Willowisp

I don't know how it is at S. Main because I don't drive it, but I live near S. Post Oak and Willowbend Dr, and S. Post Oak is getting really crowded in the mornings and afternoons. A lot of people who drive the tollway are stuck because like you said, where it drops off you either take S. Main up to 610 near Reliant (makes sense if you're going to the Medical Center or Downtown on 288), or if you want to go up to the Galleria area you take Bellfort or S. Post Oak to get to 610. That's where the mess is, and lots of people aren't happy about it. Westbury (Bellfort/Chimney Rock) isn't happy and Willowbend (S. Post Oak/Willowbend) isn't happy. So the next step is to rip up S. Post Oak and turn it into a tollway to lead on to 610. That's in the works, but no one says when or if it is actually going to happen. www.texasfreeway.com may be of more help to you. Look at a map and picture that whole section between getting dropped off at S. Main to get to 610 as bumper to bumper. Jason

That should give us all something to talk/cry about...

In that case, I need to find the email and let them know we're ready when they are... It's really nice to see these not get destroyed once in awhile. Jason

I may be thinking of the wrong people, but I'm pretty sure the new owners of this house had contacted Houston Mod and were planning on inviting us over to see it once they had it fixed up. Maybe they changed their mind. I'll have to search old emails to figure it out. Jason

Just don't tell me they took out the kitchen cabinets. If this one was butchered up too, I'm going to start wondering about having Mods of the Month. It seems like more than half of the ones we feature get butchered up despite our efforts. Jason

The Burdette Keeland Townhome (Mod of the Month in November) was somewhat in this style. So was the first homes we looked at, the Townhomes at the corner of Fountainview and San Felipe. From living here though, I admire the less steep slope of my own roof to these. But I think if it had a cool atrium in the middle and/or a lot of (esp. indirect) light and glass I could work with it. I've been pretty deeply brainwashed into the 50s to early 60s by now though. Jason

Wow! What a letter we received! Thanks so much to you guys for finding him online. Reading this letter, it seems that Formica would never have become synonomous with 1950s & 60s countertops like it is without the salesmanship of Larry Stephens. Dear Mr. Smith: You emailed me with inquiry about the Meyerland Formica House. Indeed I was the architect for that house and it was one of the most interesting experiences of my professional career. The house was constructed by Al Fairfield/Builder Inc, and the year was probably 1965 [actually plans say April, 1966]. Mr. Fairfield and I were associated in a Design/Build relationship that produced several hundred custom designed houses from 1963

I don't mind threads getting hijacked, but to get this one back on track... Houston Mod received a (snail mail) letter from this house's architect, Waller Poage yesterday. The man who checks our PO boxis forwarding it to me so I'll reprint it here when I get it. That's exciting. And like Spaceage said, that was a great mod of the month. Maybe the best attended one we've done when it was just one house, especially for a December afternoon. Wish we had been able to make it 2 houses, but looks like we'll do Meyerland again in January as the other one wasn't ready to go on the market yet. The tentative date will be January 13th. Jason

Never got word back from the architect, but we will hold the house open as one of 2 Mods of the Month in Meyerland this Sunday from 2-4. Since the Texans are playing Thursday night there should be no conflicts! Jason

I emailed him this morning - I'll let you know if he replies.

Did any of you email him yet? Thanks a lot Miss Janel for getting that mystery solved! Jason

All the work is deferred maintenance. It's pretty original inside. You're right about the roof. The house did have gutters all over the place though so maybe it drains ok off them, maybe not. For me it's a troubling unusual, I got lost in there. And the master bedroom had a big door to the outside, like a private entrance that was strange to me. $300K- Seems like it would be difficult to find that person, if they're willing to pay $300K for the house (that's less than the asking price), that's already $600K. That awesome, though slightly smaller house down the street just sold for $425K. As for the formica, I think it would be an asset for the house as part of its uniqueness. I would think the person who fell in love with this house would want to keep it or replace it with something similar. Miss Janel might be able to find out the architect for us at the plans office. I've got my fingers crossed for it. Waiting to hear back about Mod of the Month too. I think the realtor is surprised anyone has taken notice of the house. Jason

Vanessa and I got into the house yesterday. It's going to be a challenge all the way around. The first challenge is that it will be a rare person who will see through all the work that needs to be done to see the full potential of the house. That's true on all fixer-uppers. The next challenge is finding someone who likes the floor plan. It is pretty unusual. It's kind of a U shape, but the sides of the U are close together, to the point where the game room is looking across this small atrium area toward the master bedroom. The atrium area, like everything else is really interesting and has a lot of potential. The next challenge will be to find someone who wants a really swank late 60's mod and has access to the money to fix it up. This place is not a Case Study House or Usonian Home. It deserves Panton furniture and stuff like that! The next challenge is that it is on a busy street, and you can hear the noise from within the house. This is my house's big challenge too, so I'm quite aware of it. The cool thing in the house is that it has some built in stereo equipment and some in-ceiling speakers that could drown out that noise. Finally, the formica is another challenge. Some of it is damaged and it will be interesting to figure out whether the new owner will go all out to make it like it was or will they use sheetrock or something more traditional... Quite a house though. The right person could make this a showplace of 1960s modernism. Vanessa said the living room could be perfect for a period movie or tv show. Jason

