Willowisp

I echo the thank yous. This is great! I'd like to at least have the "Vale House" on the "Mods still with us" section on Houston Mod, if not more of them. My wife, Vanessa, and I went to San Antonio for her birthday 3 weeks ago and took a jaunt up to Austin to visit Wylie Vale. He was an incredible person. I apologize for not getting through the notes I took and getting them on the forum. I guess it will be on my top priority list now that this is here on the forum. I'm sure this is exactly the kind of thing the founders of Houston Mod hoped for when they asked for this forum on the HAIF message board. It's beautiful and thought provoking. Mr. Vale gave me maps with little numbers where his houses were and basically said, "go find these houses", but he didn't have addresses for me. So Ben and I spent the next day driving around Memorial trying to put 2 and 2 together. That was very interesting, as was seeing other houses that Ben pointed out to me. So Ben, that day we went driving, did we find/take pics any of the ones we were looking for? Jason

Both the other houses on my street that were for sale have now sold, so this is the only one left... Jason

The movie was played at the MFAH a year or 2 ago. I thought I heard it was going to be released on DVD. It's completely indie so financing needed to be done. Jon Schwartz was the director. Maybe you can find a website for him. I had no luck right away. Jason

Any favorites? 2129 Quenby (Leslie Elkins, 2003) was my favorite. It was very efficient and very open; the anti-McMansion. Maybe it reminded me the most of my own place... 1825 Albans (Harrison Kornberg Architects, 2006) was pretty cool too. I really loved the layout downstairs, but the upstairs didn't do it for me. I was also inspired by the bamboo at 2 of the houses. We bought bamboo like that, but it's not as thick yet. I went straight out and bought some ozmicote to speed up the growth on mine! I'm also going to have to trim my bamboo, so seeing how it's supposed to look was inspiring as well. We walked the whole thing and it was a wonderful afternoon. I really would have loved the mods we walked by (esp. Anderson Todd, 1970) to have been on the tour, but you can't win 'em all. Jason

We'll be touring but not docenting this year (have to get them all in on Saturday). It should be bikeable this year being in one neighborhood, but in the last 2 years it was not bikeable, maybe it was boatable last year? No Mid Century Moderns this year so that's too bad, but I still look forward to it. Jason

ARCHITECT RENZO PIANO AT THE MENIL: A FREE PUBLIC LECTURE April 21 THE MENIL COLLECTION invites you to celebrate its Twentieth Anniversary with a illustrated lecture by RENZO PIANO Free and Open to the Public Renzo Piano was born in Genoa in 1937 into a family of builders. After completing his studies, he traveled in Britain and America. In 1971 he founded the firm Piano & Rogers with Richard Rogers, and then L

I can see 2 big signs from my backyard. One is the furniture store sign that is lit all night for some reason. The other is a billboard that currently says "YES! to low prices". At least it's positive. The backyards on that side of the street are very quiet. I'm jealous of them. I can understand that the location is a tough sell though. I would love to see that strip center go away. That kind of strip center is not what Willowbend and it's $250K-$320K houses are about. I pretty much refuse to go to any of the businesses on S. Post Oak, aside from the occasional trip to Walgreens, the gas stations and Meineke which has been convenient considering I had to push my car there when the clutch went out. I would like to see that side street turned into an "exit only" street, or walled off altogether. A lot of unwanted traffic comes onto our street during rush hours from people looking for a short cut. I have no worries about the bayou flooding behind us. It has been concreted in and didn't flood our house in Allison. Willow Meadows did flood in Allison, but hopefully the new detention basins will solve that as well. Jason

That extra thick texture is pretty cool. I guess it's plaster? Some cool things have been done for the house, and some things I think were great as they were. Could it just be a lull in the market or is this house just cursed? It's been for sale for over a year (pre and post flip) of the 2 years since we've lived here. Do you think it's about the right price at this point? Most of the houses in Willowbend that were on the market in 2006 are gone now. The guy has told me he's gotten a lot of good bites lately. Jason

It was interesting to note how "penny pinching" the de Menils could be in some ways regarding the house. There were issues you would have thought they'd have taken better care of. On the other hand, it was as if they really didn't expect the house to be saved after they passed so why take extra money to keep it in perfect shape. As Stern said, she had no plans for the house in the will. It's wonderful that people stepped up and said that it was important enough to be saved, or that house would be long gone and 3 who knows what kind of houses would be in it's place. Jason

Remember the lecture is tonight at St. Thomas University!

