Inside a History-Filled Dallas Home With a Vibrant Reboot

Vaishnavi Nayel Talawadekar

February 12, 2025 at 8:00 a.m.·10 min read

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Interior designer Sara Garza, as those who know her will attest, is a rebel with a cause—especially when that cause involves saving a home from demolition. “We actually wrote them a letter asking for a chance to keep it standing,” says Garza of her current family nest in Dallas’s Oak Cliff neighborhood, the them in question being the grandchildren of the original owners of a 1940s home, who were considering selling to developers. Garza’s heartfelt appeal struck a chord, prompting the family to reconsider. “Meeting the grandson was such a treat,” recalls the founder and principal of Dallas-based Punch World Studio. “He shared stories that made us love the place even more.”

Sara (left) and Rocky Garza, seated respectively on a Group Sofa by Phillipe Malouin for SCP and a vintage Herman Miller Eames chair, enjoy a laid-back morning with their kids in the living room. The room is a treasure trove of old-world finds, including an heirloom table (back left) from Garza’s grandmother, a Murano glass pendant lamp from 1stDibs, and a 1960s teak coffee table. Garza deemed no detail too small, not least the fireplace. She lined its interior with Pacifica Yellow Slice concrete by Concrete Collaborative, enveloped it with Backdrop’s Harvest Moon, and accented it with Silo 2WC sconces from Lambert & Fils. A silver Zephyr planter by Muhly Studio adds a sleek, modern twist.

Garza was captivated by its rich history. Once spanning several acres, the property originally included a greenhouse and a horse stable—its only remnant now a hitching post by the back door. There was even another house behind the main one, built in the 1930s. History seemed to be tucked into every corner. “We were told that the grandmother arrived in Dallas with 11 dollars and Stanley Marcus’s phone number, befriended the Marcus family, and became a Neiman Marcus showroom girl. And that his grandfather worked at Frito-Lay and had a hand in inventing the Dorito. With a legacy like this, how could anyone ever tear this house down?”

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Ask her to pick favorites, and Garza doesn’t hem or haw. “If I had to choose, it’d definitely be the living room. We spend so much time there as a family, reading and relaxing,” she enthuses of the space, made even more joyful by a tufted wall rug by Sam Lao and Worn’s Delphina Stripe Tabouret.
Art: Sam Lao

Garza poses in the living room on a vintage chair by Milo Baughman, reupholstered in a checkered Maharam fabric. The built-in bookshelves behind her are a labor of love, designed, built, and installed by her parents. An artwork by Samantha McCurdy from Galleri Urban, titled Zipper, echoes it in signature, if not in scale, while a Teklan Crystal Spectrum rug from Layered Interior enlivens on the floor. — Garza poses in the living room on a vintage chair by Milo Baughman, reupholstered in a checkered Maharam fabric. The built-in bookshelves behind her are a labor of love, designed, built, and installed by her parents. An artwork by Samantha McCurdy from Galleri Urban, titled *Zipper*, echoes it in signature, if not in scale, while a Teklan Crystal Spectrum rug from Layered Interior enlivens on the floor.
Art: Samantha McCurdy/Galleri Urbane

Built during World War II, the home didn’t adhere to a specific architectural style, which gave Garza the opportunity to start with a clean slate—though, as she tells it, she never truly erased its history. “What we loved most about this place was its mix of a-little-bit-fun and a-little-bit-fancy, so we really leaned into those qualities,” she shares, explaining how the goal was to honor the home’s past chapters while crafting new ones. “The interior had the potential to go in a few different directions, but we like to think of ourselves as a fun family—bold dreams and big feelings—and I wanted that to shine through in our home,” says Garza, who lives with her husband, Rocky, and their two kids: nine-year-old son Ezra and six-year-old daughter Marlow.

“I’ve always wanted a yellow kitchen,” Garza gushes. “I also love that it has a swing door to the dining room—it’s perfect for closing off when we’re hosting, making everything feel more intimate.” The wooden cactus lamp is a rare 1970s find. The kitchen millwork was done by NKDR Builders.

“My favorite thing about the house is that the rooms are truly separate from each other,” says Garza of the beatnik dining room, featuring a Bright Side 4 chandelier from Allied Maker, Cassina’s Sengu Table from Scott and Cooner, and 1970s Rainer Daumiller solid pine chairs from Chairish. She chose a Grand Milano green rug from Nordic Knots to echo the treetops, and completed the room with her grandmother’s antique Chinese bar cabinet and a theatrical hand-shaped vase by Pearce Williams.
Art: Pearce Williams

The dining area is framed by an opening in the living room’s built-ins, designed by Garza’s parents using Burly hardware from Assembly Line. Curios and tchotchkes, like an antique Tiffin Coralene Poppy Art Nouveau vase from the 1920s–1930s (top shelf) and a sea-green vintage vase from the local shop Dolly Python (right side, middle shelf), bring the space to life.

Garza poured her heart into chasing her dreams and feelings, though at times, she forgot to bring her husband along for the ride. “I can be a little impulsive when it comes to designing for myself because I trust my eye. I’d have an idea and just go for it without overthinking, doing whatever felt right in each room,” she muses, before adding, “My husband was totally on board; half the time, I’d forget to even show him what I was planning until he’d ask.” This freewheeling approach allowed each room to develop its own personality, with dazzling colors, whimsical art, and a blend of modern and vintage treasures that kept the home inviting, warm, and vibrant.

“The breakfast nook looks out over the backyard, and we love sitting there, dreaming about what we want to do with the space one day,” Garza says. She transformed the corner into a little daydream of its own, featuring a 1970s Danish pine dining table by Envan Rijn, Uncommon Dining Chairs by Afra and Tobia Scarpa for Molteni & C from 1stDibs, and a FINN side table by Seer Studio. A Fazzo Pendant by In Common With casts a warm glow over the room, while Woven Woods Roman shades from Everhem softly veil the windows. The 1980s artwork, by an unknown artist, is a cherished heirloom from Garza’s grandmother.

For every new addition, Garza kept something from the past. “It was like collecting souvenirs,” she says with a smile. Some of those keepsakes? Wooden floors salvaged from beneath damaged carpet, steel windows with marble sills, and birch paneling in the hallway and entryway, restained to match the original wooden doors. She embraced an old-is-gold philosophy for furniture and art too. “About a third of everything here is passed down from family, and much of what’s recently acquired is vintage,” Garza explains. “I wanted to use pieces with a story whenever I could.” And when history fell short, she created it herself—like the kitchen floor, designed to look as if it had always been there. For a home with so much history, both preserved and newly crafted, the fight to save it was more than worth it.