The Rosenfield “Blue” House – Akard & Griffin

One of the oldest remaining homes in Dallas, a city with a reputation for not preserving historic structures, the Rosenfield House, popularly known as the “Blue House,” was built by Max Rosenfield in 1884 after he purchased the lot at Akard and Griffin in the Cedars the previous year. Max and his wife Jenny lived in the house with their young children until 1889 when they sold and built another house in South Dallas, which is also still standing.

The house and its lot were purchased by Time Warner in 2016 and plans were made to level the home and install a parking lot, required by the City. When a bulldozer appeared on the lot, the neighborhood sprung to action to save it. Someone who lived across the street called Preservation Dallas, which spurred subsequent calls to Melissa Prycer (then director of Dallas Heritage Village at Old City Park), and Katherine Seale (then Chair of the Landmark Commission), and others. Demolision ceased and the work to preserve the structure began. The house needed to move, and it needed to gain historic designation.

In order for the structure to qualify for the National Register of Historic Places, it needed to move to a site similar to its original, and it needed to maintain a certain percentage of its original details and style.  A development team, Mark Martinek and Jay Baker purchased the house, while Seale and her husband purchased a nearby lot in the interim while the house was prepared for relocation. McMillan Movers, in collaboration with Mark and Jay, separated the house into 5 sections and moved it several blocks to its new location at Beaumont and Browders streets, still in the Cedars.

Click here to read about the Blue House’s new lease on life.