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The Daisy Polk Inn Might Just Be The Finest Arts And Crafts Home in Dallas

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4 years ago

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DALLAS, TX – When I walked into the Daisy Polk Inn more than 20 years ago, I didn’t realize I was stepping into history.

My friend and former pharmacist, A. Wayne Falcone, knew I had a passion for historic homes and wrote about them, so he invited me to visit his Miss Daisy. It’s one of the loveliest homes I’ve ever seen.

On the landmark records, the home is known as The Lynn Talley/Daisy Polk House. It was built for $4,000 and completed in 1910 for Lynn P. Talley, the City National Bank’s assistant cashier, and his wife, Martha. Lynn went on to become the fourth president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. The Talleys did not live in Miss Daisy for long, but they certainly created something special.

The house went through three owners between 1912 and the 1930s. In 1944, opera soprano Daisy Polk (yes, she was a relative of President James K. Polk) purchased the three-bedroom home for $8,500.

Daisy was ahead of the curve in every way, especially for a woman in that era. She studied with the legendary opera singer Enrico Caruso and traveled extensively. Daisy spent time in Fontainebleau, France, raising money to rebuild the village that had been ravaged during the war.

She moved to Dallas in 1922 when she was 32 years old. Daisy performed, created, and ran the vocal program at Hockaday and ran two vocal businesses. She ran an elite vocal instruction program out of this house. She also wrote numerous articles for the Dallas Morning News to draw attention to her causes.  I think the best way to sum up Daisy is with a quote from a reporter for the Dallas Morning News. Interviewing her in 1976 for a bicentennial story due to her connection to James K. Polk, the reporter had the audacity to ask her about aging gracefully. She said, “I am growing old rebelliously, not gracefully.” (I like to think she then kicked the reporter!)

Daisy lived in this home until she was 91. Her caretakers lived there for several years until Wayne persuaded her heirs to sell. He’d been driving by this house for years and loved it. Persistence pays off, and in 1996, Wayne became the proud owner.

A Home With Purpose

“Now, I had to decide what I was going to do with her other than sit in there with a glass of champagne and admire the glorious rooms. A guest house or bed and breakfast would work since the house is close to many clubs and restaurants,” Wayne said. “It was not so easy obtaining this license. The Oak Lawn Committee approved my presentation to begin the restoration, only to rescind it after a few months of beginning. A changing of the guard or its president was responsible for this. What was I going to do now?”

Wayne had help from architect Mark Shekter, council members Veletta Forsythe Lill and Willie Cothrum,  preservationist Jim Anderson, and Mayor Laura Miller, to name a few. He obtained the license with a historic overlay condition, and the City Council approved it in 2003.

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