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Ashford Mod


SpaceAge

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This unique 1966 contemporary needs an understanding new owner. It is located on a large wooded ravine lot in Ashford Forest which is near Memorial Drive and Dairy-Ashford Road. It's a beautiful location. The ravine connects to Lake Ashford and to Buffalo Bayou. It has never flooded to my knowledge and I have been in the area since 1967. The ravine facing side of the house is all glass and has wood decking the entire length of the house. The original plans are available and I will post the architects name when I get it from the agent. The price is only $199,900 which is a bargain.

I will attempt to add a picture here but have not been successful in the past. Go to HAR.COM and under single family search for 907 Harvest Moon or MLS # 9465788 for more information and pictures.

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TSARP Map of Property

The map mentioned above is from the Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project. Although the home is in/near the floodzone, it's not in the floodway. If it's never flooded, it is a mystery why this home is priced well below market. It's been listed for almost a year now, and should have been selling up near the $300,00.00 mark. I wonder if previous inspections have revealed some flaw not mentioned here, such as termites, mold, aluminum wiring, cracked slab, biggest house on the block meaning the comps are coming in very low, something. This is a gorgeous house and a shame to sit unoccupied for so long.

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Now I understand the price...

Ashford Forest is locatd on both sides of Buffalo Bayou. On the north side, it is SBISD. On the south side, it is HISD. This house is on the HISD side. Nonetheless, I know the location... that is a great area. We're tempted to go check it out.

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The price is still low for either side of the bayou. Other houses in the neighborhood, smaller and priced even higher, are nothing special and they sell quickly. The house has been very well maintained by its second owner who lived there from about 1970 until last year. New carpet, window coverings, and landscaping would help. It may have had foundation repairs and termite treatment as have most of the houses in Houston. Even with the renewed interest in contemporary design, they are much more difficult to sell especially if the location is not central.

This will not be a good house for small children or outdoor dogs as there is no typical back yard/grass floored box. The whole back is the ravine. The front yard is huge and could be impressive however. Children over 6 or 7 would love exploring nature and swinging across the ravine. There are plenty of private schools near by if the HISD is not acceptable. The new Westside High School is now open and fairly close. Facility-wise, at least, it beats anything SBISD has to offer.

This is a great house. I would not consider buying anything built after 1979 when things started to become standardized. Why would anyone want to live in a place where there are 2000 houses all about the same? In this price range there is nothing unique being built today.

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We actually drove by and poked around the house. It does have a lot going for it and I think the ravine lot is great. It definitely needs some TLC but has so much that could be done with it to make a cool mod pad. The first floor bedrooms were not thrilling but they can be worked with. So... I saw pros and cons. The issue... would I want to sell our "closer to town" 1950s house in SBISD to move further out? Not sure... our house has gone up in market value about 40-50% in the past three years. Don't know that Ashford Forest would do the same and this one is a contemporary surrounded by traditional houses.

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I wish you could see it at night with all the interior lighted. It is spectacular when viewed from the ravine side. The front is swank too with the mod fixture glowing from that huge (6'x8'?) plate glass window above the door. I never minded when my dog wanted to stop and sniff while walking around that house so I would have an excuse to get a better look at all that glamour.

The values in Ashford Forest are appreciating but slowly. In a way that is not all bad. You can afford your property taxes easier. I moved to a house a few miles from there about 8 years ago that cost about $110 and it has climbed to over $250 now making property taxes a real budget issue.

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Kenneth W. Webb is the architect of 907 Harvest Moon.

His office was located at 1826 Richmond Avenue. He was first certified as an architect in Texas in 1960 and died in approximately 1996.

He may have also designed houses located in the Spring Valley area.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...

There is a SOLD sign at Ashford MOD today. Lets see if it goes through this time. Has there ever been a study of the length of time it takes to sell MODs compared to traditionally styled homes? It seems the more remote a MOD is located, the more difficult it is to sell.

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  • 3 weeks later...
That makes a lot of sense.  Can't sell a house?  Raise the price...

No kidding. It just seems odd that it's "sold" but still active. Hmmm.

