What Does It Actually Cost to Live in Preston Hollow, Texas in 2026?

How much does it actually cost to live in Preston Hollow, Texas in 2026?

Preston Hollow runs from roughly $1 million on sub-acre lots to $10 million and up on multi-acre estate parcels, with most resale activity landing between roughly $1.9 million and $2.9 million depending on the month and the mix of homes that closed, according to Redfin's Preston Hollow housing market data. That's the short answer. The longer answer is what separates a $1.2 million rebuild candidate from a $6 million finished estate a half-mile away, and why this particular pocket of North Dallas keeps pulling buyers who'd otherwise be shopping Highland Park.

By Paul Blair | July 23, 2026

Preston Hollow isn't a single price point — it's three markets stacked on top of each other, and knowing which one you're shopping changes everything about how you approach it.

Preston Hollow price bands, 2026

Bands reflect the general shape of the Preston Hollow market as of 2026; individual sales vary by street, lot, and condition. Figures per Redfin's Preston Hollow housing market page.

The standard tier is where most of the neighborhood's transaction volume actually happens — sub-acre lots that still tend to run noticeably larger than comparable lots in the Park Cities, which is the trade a lot of buyers are making without fully realizing it. You give up Highland Park's own municipal government and school district in exchange for more land, generally lower dollars per square foot, and room to add a pool, a sport court, or a guest house without fighting a tiny setback. Financing at these price points often lands in jumbo loan territory — see our jumbo loan guide for DFW buyers for how that underwriting actually works. You can browse current Preston Hollow listings anytime on the Grey Square Preston Hollow page.

Streets, architecture, and what's actually going up right now

Preston Hollow's traditional boundaries run along Midway Road, Northwest Highway, Hillcrest Avenue, and Royal Lane, though locals and agents alike often use the name more loosely for the broader stretch of North Dallas between the Park Cities and LBJ Freeway, per Wikipedia's overview of the neighborhood. The area was largely farmland and scattered homesteads through the early 20th century before building out as a residential district in the 1920s, and Preston Hollow residents voted to join the City of Dallas in 1945 rather than remain independent the way Highland Park did.

That history shows up in the architecture. Streets like Preston Road, Strait Lane, and Douglas Avenue mix classic Georgian and colonial estates with midcentury modern and contemporary construction — CultureMap Dallas has documented some of the neighborhood's more notable architectural landmarks, including Richard Meier's Rachofsky House on Preston Road and a Philip Johnson-designed estate on Strait Lane. Lot size is the real differentiator here: it's not unusual to find sub-acre parcels with room for a tennis court or a full guest house, a rarity this close to the city core.

Buyers here tend to fall into a few recognizable patterns rather than one profile: relocating executives moving in from out of state who want more land than a comparable Uptown or Park Cities address offers, longtime Dallas families trading up from a smaller lot elsewhere in the city, and builders or owner-investors buying an older ranch house specifically for its lot, with the existing structure functioning as a placeholder until permits clear. That third pattern — buy for the dirt, not the house — is common enough on some blocks that appraisers and agents treat it as its own category of comparable sale.

The nearest major development to track is Preston Hollow Village, a 42-acre mixed-use project at Walnut Hill Lane and North Central Expressway. Phase I brought in a Trader Joe's, Orange Theory, and several restaurants alongside three eight-story residential buildings totaling 526 units, according to CBS News's coverage of the project and the City of Dallas's own planning page for the corridor. None of that density touches the estate streets themselves, but it has changed what's walkable from the neighborhood's northern edge, which is worth knowing if proximity to retail and dining factors into where you land.

Preston Hollow vs. Highland Park: what the comparison actually turns on

The two neighborhoods sit next to each other and get compared constantly, but the differences are structural, not just cosmetic. Highland Park and University Park are their own incorporated towns with their own police department, their own school district, and their own zoning board — I wrote about what that actually costs buyers in Highland Park here. Preston Hollow is a Dallas neighborhood, governed by the City of Dallas and served by the Dallas Police Department, which is part of why per-square-foot pricing tends to run lower even a block or two from the Highland Park line.

Lot size is the other half of the equation. Preston Hollow's larger parcels — a legacy of how the area was originally subdivided — support the kind of private amenities, pools, courts, guest quarters, that are harder to fit on a denser Park Cities lot. Buyers choosing between the two are usually weighing municipal services and walkability against square footage and privacy, not picking one neighborhood as categorically better than the other.

Schools and property taxes: the practical layer

Preston Hollow is split between school districts. Most of the neighborhood is zoned to Dallas ISD, with campuses including Preston Hollow Elementary, Walnut Hill International Leadership Academy, Franklin Middle School, and Hillcrest High School depending on the specific street, per Dallas ISD's Preston Hollow Elementary school page. A small southeastern pocket falls inside the Highland Park ISD boundary. If school zoning matters to your decision, confirm the specific address against the district boundary map before writing an offer — the line runs through the middle of the neighborhood, not around it.

Property taxes run through the Dallas Central Appraisal District, which mails Notices of Appraised Value each spring with a protest deadline that typically falls in mid-May. Given Preston Hollow's price points, assessed values can move meaningfully year to year, and I've written a full walkthrough of the DCAD protest process here if you're a new owner and haven't been through a Texas appraisal cycle before.

Considering a move into Preston Hollow? Schedule a private consultation and we'll walk through price bands, lot options, and school zoning for the specific streets you're looking at.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the price range for homes in Preston Hollow in 2026? Standard sub-acre homes generally run $1 million to $3 million, estate-tier properties on one to three acres run $3 million to $10 million, and trophy estates on three-plus acres can exceed $10 million, per Redfin's Preston Hollow housing data. Most resale activity clusters in the standard tier.

Is Preston Hollow part of Highland Park? No. Preston Hollow is a Dallas neighborhood governed by the City of Dallas, while Highland Park and University Park are separately incorporated towns with their own police departments and school district. See our Highland Park guide for how that comparison plays out on price and lot size.

What school district serves Preston Hollow? Most of the neighborhood is zoned to Dallas ISD, with a small southeastern pocket zoned to Highland Park ISD. Because the boundary runs through the middle of the neighborhood, confirm zoning for a specific address before making an offer, per Dallas ISD's Preston Hollow Elementary page.

Can you still build new construction in Preston Hollow? Yes. Larger sub-acre and estate-tier lots throughout the neighborhood support teardown-and-rebuild projects, which remain common given the age of some of the original 1920s-era housing stock.

What's Preston Hollow Village, and does it affect the rest of the neighborhood? Preston Hollow Village is a 42-acre mixed-use development at Walnut Hill Lane and North Central Expressway, with retail, restaurants, and multifamily residential in its first phase, per CBS News. It sits at the neighborhood's northern edge and hasn't changed zoning on the estate streets themselves, but it has added walkable retail options nearby.

Own a home in Preston Hollow and thinking about listing? Request a confidential valuation to see where your property lands against this year's price bands before you decide on timing.

I've walked estate lots on Preston Road and watched a handful of 1950s ranch houses come down for new construction over the past few years — Preston Hollow is one of the few close-in Dallas neighborhoods where a full rebuild still pencils, and it's a market I track street by street rather than by a single neighborhood average.

Paul Blair is the founder and broker of Grey Square, a virtual real estate brokerage representing buyers and sellers across Dallas and Los Angeles. With 22 years in the business and more than $200 million in closed transactions, Paul works the full range of the market, from luxury homes in the Park Cities and Preston Hollow to estates in the Hollywood Hills and across the Westside. Connect with Paul and the Grey Square team at greysq.com. TX TREC #9011505 · CA DRE #01792671.