Glenn McCarthy Mansion At 7500 Kelvin Dr.

[sevfiv]

I've searched quite a bit and have come up with little to nothing on the former estate of Glenn McCarthy - it sat where the Brentwood and 7575 Kirby condominiums currently are (northeast corner of Kirby and North Braeswood, right across from Jenkins' 2530 Underwood house). It was designed by Milton McGinty and completed by 1938. McCarthy bought the land from Rice Institute in 1935 and later sold it to Harold Farb in 1972. It was demolished some time between 1972 and 1977.

Other than some newspaper articles about its construction and a mention of it in the Anchorage Foundation's Braeswood: An Architectural History, there doesn't seem to be much else out there. Anyone have any information or memories?

[sixthwardguy]

I've searched quite a bit and have come up with little to nothing on the former estate of Glenn McCarthy - it sat where the Brentwood and 7575 Kirby condominiums currently are (northeast corner of Kirby and North Braeswood, right across from Jenkins' 2530 Underwood house). It was designed by Milton McGinty and completed by 1938. McCarthy bought the land from Rice Institute in 1935 and later sold it to Harold Farb in 1972. It was demolished some time between 1972 and 1977.

Other than some newspaper articles about its construction and a mention of it in the Anchorage Foundation's Braeswood: An Architectural History, there doesn't seem to be much else out there. Anyone have any information or memories?

I remember reading an article in an older magazine somewhere many years ago that prominently featured a photograph of the McCarthy family sitting in front of their house. I believe the article was published around the time of the opening of the Shamrock Hotel. I wish I could remember the name of the magazine, I would love to see the photograph again.

[FilioScotia]

I remember reading an article in an older magazine somewhere many years ago that prominently featured a photograph of the McCarthy family sitting in front of their house. I believe the article was published around the time of the opening of the Shamrock Hotel. I wish I could remember the name of the magazine, I would love to see the photograph again.

I remember how upset some people were when the McCarthy mansion was torn down. Another loss for preservationists, at a time when preservation was struggling to be part of the local conversation. Come to think of it, it's still struggling.

I also recall hearing that a lot of the house's structural fixtures ended up at Bruce Bowen's Architectural Antiques shop on Fannin in midtown. Same story for the old Hobby family house on Main at N. Braeswood.

Edited July 2, 2009 by FilioScotia

[sevfiv]

The only family photograph I remember seeing is from that time frame but the family standing out front (Time magazine):

[NenaE]

Never heard or read anything about that Glenn McCarthy house, what a great one. Had no idea it sat on that property. Thnx for the info. & pics. There are still a few nice old ones in that area, around the bayou. There is one short culdesac with steps to a concrete pond in the middle of it, with estates surrounding it. It faces the bayou.

[marmer]

Gone by 1973, according to Historic Aerials. The woods were still there in 1973 and the property was developed by 1981.

[sevfiv]

Yes - how could I forget about historicaerials! I know the Brentwood condominiums were built by 1977, so it sat there for a few years.

I assumed Farb purchased the land with the house intact (1972) and then demolished it to build the condominiums, but maybe the house was already gone. I can't find any information about where the McCarthys lived after Glennlee, or when they actually vacated it.

[theoriginalkj]

The June 11, 1972 Houston Chronicle has a story titled "Glenn McCarthy Mansion, 7.5 Acres Bring $1.5 Million". Later this evening I will try to post a copy of the story and the accompanying photo of the mansion. For the record, the story indicates that the three-story home was located at 7500 Kelvin.

Kevin Jackson

Yes - how could I forget about historicaerials! I know the Brentwood condominiums were built by 1977, so it sat there for a few years.

I assumed Farb purchased the land with the house intact (1972) and then demolished it to build the condominiums, but maybe the house was already gone. I can't find any information about where the McCarthys lived after Glennlee, or when they actually vacated it.

[sevfiv]

Thanks for locating (and later posting) that article. The address was Kelving because I think the entry was on that street? The estate took up the square block though..

[theoriginalkj]

Here's the Houston Chronicle clip from that day...

Thanks for locating (and later posting) that article. The address was Kelving because I think the entry was on that street? The estate took up the square block though..

[marmer]

Most of the online biographies of Glenn McCarthy say that he and his wife moved to a modest house in a LaPorte suburb after they sold Glennlee. That material seems to come, usually, from _The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes_, by Bryan Burrough Here's a link to a Vanity Fair article by Burrough. The article incorrectly states that Faustine Lee McCarthy was the daughter of Thomas Lee (of Link-Lee mansion fame); actually, according to the Handbook of Texas online, her father was William Lee.

Vanity Fair article

About the street name: in the Village and Southgate areas, it is KELVIN. When Maroneal curves around to line up approximately on the same axis as Kelvin Street farther north, it is KELVING, going through the old McCarthy property. Check a map and you will see. I'll bet there is an interesting story there.

[sevfiv]

Yeah, I thought it was weird that the article repeatedly used Kelvin - articles from 1935 (link) and 1937 (link) use Kelving.

And aw...that's the Vanity Fair story that used one of my postcards (page 4 ).

[marmer]

Boy, the early '70s were hard on mansions, weren't they? Glennlee, Wayside, Shadyside, Domain Privee, the Meyer house... am I forgetting any? (Not counting of course the ravenous mansion teardown frenzy of the 1920s when downtown and the South End fell to developers and all the rich people moved to Southampton and Riverside and River Oaks...)