I never saw the initial listing, but the initial poster said it was 199,000 at that time. If I get transferred to Houston, it would be a house to consider. My office would be in Greenspoint, so the commute wouldn't be as much of an issue as for the downtowners. Because, of course, one can't work in Greenspoint and have a nifty house without a commute.

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The lawn service had been discontinued two or three weeks ago so I assumed the deal was going through. They shored up the edge of the ravine under the deck about a month ago. That may justify the price increase. I will check the sign again today.

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The SOLD sign is still up and it looks like nothing has changed for two or three weeks. The price was around $300,000 three real estate agents ago. This is the most unigue and high quality house in the area but it seems finding a buyer appreciating these qualities is difficult. The current owners have enjoyed it for almost 35 years but the lure of ill-proportioned foam-stucco boxes is fooling too many current buyers.

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No kidding.  It just seems odd that it's "sold" but still active. Hmmm.

I never saw the initial listing, but the initial poster said it was 199,000 at that time.  If I get transferred to Houston, it would be a house to consider.  My office would be in Greenspoint, so the commute wouldn't be as much of an issue as for the downtowners.  Because, of course, one can't work in Greenspoint and have a nifty house without a commute.

At one time there were a handlful of cool mods in Champions, built when it opened in 1957. Unfortunately most have been torn down, and well, Villa d'styro-stuccos put up in place.

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At one time there were a handlful of cool mods in Champions.

Funny you should say that, because that's an area I've started to look in. Some good-quality 1970-1990 houses in there that just aren't "new" so can be had for reasonable prices -- even the giant 5,000+ sft ones.

It's too bad that HAR doesn't let you search by age of house (aside from the ridiculous 5-years-or-newer search function) -- it would be great to be able to do a search for 1950-1970 and see what comes up. A local site here (www.realtysouth.com) has that function. I do have some luck by limiting the search to 1-story homes . . .

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Funny you should say that, because that's an area I've started to look in.  Some good-quality 1970-1990 houses in there that just aren't "new" so can be had for reasonable prices -- even the giant 5,000+ sft ones.

It's too bad that HAR doesn't let you search by age of house (aside from the ridiculous 5-years-or-newer search function) -- it would be great to be able to do a search for 1950-1970 and see what comes up.  A local site here (www.realtysouth.com) has that function. I do have some luck by limiting the search to 1-story homes . . .

the oldest ones were primarily on Bermuda Dunes Dr. Even a couple of flat roof ones. There was one that looks suspiciously like it was once a mod, with a new roof added, and of course the obligatory colonial shutters :mellow:

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I showed the Ashford Mod this weekend. Smells to the high heavens in there. It is a cool house, but the floorplan is real odd.

The best one on that outing is in Walnut Bend on Olympia. If anyone is looking for a mod, that one is great. Acres of poured terrazzo, original cabinetry, needs some love, but could be great.

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  • 6 years later...

FYI: hate to drudge up an old thread...but I found it on google. I am a first time home buyer in West Houston with a penchant for all things Modern.

I am making an offer on this house and keeping my fingers crossed. It needs a lot of TLC, but its still an impressive Mid Century Modern.

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Good luck and hope congratulations will be in order soon, pro-five-oh.

Actually Im glad you drudged this old thread up as I have been with this site for years and didnt know it existed.

I too have looked at the Harvest Moon house to buy.

It was during that period in 2005. We must have walked the grounds looking in the windows a dozen times.

Really wanted to get it because it just looked so cool. Wife said no. We found another great house to buy in nearby Briar Hills.

The house finally sold and was happy to see the new owner seemed to want to preserve its midcentury modern look.

I noticed it was for sale earlier this year and once again crossed the fingers that it would stay intact.

Again good luck with your bid. Please keep us updated.

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RockM, thank you. As a quick update I made an offer, waited a week and finally got a counter offer that was way, way higher than what I wanted. :(

I feel this house needs a good amount of work (the gas leak they won't address being one of them) and my offer was far more than what they paid for it back in 2005. Their upgrades are of questionable value and quality. Resale in that neighborhood (or anywhere outside the loop) will be tough for a Mod house, and I must consider that too. Hell, sometimes I wonder if their upgrades were actually downgrades! So I have cold feet too, and it looks like it wasn't meant to be.

Hopefully I will get some inspiration this Saturday when I do the tour.

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