Photography by Jessica Turner
Lee Ruiz didn’t know about Oak Cliff in 2003.
That’s the year he and his husband, Chris Barker, moved to Dallas from California, and they were renting in the Lower Greenville area.
Ruiz’s commute took him to Grand Prairie on Interstate 30.
“I wish I could tell you that I was in love with Oak Cliff’s charm and that I knew this was going to be the greatest place in the world, but none of that is true,” he says. “It was really by accident, because I figured that if I lived on this side of town, it would cut my commute time in half.”
They seriously considered a different house before landing on their 1913 cottage on Willomet Avenue in Winnetka Heights.
It’s totally renovated now, but they did everything gradually after moving into a very livable house in 2004. It had been updated at various points in the ’80s and ’90s.
“Everything worked. It was there, but it was not our style,” Ruiz says. “It was a mix of traditional here and there, and then a truck-stop bathroom in the guest room.”
Barker chimes in: “And then ornate in several places, with florals, lots of Marie Antoinette.”
It had a weird loft upstairs with grey carpet and a functional bathroom with saloon doors and a modular shower.
When Ruiz’s job went fully remote in 2016, they rebuilt the staircase and transformed the loft into an office with a new bathroom and a cool vintage vibe, where they sometimes hang out and listen to records and drink whiskey.
Cleo Spears of Orchid Interiors selected the chain-link glass chandelier as a centerpeice to the entry, which homeowners Ruiz and Barker call “reception.” The fireplace adds a contemporary nod to arts-and-crafts architecture. Barker chose the peacock blue rug, which matches a runner in their hallway (not pictured)
They turned that “truck-stop bathroom” into a delightful tiny guest bath around the same time they did the master bedroom and bath.
They’ve worked with Oak Cliff-based designer Cleo Spears throughout the years.
“This house is totally traditional on the outside, but when you walk inside, it’s not that. It’s very contemporary,” Ruiz says. “It tells a story about Winnetka Heights, because everything kind of looks the same from the outside, but when you walk in, it could be anything. Our house looks nothing like our neighbors’ houses.”
Ruiz and Barker designed the front room of their house as a “reception” room. Spears selected the striking chain-link glass chandelier, convincing them to move the fixture to line up with the front door. And she designed the contemporary fireplace that gives a nod to arts-and-crafts with its sculptural wooden facade.
They commissioned a painting of “a gorilla in a cowboy hat” from local artist Mark Buxkemper in 2017 to place above the fireplace. Some of the other artwork has been picked up from the Turner House’s annual “Rising Star” fundraiser. They have a portrait of a woman that came from Cuba. A watercolor from Dallas fashion designer Geoffrey Henning. A work from Milton Rodriguez. An oil painting of a cow’s cute face on a Formica tabletop, by artist Meg Harper.
One of the most interesting pieces is one they produced themselves. It’s a blown-up iPhone selfie by Barker titled “Chris’ Greatest Day,” taken in front of the Hamersmith Odeon Theater in London, England, just before they saw musician Kate Bush perform in 2014.
“I sat this close to her, and she sang right to me,” he says. “It was … well, it was the greatest day ever.”
The kitchen features a banquette with a six-person dining table that’s on industrial casters so that it can be rolled into the cooking part of the kitchen to use for prep, for a bar or buffet.
They used to entertain a lot before the pandemic, and they know that everyone likes to hang out in the kitchen. But the flow of the space between the kitchen, dining and reception area also keeps people moving around the spaces.
Since the pandemic, they’ve invited friends into the backyard through the side gate, but that narrow space was uninviting, and they had an old Bradford pear tree that had died. So they filled it in with decomposed granite and did a little bit of landscaping. Now they can set up a long table there for socially distanced outdoor suppers.
Their block, just off West Jefferson, goes all out for holidays, like many in Winnetka Heights. Ruiz and Barker go big every year, and they’re always changing up the theme. One year it was “Blue Christmas,” when all of their lights were blue. Barker dressed as Elvis, and Ruiz dressed as a snowman and danced.
While their neighborhood is known for porch culture, Ruiz and Barker live on their porch. They’ve had dinner or parties with everyone on the block. Three of them had a progressive party to celebrate their houses’ 100th anniversaries in 2013.
“We use our porch more than anyone else,” Ruiz says. “We’re here in the morning for coffee. We’re here after work. In the evening, after dinner. We’re here listening to music and drinking wine.”
