors.
At Forerunner Mentoring, boys participate in a mix of activities designed to build confidence and character at a young age. The program offers one-onone mentoring for young boys growing up without a father, after-school clubs for K-8 in Lake Highlands and Thrive, a youth ministry for Lake Highlands High School students.
After-school clubs get together at Lake Highlands schools, including Northlake Elementary, White Rock Elementary, Moss Haven Elementary, Skyview Elementary, Lake Highlands Middle School, Wallace Elementary, Merriman Park Elementary, Stults Road Elementary and Forest Meadow Middle School. The older students participate in Thrive and meet on Tuesday evenings at North Highlands Bible Church.
“What is beautiful about elementary boys having a mentor is that those are formative years, and to have someone affirm them is very important,” says Xavier Lewis, the nonprofit’s elementary mentor lead.
Becoming one of those mentors is a deliberate process overseen by Lewis.
“Most of our guys are in local churches within the Lake Highlands community or just the Dallas community,” he says. “They apply, I look at their application and bring them in for an interview.”
After this interview, Lewis runs a background check and conducts sexual abuse prevention training, and then applicants move forward with one-onone mentor training. He matches each boy with a mentor and holds a meeting between the mentee’s mother and the person who will guide her son.
LICENSE TO SELL
Forerunner’s mentors receive no financial compensation and, instead, volunteer their time.
“We’ve had plenty of boys open up and ask us, ‘Where is my dad?’” Lewis says.
Shanjula Harris, Forerunner Mentoring’s family ministry coordinator, knows the impact of the program — her son was its first mentee.
“TwQuan and his mentor still have a very good relationship,” she says. “It started in middle school, went through high school and has lasted into adulthood. He’s almost 30 now.”
Harris supports the mothers in the program by organizing retreats, Bible studies, meals and informal gatherings to help support the friendships made at Forerunner.
For Harris, mentoring boys is only part of the mission. Supporting mothers helps create the village that many single-parent households are missing.
“Moms need friends. Moms need to be more than just moms, and the family ministry is probably the newest thing we have to help that,” Executive Director Stephen Murray says.
To date, about 50 of Forerunner’s boys have graduated from high school through the program. Around 20% of these high school graduates have returned to the program to work or as volunteers.
This year, the program has over 200 mentees and 100 active mentors eager to help reshape the life of a young boy.
“The guys get so much out of this, and they want to be a forerunner, and that is why we are called Forerunner Mentoring,” Murray says.
With each mentor-mentee relationship, each mother supported and each boy who graduates, Forerunner continues to build the village that so many in Lake Highlands rely on.
Photo by Kathy Tran
TOP 2025 Re ltors
The Advocate’s annual Top Realtor special section recognizes the Top 5% of all active neighborhood Realtors, determined by reported sales volume.*
TOP 25
AMY TIMMERMAN
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
BETH RIDER
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
JIMMY RADO
David M. Weekley
MICHAEL CASSELL
Ebby Halliday, Realtors
ROBIN MOSS NORCROSS
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
CLIFF KESSLER
Allie Beth Allman & Associates
DONALD WRIGHT
Ebby Halliday, Realtors
BRANDON MEEK
Robert Elliott and Associates
LAUREN BAKER
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
SUSAN BALDWIN
Allie Beth Allman & Associates
RILEY BEVAN
Legacy Buyer Partners
KYLE BOEHME
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
LOUISE BOLL
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
KAITLYN BOWNDS
Wedgewood Homes RealtyTX LLC
EMILY BUCY
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
BEN CABALLERO
HomesUSA.com
CHRISTIE CANNON
Keller Williams Frisco Stars
BRIANNA CASTILLO
RE/MAX DFW Associates
SAM CLAUSSEN
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
WENDY LUCAS
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
JASON BATES
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
EDWARD SLATER
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
BRIDGETTE HARRINGTON
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
