When Jason and Daresa Sofey purchased the former W.S. Dorset family estate on Sherman’s North Preston Drive, they were committed to bringing the 1939 residence back to its former glory, and then some, but the project would have to be a rehabilitation, rather than a restoration.
You’re crazy!” That was Karen’s reaction when her husband, Tom Shields, said he wanted to leave their comfortable home in far West Sherman to live in a long-abandoned fire station near Austin College. But she’d had a similar reaction in 1985, when he wanted to leave a picturesque Dallas residence and raise their kids in a small town.
This issue’s Style section is filled with memories. In our first feature we take you inside the home of a Texoma couple whose business life took them to places far away. They met new people, experienced very different cultures, and fell in love with the art and architecture of Asia. During their travel, whenever possible, they acquired objects large and small, and stored them to be shipped back to their Texas home.
Take a lazy drive on a clear Sunday morning in Grayson County and you may be surprised at what is in your backyard. Tax rolls show more than 100 ranches in the county.
On a cul de sac street in a quiet west Denison neighborhood is a place crawling with bikers. Tim and Cathy, in their mid-forties, have so many motorcycles that they have their own mechanic’s shop right on the property. They also have two four-wheeler ATV’s.
If you’re going to garden organically around here, you’ve got to be tough—at least as tough as my friend Nancy, who confesses that the greatest pleasure of her summertime morning is to roam her dewy garden, waking up sleepy grasshoppers and flicking their heads off with her thumbnail.
Not so long ago, New Year’s Eve called for gentlemen in black ties, ladies in formal gowns, an elegant menu, exotic libations, and an orchestra with a chart of “Auld Lang Syne” on their music stands. In the Mulberry Room of the Grayson Hotel or the Ballroom of the Hotel Denison, revelers danced the night away until the clock’s hands came together at XII, and then the band played, couples kissed, and streamers, confetti, and the toot of tin horns filled the air.
You can grow an astounding array of flowers, vegetables and herbs from seeds right here in Texomaland, if you just don’t let the instructions on the seed packets intimidate you. “Start seeds indoors six weeks before first frost-free date,” they direct you. Balderdash!
There is no shortage of million-dollar-plus homes along the shores of Lake Texoma. Here’s an inside look.
An early morning breeze bears the summer sweetness of roses. Your eyes catch the splendor of moonflower just closing, and hummingbirds dart from bloom to bloom on the trumpet vine. A barn rooster’s crow breaks the silence. Dew shines on the rose petals, and the cattle begin to stir.