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Sitting
on an expensive-looking wooden chest in the
living room of Daniel Jones Cooper's beautifully
renovated Gaston Avenue home is a pristine
cluster of quarts crystals that look like they
were purchased in an expensive gallery or placed
there by a calculating designer.
When questioned about the piece, Mr. Cooper
animatedly recalls unearthing the massive chunk
of quartz as a child on a visit to Hot Springs.
This story is one of many anecdotes he can relay
with affection about the items he has displayed
around his expansive home.
Mr. Cooper moved into the house which was
originally owned by Dallas lumber magnate George
W. Owens Jr. about 18 months ago, and 11 of
those months have been spent on restoration.
When he bought the house in 2003, he says
it was like a "party house," with the walls of
the dining room painted "brothel red." Desiring
to return the walls to their original surface,
Mr. Cooper had the paint stripped, revealing
color trends of the preceding eight decades,
including two shades of "60s-era purple of which
he remarked, "I could see peace, love, and
happiness abounding."
Sitting pretty: An Indian
statuary perched atop a Tunisian dowry trunk.
Because
of this laborious process and the application of
four coats of mud to the walls, as well as
extensive sanding to achieve a museum finish,
the painters alone were onsite for five months,
and Mr. Cooper said wryly, "I was changing air
filters every week."
His persistence and attention to detail
have paid off.
"It makes me proud to look at the museum
quality finish of these walls." Their pristine
and unblemished appearance are an ideal canvas
for a collection of decorative items he has
amassed after visits to 163 countries during
nine years as a cruise director.
Like the chunky quartz crystals on display
in his living room, every piece has personal
meaning to him. From the 480-year-old
wood-carved Taoist warrior that sits scowling -
the reason Mr. Cooper's father dubbed the statue
"Happy"- between two chairs in the living room
to the Tunisian dowry trunk situated underneath
an Indian statuary in his foyer, Mr. Cooper says
he loves living with objects that have a past.
"There's nothing worse than a life filled
with contrived objects."
As a result unlike many refurbished homes,
Mr. Cooper's place feels simultaneously elegant
and homey. Of course, Mr. Cooper's King Charles
Cavalier Spaniels help contribute to the casual
feel. There are the other passion in Mr.
Cooper's life, his four-legged children who
compete with his worldly decor for visitors'
attention.
Despite his obvious enthusiasm for the
house and his adopted East Dallas neighborhood,
Mr. Cooper's addiction for restoration is still
not sated.
Sitting
Pretty: An Indian statuary perched atop a
Tunisian dowry trunk.
The
stately Gaston property is on the market while
Mr. Cooper contemplates his next project.
Having spent a great deal of time in England, he
is interested in re-doing a cottage in
Regency-period style. He has not decided which
part of the city he would want to purchase in,
though he speaks with fondness of the Lakewood
area.
"It's a neighborhood of
independent thinking, which I think is more
along the lines of our society today."
He applauds the diversity of Gaston Avenue
(both racial and socio-economic) and the
companies and individuals who settle there
despite the street's somewhat negative
reputation. He believe residential development
by Power Properties among others as returned
"pride of ownership" to residents on Gaston's
neglected blocks.
The Planned
Development 99, which protects the stretch of
Gaston from Collett to Paulus, will also benefit
the historic street that once equaled, if not
eclipsed, the grandeur of Swiss Avenue.
And, although there's still no telling
where Mr. Cooper will settle next, he has chosen
Dallas as his permanent port.
Proof of
History: A historical marker displayed on the
entrance of Daniel Jones Cooper's house on
Gaston.
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