agorist

Just a few corrections to your (quite extensive!) list:

Here is my working list of restaurants and clubs:

Cardet's Cafe (Cuban) - 1927 Fairview

Actually, that's 1972 Fairview. it's now the Latina Cafe. Maybe still the same place, different name?

The Hobbit Hole - 1715 S. Shepherd

Still exists, but moved and has a slight name change: Hobbit Cafe, 2243 Richmond.

Another bank branch on Holcombe? I'm afraid that the "Holcombe Beautification Project" is not going to amount to much. Why do we have such a hard time developing anything nice?

Have y'all noticed too what seems to be a bank building craze? Wendy's at Holcombe and Morningside goes down, to be replaced by ... a bank. Empty lot south of Droubi's, on Kirby and Main, is now a bank. The Flying Pig restaurant at Weslayan and Bissonnet, torn down and now a bank. It seems everywhere I turn, new bank branches are popping up. What are the economics behind this bank building boom? Or is it just my imagination?

Even though it's only been gone a short time, I miss the original Antone's on Taft. The chain Antone's pale in comparison to the original locations. I don't even know how many 'original' stores exist.

There was one on OST and main, the Taft store, and another one around 390 and voss or bingle, somewhere. The OST and Taft stores were around for a long time, one of them since the 1940s.

Wait, there's still an Antone's at OST and Main. At least, it's close by -- it's in the middle of the Fiesta parking lot, there between Main, OST and Kirby. I've always wondered about that standalone building; it seems so out of place. Is it an original, or a replica??

speaking of devonshire...

Has anyone seen what has been happening (if anything) with 7000 Staffordshire?

Nothing has happened to it yet. It's such gorgeous property (once owned by M.D. Andersen, as the "President's House", but sold in 1993), but as it is now owned by "Cambridge Properties", one would expect its demise any day now.

Devonshire was once a beautiful neighborhood. But they lost a deed restrictions fight (around 1995, if I recall correctly) against a developer who had acquired two houses facing Holcombe, and that was a signal to all other landowners that they could sell out to townhome developers. So, the neighborhood has been under seige since then.

I'm still wondering about that 2 acre (maybe) parcel fronting the north side of Old Spanish Trail west of Cambridge and across OST from that ghetto Kroger. It has not a single tree or bush, is carpeted with grass which is mowed regularly and has sat there in its unadorned state for decades. Is that part of the Parkwood site?

Yes, it is part of Parkwood. The intent, I recall (from conversations with Parkwood management), was to eventually develop some kind of shopping center there, but it never happened, and after Baylor bought it, they decided to let it lay fallow, knowing eventually they'd be putting up something medical.

Can anyone tell me the history behind the log cabin that in on the Ben Taub loop? I can't seem to locate any information on it!

Kinda late to reply to this message, but as I'm new to the forum, I just noticed this posting.

So, here's what I know about this log cabin. It's known as the "Pioneer Memorial Log Cabin Museum". It is owned by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. It was built in 1936, as a hospitality house, built in anticipation of all the visitors to the Texas Centenial. I don't think it was originally at that location.

More info about it can be found here: http://www.drt-inc.org/loghouse.htm

Anybody know the history of this place? I think it was built around 1948. Who designed it? What's going up instead? I assume all the live oaks are history, they are already cutting them down on the VA's eastern border. If you want any free landscaping (crepe myrtles, wisteria, rubber trees, etc. ), now's the time to dig 'em up.

I'm short on names now, but Parkwood Apartments were built in 1948/1949 by the same guy who later developed Tanglewood. All the oak trees were planted at that time, as early pictures show nothing but an open field on the property when the apartments were first constructed (the pictures are/where available in the Parkwood management office on OST). So, we're looking at beautiful, large, 58 year old oak trees.

I will certainly miss them, and the apartments themselves. They were very solidly built, mortar-brick and plaster walls, plenty of casement windows, and plenty of room. The whole layout, especially with the "backyards" connecting several apartment buildings, created a sense of community -- everyone knew each other, and often played, ate, or gardened together. The beehive-like apartments of today just can't compare.

Well, I was wrong, Baylor DID buy that Parkwood property. I wonder how much they paid? This is probably not good news for those trees.

My recollection is that Baylor paid around $8 million for the property in 1988. Or maybe between $8-$12 million. The scuttlebutt was that Baylor bought it as a defensive action, with support from TMC, to at least prevent any private "competitor" from acquiring the land.

It's certainly a desirable location (as is Devonshire, just to the north), but with all its lush foliage, it will be very sad to see it go.

5. Rice University owns some of the land were OMS and S. Main intersect.

Rice U. owns some of the plats in that area, but it appears Fred Hofheinz owns most of the rest.

It's always been my conjecture that Hofheinz is the driving force behind the recent activity to "complete" the connection of West Belfort, from the east to Willowbend's West Belfort, cutting through the Stella Link's Development Corporation's South Campus complex. Completing that road would certainly make all that land around Old Main Street ripe for development.