Darla Chapman Ripley knows Dallas. She grew up here, was educated in Texas, has an undergraduate degree at the University of Texas-Austin, an MBA at UTD, and deep roots that connect to the state’s illustrious beginnings.
Her acute passion for real estate is as natural as her connection to the Lone Star landscape her family helped build over generations. There is still a street that winds through historic Fair Park that bears her maternal side’s family name, as does one of the first elementary schools in Dallas.
Nowadays, Darla’s specialties include the luxury neighborhoods around where she was raised, such as Highland Park, University Park, Greenway Parks, Preston Hollow, Bluffview, Devonshire, and Turtle-Creek/Uptown.
“I grew up in Highland Park and graduated from HPHS, as did my four children. Living in Park Cities and Turtle Creek neighborhoods for years, built decades-long relationships,” she says.
Darla describes herself as being all about her clients, “From hello to closing,” she explains. And while she knows Dallas’ most storied zip codes intimately, “I work wherever I’m needed: such as helping with a remodel and selling a home in Argyle for a client who lives in San Antonio; or working with another client who just graduated from medical school and is buying her first condo closer to her hospital residency program.”
And after closing? “I remain at their service for as long as needed with follow-up resources, or general questions,” she says. “Several of my first-time clients have turned into cherished friends.”
Darla’s experience goes well beyond her years in a brokerage. It is her diversity of skills and experiences that differentiate her from many of her colleagues in real estate. She is an experienced equestrian with a long list of impressive accomplishments in the field.
As an owner and breeder of the Arabian show, and racehorses for decades, Darla’s horses competed nationally and abroad. She traveled the world, working closely with a wide swath of fascinating people and cultures, while her
equine breeding program gained international recognition, and afforded her an expansive global network of business associates, friends, and colleagues.
Darla’s intimate connection to, and understanding of, land and livestock management makes her the consummate agent for buyers and sellers of training and breeding facilities. “Some of my clients are seasoned
ranch owners, pursuing all that land ownership can offer, while others specialize in the equine industry as owners, breeders, and/or trainers. Then there are others who are brand new to it all.”
Due to the pandemic, she says, “Interest inland, improved or unimproved, for a getaway second or third home, or solely as an investment, has greatly increased.”
Compass Ranch and Land Division is set to launch in January 2022. While she is a member of the new division because of her deep equine connections and success in the genre, Darla is focused on both an “urban and rural reach,” as she phrases it.
Darla depends on her listening skills, honed over decades of networking and marketing in the equine, publishing, real estate, and financial services industries. “I’ve always enjoyed connecting with people, however. it’s my career in real estate that I get to exercise that skill the most. Real estate allows me to team up with each client on a journey that we design together to meet their specific desires, needs, and goals,” she says.
“Along with my dedication to transparency and honesty, I thoroughly enjoy collaborative environments, which, coincidentally, is the bedrock of the Compass culture.” Darla is a firm believer in the power of marketing, smart, data-driven execution, the commanding presence of the Compass brand, and the technological innovations Compass provides clients.
Over the years, she has worked with various non-profits with important missions, where she’s strived to help make a difference in her community. They include Equest Board of Directors (1994-2002) and the Equest Woman’s Auxiliary; Texas Arabian Breeders Association Board of Directors (1994-2016); Kappa Alpha Theta; University of Texas, Texas Exes; Junior League of Dallas; Dallas Museum of Art; and the Board of Directors of the Texas Yellow Rose Gala for Multiple Sclerosis.
Her professional accolades and recognitions include D Magazine “Best in Real Estate,” Top Producer, Group Category, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021; The Wall Street Journal, “2020 Real Trends 1000” the best in real estate nationally; and The Advocate, Top Realtors, 2019.
“The Compass corporate statement says it all: Our mission is to help everyone find their place in the world,” she says.
“But it’s my personal mission to implement that for each and every one of my clients.”