Wow! Congratulations! I had no idea about your baby. Seeing The Menil House in person was very special for me. The thing I was most impressed by was the size of and amount of glass panels. Being there at sundown was very nice, though since it was cloudy we didn't actually get to see the sunset. But we did get to see it in the light and at night. Being in a house with Matisse and Rothko on the wall is surreal. The architecture, however was even more impressive than the art. And meeting Elsian (sp?), the de Menil's longtime personal assistant was really interesting! Mostly I just walked around and around inside trying to soak it all in. The children's bedrooms are very small and the hallway to the children's wing was narrow. The "playroom" probably could have been the dining room as it was originally intended, or today, it could possibly be a tv room, ha ha. The skylights were very cool and space age. They took the bed out of the master bedroom, so to me the place seems to function more as a museum now than as a look into the lives of the de Menils. I wish it hadn't been so expensive and more people would have been able to go, but there were so many factors (valet, catering, security, limited number of people allowed at once, etc.) that drove the costs up. It wasn't a fundraiser, that's for sure. Jason

There are extra tickets, actually a few more than I expected. Some people have balked at the cost, but the cost of $150 is just the way it is at The Menil House. Sorry it's so expensive, but after catering, valet parking, security, etc, the cost adds up. But a memorable evening at The Menil House rubbing elbows with the people who facilitated its restoration is very rare. I've been waiting 2 years for it to happen. For me it's similar to being front row at a concert to one of my favorite bands or an Astros game. Jason

I try to always start with the caveat "in my short experience learning about MCM I have learned"... The MCM purists are a rare breed. You ask for their opinion you're gonna get it. I have learned a lot along the way and made some good friends with MCM purists. Mostly I have learned that if you're going to do it, go all the way with it. Restore not renovate. You didn't do that, but it's still a beautiful house. Not perfect for the MCM purist, of course, but still not bad either, and very livable. Not a teardown... Even the mcm fans don't usually restore the average ranch though. They make updates that suit them. It gets a lot more difficult and picky with more "pedigreed" houses or custom houses. Crappy light fixtures, another sore spot for me. All but 3 of mine were gone. We just had to look at them and get as close as we could with new cylinders... We closed on our house 2 years ago today. Happy housiversary to me! Jason

The lecture is still a go and I am very excited about it. There is a private party this Saturday evening at The Menil House to celebrate the lecture. If you are interested in going I can try to get tickets for you. The cost is $150 per ticket and space is very limited. I will be surprised that there are any tickets left, but if there are and you get in touch with me they are yours. PM me if you are interested. Jason

As far as my comment on the panelling, I wasn't suggesting that you should strip it or go to any incredible legnths. My panelling had the same problem in that it was partially painted as a bookcase. It was unstrippable and discolored. I thought we were in trouble until the contractor told us we could have the entire wall replaced with almost the exact same walnut for about $250. I don't know if your panelling would be more expensive or not, but my point is that if someone is going for a mod look then keep the panelling one way or another. In the end, our panelling gives the room a certain warmth and I love it. Your experience certainly exemplifies the problems that modern or even 50s ranch homes come across all the time. If most of the people that looked at the house say they need to make more updates then they didn't understand the beauty of the things you kept period correct. Then the people who want everything to look period correct didn't understand why you got rid of the old light fixtures or painted the panelling. It's a lose lose situation, and I think that's what has happened to the guy down the street from me as well. Best of luck on your move. My wife would move to California tomorrow if she didn't love me so much! Jason

