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Custom cedar arbors, pergolas, covered back porches, and outdoor kitchens designed for Highland Park estates. Old-lot craftsmanship for Dallas’s most established homes.
Highland Park sits three miles north of downtown Dallas, consistently ranked among the wealthiest communities in Texas, with a median home value above $2.3 million and estate lots shaded by some of the most mature oak canopy in the city. The neighborhood’s standard was set a century ago — homes near University Park and the Country Club district were built with real materials and real detailing, and the outdoor structures we build today are held to the same bar. From the gardens around Lakeside Park to the walkways near Turtle Creek and Exall Lake, Highland Park is a neighborhood where an arbor, a pergola, or a covered back porch is part of the architecture, not an afterthought bolted on afterward.
Get a Free EstimateA Highland Park backyard is rarely a simple rectangle. Mature oaks, landscape lighting, pool equipment, and layered garden rooms all shape where an arbor or pergola can sit without damaging the tree canopy that makes the neighborhood so valuable. We design each structure around the existing landscape instead of clearing through it, so the finished project feels like it has always belonged on the property — whether that means a freestanding pergola beside the pool or a porch addition tucked along the back elevation of the house.
The homes in Highland Park were built with real materials and real detailing, and hollow vinyl or snap-together kits look exactly as temporary as they are next to a 1920s Mediterranean or a newly built custom estate. Our arbors and pergolas use traditional Western Red Cedar timbers with true post-and-beam joinery — the same approach we bring to patio covers and every other cedar structure we build. Cedar is naturally resistant to decay and insects, ages beautifully in the Texas climate, and takes stain and finish the way a premium material should.
The Texas sun kills more than grass — it kills the hours you could have spent outside. A covered back porch gives your family a way to be outside in July without standing in the open heat, and warm evening lighting under a cedar ceiling turns the backyard into the room everyone gravitates toward after dark. We plan ceiling fans, recessed lighting, and fireplace options into the framing from day one, so the porch is genuinely usable on a Saturday morning and at a Saturday dinner alike. Homeowners across Preston Hollow and the Park Cities tell us the porch becomes the most-used room on the property.
When the guest list is sized like a Highland Park dinner party, the grill station needs to be more than a wheel-in unit on the patio. We build full outdoor kitchen additions — built-in grills, stone counters, prep sinks, and bar seating for a crowd — planned so the cook is part of the party instead of standing alone at the grill in the August sun. We covered the planning process in depth in our guide to planning a back porch and outdoor kitchen addition, including layout, materials, and what to expect at each budget level.
Highland Park is a walking neighborhood. The paths around Lakeside Park — where generations of Dallas children have climbed on the famous stone bears — and the tree-lined streets off Turtle Creek and Exall Lake set the tone for how a garden should look. A traditional cedar arbor over a gate or garden walk, planted with climbing roses or jasmine and hung with flower baskets, gives that landscape its architecture. It is one of the most rewarding projects we build, and you can see recent examples of our cedar work in the project gallery.
The same estate-standard approach covers the rest of the property: cedar privacy fences on steel posts for pool gardens and boundaries, custom wood decks engineered for the creek-adjacent lots, patio covers framed for Texas storms, and the covered back porches and outdoor kitchens that anchor the entertaining season. Every service has its own Highland Park page, and each one is designed to the same bar the neighborhood’s century of architecture has set.
The process starts with a phone call or the estimate form — tell us the neighborhood and roughly what you have in mind. We walk the property with you, look at how the sun moves across the yard, where the trees sit, and how your family actually uses the space, then come back with a fixed-price estimate and a design that fits the house. No high-pressure sales scripts, no allowance games, and no surprise fees after the crew shows up. Highland Park and University Park homeowners get the same straightforward process we bring to every project.
Custom decks designed around how your family uses the backyard, from simple ground-level platforms to expansive multi-tier entertaining spaces.
Traditional Western Red Cedar pergolas and garden arbors with warm wood grain, classic post-and-beam craftsmanship, and room for hanging flowers and climbing vines.
Custom covered back porches with warm cedar ceilings, ceiling fans, recessed lighting, and layouts that make the backyard usable in every season.
High-end outdoor kitchen additions with built-in grills, stone counters, and bar seating, designed for Texas evenings and effortless hosting.
Solid and lattice patio covers that extend your living space and help protect your family, furniture, and finishes from North Texas sun and rain.
Yes. Highland Park is our primary service focus, and we build arbors, pergolas, covered back porches, and outdoor kitchens throughout the Park Cities. Call 972-586-2442 or send your project details and we can talk through your property directly.
Yes. Traditional Western Red Cedar with classic joinery detailing complements both historic Mediterranean estates and new custom builds. We review your home’s proportions, trim, and finishes before finalizing the design so the structure reads as part of the original intent. See our pergolas and arbors page for the approach.
In most cases, yes. Planning the covered porch and outdoor kitchen as one project resolves the roof, counters, appliances, and layout at the same time, and it usually costs less than building them in separate phases later.
Structures attached to the home, and many freestanding ones, can involve city permits and neighborhood architectural review — Highland Park is famously protective of its character for good reason. We identify the requirements that apply to your project during the estimate phase so there are no surprises after design work begins.
Every estimate is fixed-price and based on the specific design, size, materials, and site conditions of your property. We do not publish generic ranges because they mislead more than they help; call or use the estimate form and we will price your actual project, not a guess.
Yes. Our project gallery includes traditional cedar arbors with hanging flowers, evening-lit pergolas, covered back porches, and full outdoor kitchens — the same work we build throughout the Park Cities and Preston Hollow.
Call us or send your project details and we will follow up with a free, fixed-price estimate.