Still can’t believe this is actually the name of a housing style, and I had the pleasure of selling a Dingbat condo back in March.
The Dingbat is a boxy, 2 or 3 story apartment/condo, consisting of relatively few units per parcel, with the living areas overhanging street-front parking. Having a garage beneath the dwelling is a brilliant use of space to accommodate covered parking, but I can’t imagine having a neighbor with an active night life pulling into their carport and slamming their car door at 3am. Dingbat condos came into prominence in the 1950’s and 1960’s, primarily in the American sunbelt.
The word itself is a bit disparaging, but dingbat refers to the star-shaped decorations (similar to typographic dingbats) that are often found on their stucco facades. Although they’re a very efficient use of limited lot sizes, they are often considered eyesores and are often the target of demolition efforts.
I’ve seen quite a few of these buildings around Dallas. There are quite a few in Oak Lawn, and one in particular on Oram in East Dallas, although I know they’re not necessarily confined to those two areas.