The Gotcher Street Farmhouse was built in 1910 and served as the Farmhouse for a large farm. All but one acre of the farm has been sold but the Farmhouse remains. It was acquired by Urban-Retro in 2002 from the original family and was fully gutted, renovated and expanded in 2024-2025.
It now serves as the Community Center for the residents of the Urban-Retro properties. The Farmhouse houses a Library, Small Gym, Game Room, and Great Room meeting space. It also houses the Urban-Retro Office and Staff Workshop.
Four rooms of the house are original and includes The Library, Staff Workroom, Office and Small Gym. The Gym was the original kitchen. The Game Room was added in the 1940s to provide room for an indoor bathroom. The Great Room and the Back Porch were added in 2025.
There's quite a bit of history in the house as well:
-The bookcases in the Library came from the home of children's author Lynn Sheffield Simmons.
-The awards on the walls of the Library are from The Lake Cities Sun, the weekly newspaper that served the Lake Dallas area from 1974 to 2022. The founder of Urban-Retro was the Editor and Publisher of The Lake Cities Sun for several decades.
-The tin ceiling of the Game Room came from the Barn that was located on the property.
-The door on the ceiling of the Game Room is the Woodman Building and was Garza Post Office door. Garza was the name of the town before it was changed to Lake Dallas upon the completion of the lake now known as Lewisville Lake.
-The iron handrail on the handicap entrance to the Farmhouse is from a Dallas home built in 1912. The home was originally built by Henry Lee Edwards who co-founded the Dallas Country Club. It was later owned by well-known real estate developer Trammell Crow. The Crow Museum of Asian art in Dallas was founded by Tramell and Margaret Crow.
-The blue pearl granite countertops in the Great Room and Staff Workroom are from the Lone Star Cadillac dealership when it was located on Ross Avenue in Dallas. It's now the site of the Wyly Theater, part of the Dallas Arts District.
-One of the red rocking chairs in the Great Room is from the home of Jesse Mullens who played the piano at the Lake Dallas Methodist Church for decades. She also played the piano at the local grocery store on Main Street when the store provided music for patrons.
-One of the red rocking chairs in the Great Room is from the home of Lynn Sheffield Simmons.
-The large ornate crown molding in the Library and Office are leftover materials from an expansion of The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.
-The walls of the Office are roller skating rink flooring that came from Spinning Wheels Skating Rink that was once located in Denton from the 1950s to the early 2000s. Sections of the floor were cut into 4x8 sheets and sold off.
-The unfinished shiplap ceilings in the original four rooms of the house are original. The shiplap on the walls of the Game Room and on the ceiling in the Great Room were taken from the walls of the original part of the house.
-The wingback chairs in the Library, the wingback chair and the desk in the Office are all from The Lake Cities Sun.
-The filing cabinets in the Staff Workshop are from The Lake Cities Sun.
-The white cabinets in the Staff Workshop are circa 1940s and are from a science lab at the University of North Texas.
