The House That Saved the 2024 Kips Bay Decorator Show House Dallas

For nearly 50 years, the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club has produced a dazzling Decorator Show House in New York City’s Upper East Side. The event, which doubles as the nonprofit’s biggest fundraiser, is a boon for both its host city and the designers chosen to participate. “You have the opportunity to create rock stars with Kips Bay,” British-born designer Christopher Peacock shared with PaperCity. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for designers. It changed my career completely.”

In 2017, the elite event expanded to Palm Beach, then to Dallas in 2020, where the show house and its chosen designers have transformed several sprawling homes in Old Preston Hollow. But the popular fundraiser often ran into conflict with the private Dallas enclave (and its Homeowners’ Association) over concerns about parking and traffic. The conflict nearly came to a head this year, when a permitting issue threatened to drive Kips Bay out of Dallas for good. That’s when Vipin Nambiar made a call. 

“There’s actually this chateau in Dallas that looks like a beautiful French mansion but it’s a vacant office building,” Nambiar, founder of HN Capital Partners, recalls pitching to them. “We might be able to save Kips Bay in Dallas this year.”

And save Kips Bay they did. The prestigious fall design event will have its VIP Opening Day on Thursday, October 24 and opens to the public on Friday, October 25, for three weeks at 2999 Turtle Creek Boulevard, a sprawling French Renaissance-style estate that sits between the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek (also owned by HN Capital Partners) and the future Four Seasons Hotel & Residences. HN Capital acquired the 25,000-square-foot property (once intended to become Dallas’ first Mandarin Oriental hotel) in 2021, and is still in the planning phase for its future. A short-term tenant that brings a stable of esteemed designers to renovate the interiors was a win for all. Better yet, 2999 Turtle Creek features 60,000 square feet of underground parking. 

“We rely heavily on our relationships to find a property when we do the Show House in Dallas, Palm Beach, and New York City,” shares Nazira Handal, director of special events and corporate partnerships at Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club. “This site matched everything we were looking for: the right location, amenities and support, and the much-needed parking lot.” 

Nambiar’s design-centric portfolio, which includes Virgin Hotels Dallas, W Dallas -Victory, the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, and a wide swath of the Dallas Design District, aligns with his longtime support of the community. “We want talent to focus on Dallas so that the quality of the work that gets done here is elevated,” the developer shares. “We felt like we could contribute to keeping that level of design and interest in the city.” 

The 26 designers chosen to create rooms and gardens in this year’s show house will be announced in the coming weeks.

In addition to the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, the Dallas show house also benefits two local charities: Dwell with Dignity, a nonprofit agency dedicated to creating inspiring homes for families in need, and The Crystal Charity Ball, whose mission is to aid, support, and make contributions to children’s charities in Dallas County. 

“This year will be a different type of layout and the property is larger than our previous houses,” Handal notes. “We’re eager to see how the designers will transform this expansive area and the 2.3 acres of undeveloped land.” 

As for the future of 2999 Turtle Creek Boulevard, Nambiar remains tight-lipped but excited. “We’re looking to create great amenities that will be additive for the Turtle Creek neighborhood,” Nambiar notes. In the meantime, “It will be a very unique and very interesting show house this year.”

Tickets are online now for Kips Bay Decorator Show House Dallas opening day VIP preview (Thursday, October 24), and general admission (October 25 through November 13). 

Tickets are also available online for Kips Bay President’s Dinner at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek (Wednesday, October 23). The Annual President’s Dinner is an exciting event that brings together leaders in the design industry and supporters of the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club to raise funds for afterschool programs for children. For the first time ever, President’s Dinner attendees will be able to explore the home before it opens. This exciting evening begins with a private preview of the Kips Bay Decorator Show House Dallas, located at 2999 Turtle Creek Boulevard; Carbone Dallas will host this preview event. The reception will be followed by a seated dinner on the tented lawn at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in a magnificent setting created by Todd Fiscus and Todd Events. The evening concludes with dessert and nightcaps in a beautifully curated lounge atmosphere. Tickets to this year’s President’s Dinner are available for purchase through the link HERE. 

Veranda serves as the Dallas show house national media partner and PaperCity serves as regional media partner.