Hardee Street Boasts Dallas' Only Pre-Fab House

There is one house in Dallas that wasn’t built from the ground up. Although you can’t tell by looking at it, the two-story light blue house at 508 Hardee St. next to Lucky’s gas station wasn’t originally constructed on that site. It is Dallas’ first and only pre-fabricated house.

According to local residents, the home’s first owners, Luther and Willa Thomas, purchased the house from Sears in the 1930s. Dallas residents didn’t know what to expect when word traveled that the Thomas’ were purchasing their house rather than building it, said Jason Edwards, a Paulding County resident who has researched many of the area’s historic homes. In the back of the Sears catalog, there was a section that listed pre-fabricated houses that were for sale. That is where the Thomas’ found their home, Edwards said.

“When he ordered it from Sears, the whole town turned out at the depot thinking the whole house was going to come,” Edwards said. “But, it was (just) numbered pieces.”

A descendant of Will Denton, who bought the home in the 1960s, said the house changed hands several times before Denton purchased it. According to several websites, the house also housed a tearoom called The Ritzy Pixie.