We are looking into this house as December's Mod of the Month. We have another house in Meyerland nearly confirmed for the 16th, so it would be perfect. And hey, I just realized the Texans will be playing on Thursday that week so we don't have to worry about that conflict... Jason

We're going to try to get over to see it asap.

My wife absolutely loves this house. We have noticed it looking unmanaged lately. I'd say it's high for lot value but you never know. Can any of you with the experience of going to the Meyerland plans office go and check the plans out and see who the architect is? Jason

We got to meet the man next door. He couldn't have us over, but invited us back anytime. He was a very interesting and fascinating man and knew the Keelands well. You are right that if the new owner is interested in making this place as original as possible they need look no further than next door. He told us that the land originally belonged to Keeland's mother and she agreed to have him design townhomes for the land so that she would be able to live in one of the units. He's a wealth of information. Jason

1974 Burdette Keeland designed townhome for sale: http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=1673315 Looks pretty cool!

Thanks for that picture. I went by there today and it's definitely a compound. You can't see much from the front and there's a locked gate. Around the side is a golf course or open area so I walked around there but never really saw much other than the burros and an old car and old bus. I don't know if the house was ever published, but some of the Houston Mod people have been inside so I'm hoping to get a picture if they took one. It seems like the city would benefit from taking/buying the property and making a new street out of it and then the back of the new houses would face that open area (golf course?) so it leads me to question their motive. Jason

http://www.fortbendstar.com/110707/n_Homeo...20lose%20it.htm The house is at 3033 Hampton Drive Missouri City. As I understand it, it was built in 1957 and is incredible. I'd love to see pictures. Actually, I work not too far from there so maybe I'll go over and check it out, though the article makes me want to stay away. Thanks to Fernando Brave and Stephen Fox for bringing this to Houston Mod's attention. Jason Link to William Cody mini-bio: http://www.psmodcom.com/Architects%20Pages/WilliamCody.html

World Class Houses in Houston I've been in (truly moving experiences): The Menil House The Gordon House The Neuhaus House 48 Tiel Way (I forget the original owners' name) Even more World Class than what we have to offer in Houston (opinion): The Farnsworth House The Glass House Fallingwater (never been there) The Stahl House (never been there) The Cohen House is one of the most notable houses in Meyerland. Granit isn't going to really care that we'd love to see the house stay and have many aesthetic reasons that it should be so. It will probably make them some money and they will get to live across the street from the new house there, increasing their home value (for some reason). Jason

Hey, my house didn't pass your (or anyone else's) test either! This house doesn't pass any tests any more. It should have been saved 2 years ago by its previous owner, a man who owns million dollar cars and would have been the perfect person to save it if he cared 1/10th as much about houses as he does cars. But that's all the past. I don't know what us as preservationists were supposed to do for the 2 years it sat empty. Call O'Quinn and beg him to sell it to someone who wanted to save it? Who was that supposed to be? Someone who could see if it passed tests or someone who would actually buy it to live in it themselves? Someone with a lot of money to spend that didn't expect to ever get it back? Does any of us know that person? 2 years ago when it was empty, RPS and I went there and he left his card just in case. If O'Quinn had called him and hired him as a realtor maybe we wouldn't be having this thread, who knows... Jason

I believe Spaceage is already on the case. There are lots of houses like this in Meyerland, but few are quite this unique. Hopefully we can have scans and or copies made of the most interesting/notable designs there. Meyerland will probably have a few more visitors at their office on W. Bellfort now that their $100 deposit system is known... I also believe that BenH has gotten the contact info for the Cohen family, so maybe more interior pictures and historical information can be obtained. I would be happy to have an article written up on this house for the Houston Mod newsletter and or website, but I know so little about the house and am busy at work until the Thanksgiving break. Jason

Can't blame you if people are really getting sick. What's it going to be like when they tear it down? Will all that mold escape and spread or do they treat it somehow? Jason

Welcome to the forum. You could be a great resource for Houston Mod with any vintage pictures and or stories, especially if your parents were the original owners. I am hoping Houston Mod will collaborate with some great Houston photographers and I will be able to put up more of the professional vintage shots online with their permission and credit. It's on the list of goals. Sorry, but before I didn't credit the text I put in about the house. I'm pretty sure that must have come from Ben Koush as part of the 2005 RDA side tour. Jason