State Sen. Royce West is the current owner of a notable Oak Cliff property known as The Concrete House, a historic residence that has stood since 1914. Designed and built by Joseph Kovandovitch, an immigrant from Czechoslovakia, the structure is considered one of Dallas’ earliest poured concrete homes. Despite its landmark status for over three decades and inclusion on multiple preservation watch lists, The Concrete House remains vacant and in need of restoration.

West spoke Monday about the house, located near his law offices, confirming that while he uses the building for storage, he has no immediate plans for its renovation. He expressed confidence that the house, constructed almost entirely of concrete and built to endure, will remain standing. “It’s not going anywhere,” he said, emphasizing that the structure continues to withstand time and neglect. West’s son Roddrick, an architect formerly with HKS, is expected to eventually oversee the house’s rehabilitation, though no timeline has been set.

The Concrete House was recently highlighted by Preservation Dallas on its latest Endangered Places List alongside other Dallas landmarks, including the 10th Street Historic District, the 151-year-old Garvin Cemetery, the former Hotel St. Germain in Uptown, and the Cole Manor Motel on Harry Hines Boulevard, which is currently being demolished. The annual list aims to draw attention to sites at risk due to development pressures and neglect.

Sarah Crain, executive director of Preservation Dallas, remarked that preservation efforts in Dallas face significant challenges, citing the city’s tendency to prioritize developer interests over cultural and historical concerns. “The problem with The Concrete House and most of the buildings on this list is that their owners have had every opportunity to repair them over time,” Crain said. “What’s most disappointing is that most of these buildings end up rotting away.” She described current preservation work as "the hardest it’s been since its inception in the 1970s."

The house’s history reflects nearly 112 years of fluctuating fortunes. Kovandovitch, who arrived in Dallas in 1887 and operated the downtown Eagle Café until his retirement in 1920, built the home as a symbolic “temple” intended to last indefinitely, a vision reinforced by his belief in reincarnation. Architectural experts have characterized the house as unique but also noted Kovandovitch was not formally trained in construction, adding an unusual philosophical dimension to the design.

The house has experienced multiple phases of vacancy and decline, including fires attributed to homeless occupants and, reportedly, a cult. Past owners attempted rehabilitation efforts; in the 1980s, architect Jess Epps Jr. purchased the property but abandoned restoration after falling ill. In 1996, Robert Bazan secured the building’s Dallas landmark designation, but ownership later passed to West’s family following Bazan’s death.

Although redevelopment in the surrounding Oak Cliff area is intensifying—bolstered by new housing, the redevelopment of the former Oak Farms Dairy site, and nearby Halperin Park—West reiterated that The Concrete House is not currently endangered. He said the property continues to be maintained, if only minimally, as the land’s value increases. “It’s just a matter of time before we do something with it,” he said. For now, The Concrete House remains standing as a concrete testament to Dallas’ layered architectural history and ongoing preservation debates.