Happy 120th birthday to the Alexander Mansion of Dallas!

The Alexander Mansion is one of the original mansions of Downtown Dallas, located on Ross Avenue.  2024 is the 120th birthday of the Alexander Mansion and for a birthday present, the Mansion got a restoration of its beautiful hallway mosaic. 

The Dallas Woman’s Forum is a philanthropic group whose mission is to empower women and children through education and advocacy.  The group purchased the Alexander Mansion in 1930 with the purpose of preserving this remarkable historical landmark.  

One day, one of the board members peeled back the nasty, old green shag carpet in the Carriage Entrance hallway.  “I was hoping to find wood floors.  But, would you believe it, I found mosaic!  The carpet installers nailed right through the tiles.  It was so pretty, but there was an awful lot of damage.” 

For the next six years, the board members collected all the original porcelain pieces that came loose, even searching through the vacuum cleaner bags.  Finally, in 2023, the Dallas Woman’s Forum secured a grant from the Summerlee Foundation to fund the mosaic’s restoration.

The next task was to find a mosaicist who could tackle this complicated project.  They hired Sarah Wandrey Mosaics, located nearby in Rockwall.  Sarah was delighted to take on the challenge.  “This has been a lovely project.  I like to think that the mosaicists from 120 years ago would be really happy to see their work honored and preserved.”