Willowisp

Here's a link to the old listing. Only 2 shots of the outside. The rest is of the lot. It reminds me a little of 950 Kirby, another Kamrath, which as far as I know has been sitting vacant for quite some time.

It's the most expensive one-story house for sale in Meyerland under 4000 square feet. But it's on a pretty big lot. I'd say give it a chance and see what you think.

Check it out. 9007 Manhattan

In interviewing him, he mentioned being affected by the new architecture of San Francisco where he was stationed in the military. It was around WW2 as I recall that he saw this and was influenced to start designing in the contemporary country style. What we are finding is that he became one of Houston's most prolific residential architects of medium to large contemporary ranch houses. I wouldn't think he was connected much to Philip Johnson in his style. He was more Frank Lloyd Wright influenced. He was extremely humble considering how much he produced. It was a great honor to meet him and talk to him. So, it's the 3 year anniversary for this topic!

Thanks to Lisa Gray for pointing this out. Somebody save this baby. http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=75389228

Send me an email to info @ houstonmod . org and I will give you Mr. Vale's email address. I haven't talked to him in almost 2 years so I don't know how his health is these days. In discussing plans he said "they're all in storage somewhere." He was a little vague about the quantity of plans etc he still has. Ben Hill, especially, has researched his work and both of us would enjoy helping you document your restoration. Ben has met several of the owners of his houses and can point you in the right direction in contacting them. I can include him in the emails to the info address. Vale was a prolific architect. It's incredibly sad how much of it is gone now.

That's great, other than it being a hideous paint color and my detesting of ceiling fans, both undoables except for the painting of brick. But maybe they had a good reason to paint it...

That's where I went! It never occurred to me that I may have sublimanally gotten my interest in mid-century modernism from my intermediate school.

Thank you for splitting the threads! You read my mind...

Brazos Books should have it now unless they sold out in a month. I don't know why they didn't contact you if they were supposed to. The other best way to get the book is at the Mods of the Month or through the PO Box ($3 for shipping). I talked to the realtor and we may be able to arrange a Mod of the Month at this house. Sadly, it's an estate sale. They are cleaning up the house and getting it ready for sale. The woman I met there two years ago has passed on. I feel even worse now that I never took her my book! The realtor actually said someone was interested in buying and remodeling. I told her I'd love to be part of that process as I have experience. Who knows if that's serious though. It could just be someone who said "I like this". Jason

Ben brought it to my attention that this house is for sale. http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=95455265&backButton=Y&Address=218%20Pine%20Hollow%20Ln When I wrote the Jenkins book, I debated a long time about whether or not to feature this house. All of the houses I featured were in Bellaire and just south of Bellaire. This house is off of Woodway on Pine Hollow. I didn't have any vintage photos of the house, and there would be little way to make it look great now, so I decided to leave it out. I went over and visited the current owner once and toured the house a couple of years ago and it was looking neglected. I'm starting to regret that I didn't feature it now, as it is up for sale, and likely to meet a demo crew. Hopefully we can all get over there soon for a tour. If one had the money and interest, this would be a very interesting project. Many original features remain, and the view/real estate is terrific. The house was built in 1953 for the Sullivan family. There is a bedroom addition with lots of glass that follows the style of the original house. I have a small newspaper clipping of it, but on my home computer. Jason

Maybe this should be a completely different thread??? But... Where do you live that's so bad? How many modern elements do you hope to find? How original do you expect it to be? First off $240K will limit you to: A - terrible condition in a good neighborhood (like the house this thread covers). What are the "good neighborhoods"? Well, that too is up for a major debate, covered in several topics around this forum. B - small house in an average neighborhood - and it will still probably need $30K in repairs. Most MCMs around town in the under $500K are pretty small anyway. 1700K sq. ft. is about all you're getting under $250K. Now the "modern elements". The more modern elements you expect to find the rarer and harder it will be. Floor to ceiling glass, flat roof, post and beam, lack of moulding, sliding glass doors, built-in furniture, courtyards, a locally known architect... The more options you want the less likely you will find it. Are you set on an "Eichler Style" or a "Frank Lloyd Wright wannabe" or a "Miesian" or 1960s party house, or is "ranch with modern undertones" good? The same goes for how original you expect it to be. You're just not likely to find an untouched 1950s house. But you might find something worth saving. Finally, do you want to furnish it in modern? One of my top 20 favorite houses in Houston is a ranch with modern lines, but the fact that it is completely stylin' inside makes all the difference. And rule number 1 - there will always be some kind of issues you can't control. If you can tolerate that then you'll survive. Jason

I'm bumping this topic as we've recently had an inquiry about this church from a member of the church. Hopefully we'll be able to document the church now that we have a contact who goes there and is interested in doing more documentation on it. I'll post more as I learn more.

This is one of those River Oaks houses I've driven by a hundred times wishing I could get in to see (Farfel House is the other main one in that area). Unless "Houston Mod's best friend" (I'm paraphrasing several people who have told me this) the recession spares this house, I'm afraid it will be the only time we get to appreciate it up close. John Daugherty has some realtors that are big Modern Fans though so who knows. Maybe there's a person for this beauty. What a weekend this is shaping up to be! Jason

The open house will be a nice way to spend the day after the tour! Unofficial Mod of the Month, anyone?