AIMEE SCHREINER
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
SAM BULLARD
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
BLYTHE LAYNE
Allie Beth Allman & Associates
LAUREN ROCKWELL
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
APRIL COPE
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
KONNIE CLAYTON
Ebby Halliday, Realtors
COURTNEY CONLEY
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
ALEXA CONOMOS ANDERSON
Keller Williams Urban Dallas
CHRIS DILLARD
JPAR North Metro
MAX DUNHAM
Ebby Halliday, Realtors
LAUREN FARRIS
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
OLA KUZMIANKOVA
eXp Realty LLC
SALLIE LANING
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
MARMIE LEECH
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
KATE LOONEY WALTERS
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
GIA MARSHELLO
Allie Beth Allman & Associates
RHONI GOLDEN
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
CATRIONA MCCARTHY
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
KHALIL WILLIS
Pinnacle Realty Advisors
RENEE BARFOOT
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
DAMON WILLIAMSON
Agency Dallas Park Cities, LLC
ELIZABETH SELZER
Ebby Halliday, Realtors
BEN CABALLERO
HomesUSA.com
SHELBY JAMES
Ebby Halliday, Realtors
MELANIE MARTIN
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
LAUREN MCCULLOUGH
C21 Fine Homes Judge Fite
JOY MCELROY
Pinnacle Realty Advisors
ELIZABETH MELLO
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
SUSAN MELNICK
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
MYSTI NEWBERRY STEWART
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
LAYNE PITZER
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
BUDDY PRIEST
OnDemand Realty
ANDREA REYNOLDS
Christies Lone Star
MISSY RICHARDSON
Paragon, Realtors
HANNA RIVERA
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
EMILY ROBERTS
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
JAMES SHEEHAN
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
TIFFANY SHINNEMAN 940 Realty
CLAY SMILEY
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
JASON THOMAS
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
NICOLE THOMAS
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
HALEY WAGSTAFF
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
JOHN WEBER
Compass Real Estate Texas, LLC
“Absolutely loved working with Courtney & Edward! They’re incredibly attentive, super responsive & didn’t miss a beat. Their aggressive approach & dedication got our house sold quickly & smoothly. Couldn’t have asked for a better experience!”
“As
I’d
FAMILIES SERVED IN 2025
“Lauren
here comes heidi
An Ju-Nel A-frame bought by a couple who loves homes
A CENTENARIAN CRAFTSMAN IN MICHIGAN. A 2003 industrial townhome in Bryan Place. A 1930 Victorian in Junius Heights. A 1945 Tudor near the M Streets. And now a 1962 midcentury modern in Eastwood Estates. One of the two JuNel A-frames, nonetheless. In the about seven years that 38-year-old Heidi Ellsworth and Blake Iwaniw, 39, have been together, they’ve managed to collect the infinity stones of architecture. It wasn’t intentional. They just love a house with potential and a little bit of history.
Story by JEHADU ABSHIRO
Photography by LARUEN ALLEN
Photography by Ethan Wardman.
The couple met through Tinder in February 2019 in Phoenix. Four months in, Iwaniw was looking at homes bookmarked by Ellsworth in his native Michigan. He needed to relocate for his job at an erosion control and geosynthetics company. They moved into the aforementioned Grand Rapids craftsman, which had a Pittsburgh potty made for laborers to clean up before entering the main living areas, in July. He proposed in December.
But for the couple, going from Phoenix, a city of 1.6 million people, to Grand Rapids, a city of a mere 200, 000, was undescribable. Iwaniw has spent time in Atlanta, Chicago, and an 18-month stint in Spain. Ellsworth, a Seattle native, had moved to New York City for a boy before ending up in Phoenix. His job included managing operations in five states, including Texas, along with Mexico and Latin America. Snakes are abundant in Austin, and Dallas seemed pleasant during a one-time layover. Ellsworth started a job with Match Group as the
vice president of CRM for 14 of their brands, ironically including Tinder. So they found a townhome with corrugated metal detailing and a large townhome in a FaceTime with their realtor.
