Dallas DeGolyer Estate

The DeGolyer Estate is an elegant Spanish Colonial Revival mansion built in 1940 on the shores of White Rock Lake, now part of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden grounds. For families, it has two distinct personalities: as a historic house and garden landmark open year-round through the arboretum, and as the spectacular centerpiece of the Dallas Arboretum's annual holiday lights celebration.

For the architecture and history crowd, the estate is a beautifully maintained example of mid-century Texas wealth and taste. Guided tours are available through the arboretum and cover the estate's history, the DeGolyer family's role in Dallas oil history, and the design of the mansion and its gardens. Older kids with a curiosity about history find it genuinely engaging; younger kids are mostly interested in the grand scale of the rooms and the lake views from the terrace.

The holiday season is where the DeGolyer Estate becomes a Dallas bucket-list destination. The Dallas Arboretum's annual holiday lighting event transforms the estate and its surrounding gardens into an elaborate seasonal display — themed rooms in the mansion, hundreds of thousands of outdoor lights, and holiday programming that runs evenings through December. It's one of the most photographed events in the Dallas holiday calendar, and for families with young children especially, it creates the kind of Christmas magic that gets talked about for years.

Note that the holiday event is separately ticketed and in high demand — book well in advance, especially for weekend evenings. Dallas Arboretum members get priority access and discounts.

Year-round, the estate is accessible through the arboretum grounds as part of standard admission or membership.