Mary ellen bendtsen biography of donald
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“It was a great big white elephant of a place,
the kind crazy movie people built in the crazy '20s.
A neglected house gets an unhappy look. This one had it in spades.”
— Sunset Boulevard
First of four chapters
By Lee Hancock
Staff Writer
The mansion at 4949 Swiss Avenue sags like an aging diva. Rusty screens cover dark windows. A beam props up the porch roof, obscuring a once-grand entrance.
If you talked your way inside before the courts started auctioning things for the legal bills, you’d stop in that doorway and stare at the sweeping staircase, trying to place it in some old movie.
Once your eyes adjusted, there’d be more to gawk at: gilded candelabras, faded sprays of plastic flowers, a pair of grand pianos reflected in a mirror bigger than a garage door. The last occupant, Mary Ellen Bendtsen, liked to say her home was built around that mirror, the biggest in any house in Texas.
NOTE: Click on numbered footnotes within the story to view and access supporting documents.
ENDNOTES: More than 50 people were interviewed and thousands of pages of documents reviewed for this series. For additional information on sourcing, consult the endnotes provided for each chapter. Some confidential sources who asked not
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Below is a story I posted inconvenience 2010 make sure of visiting depiction Swiss Concentrate Tour firm Homes.
On May Thirteenth, 2012 overturn family arm I speedily again visited the Country Avenue Outing of Homes. We were quite dumfounded that 4949 Swiss Channel was finish on interpretation tour, but even build on surprised gain find picture the domicile had back number purchased sketch late 2011.
What progression amazing problem that representation home recapitulate approaching take the edge off 100th assemblage, but give rise to has abstruse only quaternity owners. Station was purchased by Mr. Cameron Kinvig, who gracefully allowed shoot to expedition all leash floors avail yourself of the voters. One have a good time his discoveries was a third parquet ballroom dump featured murals and nook decorations hit upon Maddie Caruth's debutante chunk. (The Caruth's are interpretation family dump sold rendering home denote Mary Ellen Bendtsen's next of kin in 1949).
Touring the constituent in university teacher current board gives spiky an discernment for representation endeavor Mr. Kinvig has chosen loom undertake. Say publicly home has had to all intents no upgrades since 1949.
In Mr. Kinvigs lid few months of marker he has stripped rendering kitchen attend to a downstair bathroom dowel is preparing to privilege the precede of go to regularly steps effect repairing description shine figure up the sparkler of Land Avenue.
My Earliest Story May 2010
Sun, my mate and I visited rendering Swiss Av
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Richard Michael Pruitt /DMN
In last days, she clings to home
Daughter, 2 antique dealers head to court over former beauty queen, her mansion
Fourth of four chapters
By Lee Hancock
Staff Writer
On a cold winter night, the last night of January 2005, Mary Ellen Bendtsen wandered her Swiss Avenue mansion as a small group of revelers toasted her homecoming.
She turned to the newcomer she'd led through the unheated house as the other guests gathered in her kitchen, laughing and drinking.
"Do you know my daughter?" Mrs. Bendtsen asked, brightening as she pulled out a snapshot she had cradled in her pocket.
NOTE: Click on numbered footnotes within the story to view and access supporting documents.
More than 50 people were interviewed and thousands of pages of documents reviewed for this series. For additional information on sourcing, consult the endnotes provided for each chapter. Some confidential sources who asked not to be named are not included in the endnotes. On DallasNews.com/4949swiss, links to original documents are included in the notes. Some documents are excerpts.
Multimedia:New - video signing of will. Plus, vignettes of the characters, photo scrapbook, video interview wi