I'll have to side with spaceage on this one. I have learned that a cardinal mod rule is to not paint wood paneling, and that's just what they did. The bedroom #2 light fixture kicks ass and it's no longer there. The new fixtures are pretty boring, but I wouldn't expect flippers to add $750 PH-5s or anything. As for the wallpaper and that kind of thing, I wouldn't have expected them to keep all that. It can tend to get ugly. But orange formica, well, you hit a very sore spot with me. I'd give anything to have the original kitchen in my house. It had coral formica. It's been gone 15 years now. Someday I will have to have it rebuilt. Their original kitchen was beautiful as far as I'm concerned, but I am not who they wanted to buy the house. Other than painting the wood though, I'm sure they did a great job and I hope they get their money out of it. At least they didn't paint the brick inside. Jason

I've taken a walking tour of downtown (starting at City Hall) with a very energetic older gentleman. He took us into the Rice Hotel Ballroom, so at least that was "being in the same room as JFK", but I admit, being in the more private suite they spent more private moments in would certainly be even more interesting. I highly recommend taking the tour. At the car show in January there were 2 presidential limos, one with a clear top, like a popemobile. I'm not sure if that was the one they rode in in 1963. Is the Rice now a rental place or condos or a combination? Jason

If my wife and I were both doctors or finance types who worked in the medical center, I would think it was a bargain. As a music teacher with a wife who works in the Williams Tower, yeah, that house doesn't come close to being right for me. There are similar houses in Willowbend and Meyerland that would be more right for me. I just hope it isn't a case of a perfectly nice house to be torn down for profit's sake. Jason

"Move-in ready. Great for possible add-on or new home building site." I guess the realtor wants to cover all the bases. This is a beautiful home. I love the MC Ranch feel and it seems to be very nicely maintained. It's definitely not a new home building site. I wish he'd take that last line off as it's totally unnecessary. People in the market for a lot to build on shouldn't want to pay $600K for it even there, and people who would want the house shouldn't think that it's in bad shape enough to tear down. Jason

It's a stretch, but I'm looking for a picture of this house for Houston Mod's "Mod No More" section. It is now gone. If anyone has an old shot of it, send it along and I will credit you for it. Jason 328 Buckingham Drive Liese House Lloyd & Morgan 1954 By the 1950s Lloyd & Morgan was known mostly for their commercial buildings. However, they continued to design a small number of houses for select clients. The gracious design of the Liese House was one of Hermon Lloyd

In person the next door house didn't look so intrusive. Wish we could afford that neighborhood. It would be perfect for us to be even closer into town. You wouldn't really expect to see MCM in that neighborhood.

Congratulations, Amy! I take back what I said about the kids... I think even if you don't have kids and you just want a bigger house, you should make an appointment and at least go see it a couple of times. Let us know what happens if you do. Jason

This is a nice house in the middle of Meyerland. I don't think it's too high at all. It's A HUGE house though if you don't have any kids. Our 2000 ft. seems too much for me and my wife most of the time. If you have kids and the money, I'd say go ahead and take the next step on it. You're not going to find a lot of these up for sale. Gotta love that interior courtyard! Jason

It was O'Neil Gregory, Jr's daughter. Page 150 of the guide. I'll see what I can do. Jason

From what I've read in the Houston Architectural Guide, there were several Bailey A Swenson houses in that area, so I would guess he was probably the designer of this one as well. There is also a house in the guide that looks like that house by Ralph A. Anderson Jr, so you shouldn't count Wilson, Morris Crain, & Anderson out of it. Ben, did you take lots of pictures in Riverside Terrace? I know you mentioned getting noticed taking pictures over there before and the resident wondering what you were up to... That side of town is woefully under-represented in Houston Mod, but when we did our mailing drive last year, we were able to get a new member from over there who was the (proud) daughter of the architect of her modern house. I forget the name off the top of my head, but it wouldn't be too hard to figure out and I could probably find her if you want to shoot over there sometime. The Riverside Terrace Mods need their own home tour someday, but I've heard they are generally pretty private over there. Jason