Dallas Realtor Irmgard Arthur believes her forte is matching buyers to the right homes, but her success as a matrimonial agent is catching up to her sales.

"The first match I made was 25 years ago," recalls Arthur. "I was married to an Air Force officer, and he was sent to three-month commander's squadron school, so I went to Germany to visit relatives and there I met a lieutenant who had left the air force and stayed in Germany. He asked me out to dinner, and I went and I brought my girlfriend along who was unhappily married, so for three months he took us both out dancing, and at the end of three months my friend told me, "I am in love with Chuck. Six months later, they married and they are still happily married all these years later."

Back in the states years later, Arthur was divorced and dating. "I was dating someone who was a member of Brook Hollow Country Club, and he had a friend who's wife died in January. My 'boyfriend' said, 'We have to get him out of the house.' I was going to a singles' club and overheard someone say, 'I just want a man of my own, and I suggested we get the two of them togther. They were both short in stature, and they looked like they belonged together. A few months later, they got married. They were too old to waste any time."

Another time, Arthur was skiing with the Aspen Ski Club, and met someone she was not interested in for herself, but she thought, "But he was a great skier, and I introduced him to a friend who was a good skier and they got married. He died a few years after that, but meanwhile they kept a home in Jackson Hole and enjoyed skiing together."

Still looking for love, Arthur tried Match.com. "I went on Match.com and met this guy who was a retired airline pilot. He was tall, dark and handsome but he was so boring - his only hobby was ham radio. I was telling my shopper at Saks Fifth Avenue about him, and she said to tell him 'I love pilots and margaritas.' I got them together, and they got married and she quit her job."

So far so good, but where does the real estate come in - you know, buy a house - get a spouse?

Arthur promises that her matches come from homebuying, too. As a resident of a luxury high-rise in the elegant Turtle Creek area of Dallas, Arthur meets plenty of singles, despite her specialty in serving high-end single-family home sellers and buyers. She says she's noticing a trend where empty nesters, particularly singles, want to be part of a community, so some are migrating to the more sophisticated urban high-rise, townhome and other community-oriented housing. A high-rise, for example, can be like a small town, with meeting rooms, office space, dog walking parks, club rooms, restaurants and coffee bars, and other amenities where people can meet and socialize.

"There was a widow who had a house in Plano who wanted to move to the Turtle Creek area of Dallas," says Arthur, "so I was showing her condos, and I took her with me to different parties and things - singles' parties and Friends of Katy Trail, a wonderful Dallas biking-hiking trail, and so on. She had closed on a unit at The Warrington, an elegant high-rise, and this party was on 22 of September. I introduced her to someone, and they have been inseparable ever since. And they just got married."

Arthur's success as a matchmaker is spreading. "All my clients who are single are saying, 'Why didn't you fix me up with somebody?', so now I tell them, 'You're next!'

To set the stage, Arthur hosts singles' club parties at her high-rise where there is a beautiful terrace with a romantic fountain.

"When you feel the relaxing cool breezes and see the beautiful views, it's easier to get in the mood to find love," she winks.

Published: October 20, 2004

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