[marketingwiz]

The only family photograph I remember seeing is from that time frame but the family standing out front (Time magazine):

[marketingwiz]

I'm not sure why my comments didn't show with the photos I downloaded, but I found these in the HUGE Life Magazine photo archives under McCarthy. These were the only ones I could find of the family at home but I knew I had seen at least one photo of them inside, in addition to the ginormous covered porch.

[sixthwardguy]

I'm not sure why my comments didn't show with the photos I downloaded, but I found these in the HUGE Life Magazine photo archives under McCarthy. These were the only ones I could find of the family at home but I knew I had seen at least one photo of them inside, in addition to the ginormous covered porch.

I found a better photo of the house from the Life Magazine photo archives. It wasn't labeled with the McCarthy name but I remembered the photo from the magazine article.

[Earlydays]

I found a better photo of the house from the Life Magazine photo archives. It wasn't labeled with the McCarthy name but I remembered the photo from the magazine article.

It looks like it was inspired by Dunleith Plantation in Natchez.....

[J. Stephen Conn]

It looks like it was inspired by Dunleith Plantation in Natchez.....

Earlydays,

This photo was taken by and is the personal property of J. Stephen Conn. It should be attributed as such. Please don't steal my stuff without permission - in which case it won't be stolen.

J. Stephen Conn

http://www.flickr.co...onn/2870462472/

Edited August 31, 2009 by J. Stephen Conn

[sevfiv]

The picture was removed from the original post - folks can access it by clicking on the Flickr link above.

If there is an issue with a picture and attribution, please don't hesitate to use the "report" feature to alert moderators.

[editor]

If Mr. Conn was really so concerned about the integrity of his photographs, then he would have marked it "Copyrighted" on his Flickr account, and not merely "Some rights reserved" under the Creative Commons 2.0 license, which specifically states, "You are free: to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work." The only transgression here is that the photograph was not attributed. So here's the photo once again:

And the attribution he specified on his Flickr account:

<div xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" about=" rel="cc:attributionURL" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jstephenconn/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jstephenconn/</a> / <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">CC BY-NC 2.0</a></div>

[sevfiv]

Good catch - I missed that.

I usually assume folks who use Creative Commons know about the licensing they choose. Alas.

[musicman]

i guess there were some major mods since the color pic has some major differences from the black and white shot.

[Earlydays]

Earlydays,

This photo was taken by and is the personal property of J. Stephen Conn. It should be attributed as such. Please don't steal my stuff without permission - in which case it won't be stolen.

J. Stephen Conn

http://www.flickr.co...onn/2870462472/

Mr. Conn,

"Steal", hardly, I simply googled "Dunleith" to find a sample picture.

[marmer]

The lesson I'm taking from this is that when grabbing images from photo-hosting sites such as flickr for the purposes of illustration, it's polite even if not always strictly required to give attribution. I have certainly been guilty of not doing this in the past. A lot. I appreciate the reminder and will try to do better. (except maybe in the international Guessing Game thread! )

[blue92]

One was on the corner of North Braeswood and Kirby on the Northwest corner of the intersection.

1944 pic.

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg60/dlfswi/historic-houston/kirby-mansion44.png

1953 pic

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg60/dlfswi/historic-houston/kirby-mansion53.png

[57Tbird]

The first two photos are of Glenn McCarthy's place. The driveway entrance is on Kelving, to the right. Kirby is at the left side and Underwood at the top. His address was 7500 Kelving.

[sevfiv]

Like 57Tbird mentioned, the one at Kirby/Kelving was Glennlee - more here:

http://www.arch-ive.org/glennlee.php

[NenaE]

Looks like the mansion on Braeswood Ct was the Brochsteins. At least that's who owned it in the 60's. Here's a link to more info http://www.oldbraeswood.com/Newsletters/OB_2010Summer_News_final.pdf

That's an interesting article about the house facing Brays Bayou. I stumbed on that pond in the culdesac many years ago, when it wasn't in the best of shape. I took pics of it. Nice to know the history. Seems like there was new construction going on at the time. I remenber one beautiful (I think it was Spanish Style)house sitting at an odd angle on the western side of the pond.

[Mark S Mansell]

On 7/2/2009 at 3:54 PM, theoriginalkj said:

The June 11, 1972 Houston Chronicle has a story titled "Glenn McCarthy Mansion, 7.5 Acres Bring $1.5 Million". Later this evening I will try to post a copy of the story and the accompanying photo of the mansion. For the record, the story indicates that the three-story home was located at 7500 Kelvin.

Kevin Jackson

I knew Glenna McCarthy Satterfield , in the 1980s, they were neighbors in Heath Tex. I remember her telling me that her parents sold the home to be torn down in 1973, no one at that time could really afford the Houston City tax on the property. The home was 15,000 sq ft on 3 floors . The home was featured in Architectural Digest in 1966, I think . I did see the copy that Glenna had at the time. Have not been able to ever find another copy . I am a strong collector of Shamrock Hotel memorabilia. I have a Interior Design business in the Dallas Tx area , and work for Glenna in the early years of my career. Which I am very grateful , since that boosted my company . 

[Shamrock1949]

Somewhere I have some photos that my father took in 1972 as the mansion was beginning to be demoed.  When I find them I will post them here.

 

Update* I've just found a couple of prints, at some point I will get the rest of the negatives scanned.  These images were taken on the late afternoon of August 14, 1972 by Andrew Solomon.

Edited March 16, 2019 by Shamrock1949
Added Images of GlenLee McCarthy Estate