They lasted in that home for a little over year, before thinking about starting a family.
“And we knew that three stories wasn’t going to work,” Iwaniw says.
After four bidding wars, they finally won on a Victorian on Victor Avenue.
“We had just lost out on a house that we absolutely loved to a competing offer,” Ellsworth says. “And so we offered, I think, asking price, or right over asking price. We’re like, ‘They’re not going to accept it, right?’ And then they did, and we were like, ‘Oh, crap, what do we do?’ But it was a really beautiful house.”
That’s where they brought their daughter home.
“So it has, you know, beautiful memories,” she says.
And in 2023, they found their
M Streets-adjacent house. The Kenwood Avenue Tudor needed significant structural work. The joints in the ceiling above the primary bedroom were cracked causing the ceiling to cave in. The flooring around the refrigerator had rotted due to a leak. Neither of them enjoyed all of the crown molding that needed to be done to be period-appropriate.
“The renovation process has allowed us to buy homes that otherwise we wouldn’t be able to afford,” he says. “We’re able to get into houses with potential and cool neighborhoods, and we enjoy it. There’s a lot of satisfaction that comes from improving spaces and making them livable and beautiful.”
There was temporary buyer’s regret, but they loved the finished product. It went well with their ornate art frames, refurbished vintage and contemporary furnishing they picked up secondhand.
But then there was an open house.
“We weren’t even looking for a
house. We were just wrapping up our M Streets house,” Ellsworth says.
She didn’t know much about JuNel architecture and hadn’t spent much time east of the lake. Their daughter was napping at home with Iwaniw and she decided to drop in on the home created by Dallas-favorite architects Lyle Rowley and Jack Wilson.
“I just want to see it, you know?” Ellsworth says. “I just walked around. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this house is amazing.’”
They didn’t even think about putting an offer. There was already a slew of bids and another bidding war seemed exhausting. And again, they had just finished the Tudor.
But when Ellsworth sat on the edge of the bed in the primary bedroom, looking at the original 9-foot 1960s pool through a wall of glass, she fell in love.
“This is kind of what sold us on the house, just being able to lay in bed and look out.”
She watched the listing all week,
noticing it was still on the market Monday, they texted the realtor.
At the time of their purchase, in its 63-year existence, the 2,569-square-foot three-bedroom and three-bath hadn’t been on the market for 53 years and had only had two owners. Ellsworth and Iwaniw bought the home May 2025 and moved in June.
Despite the east side of the home being constructed with primarily glass panels, the home manages to be secluded with a Ju-Nel’s signature line of bamboo trees and an entryway tucked into a courtyard.
The linoleum galley kitchen was transformed with durable leathered granite countertops, IKEA cabinets fitted with third-party door fronts and handmade green Moroccan tile.
“I’m essentially a mule. She’s the brains of the operation,” he says.
They try to do most of the renovations on their own. And they have no problem rebuilding and redoing something that’s not quite
right. The right half of the built-in bookshelves they constructed from scratch, they took down, leveled, and rebuilt.
“You got to make it right, take it down,” she says. “So we’ve done that several times.”
They had the living areas painted in a creamy alabaster and replaced the carpet with 2,200 square feet of hardwood. They rebuilt the small deck off the family room on the original coffee can pillars.
On the second floor, where the landing is lined with built-ins, their daughter’s room is tucked into the eaves of the A-frame.
“But she really has the best room in the house,” Ellsworth says.
Eventually, the family of three will find their way back to Seattle to be closer to Ellsworth’s family. After living in more than seven states collectively (and Iwaniw lived in Spain for an 18-month stint), going home to Ellsworth family is appealing. Plus, it’s an opportunity for a new house.
Perhaps a craftsman.
The original linoleum galley kitchen was reimagined to include durable leathered granite countertops and handmade green Moroccan tile.
Photography by Ethan Wardman.
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