Scott08

I too downplayed the flooding issue a while back when I found a mod house that had flooded during Allison. On this very forum I was told by several people that if you'd ever had your house flooded, it's something you would NEVER want to have to go through again. It is now something that I definitely consider.

Don't let the door hit them on the way out. I tried using all my measly powers to keep from using taxpayer dollars for the other stadiums (didn't work) but I'm hoping common sense will prevail on this one. If supplying the primo land is not enough let them go elsewhere. I've always equated this with some other company in the private sector ....like Shell Oil saying, " Houston, either build us a new office building or we're going to move to another city." Just wouldn't happen, how do the sport teams get by with it?

If it was in Sienna Plantation, it wouldn't be locked.

Just at a glance, the house looks to be in much better condition than the one on the other side of the bayou on South MacGregor. If it's really been vacant for years though....never a good thing.

Ouch! Me and lots of other folks on the Mod forum love 60's ranches and moderns. In many areas, they too are going the way of the dodo. I grew up in a MCM that my father designed himself. It's still standing but has been remuddled so much you can barely recognize its bones anymore. Tearing down ANY perfectly good home just to put up a bigger, uglier home saddens me.

The first one is definitely the Fertitta house (I guess you can use the term loosely). The second one is also someone's house, there are no community centers in that part of River Oaks. There are still some pretty big chunks of land back in there. For instance the Menil house is on 3 1/2 acres, somewhere in River Oaks is still an estate with about 7 acres. I remember reading that in the days before the River Oaks Country Club Tennis Center was big enough, some of the matches were played at this residence.

The first house in your thread still looked very MCM for a '70's house. Many of the houses I have found on HAR also have atriums or courtyards at the entry which provide a great space for lots of glass without losing privacy.

Here's a couple of pics taken from HAR. These homes are located in the near Northwest area. They are characterized by angular walls and rooflines on the outside, and soaring ceilings and lots of glass for the era on the inside.

What's the general feeling here of 70's and 80's vintage "contemporary" houses. You know the type, they're all over in neighborhoods of that age, much like moderns in 50's and 60's areas. The pro's are there are lots of them in many areas all over town; they have some of the likeable features of mod like lots of glass, interesting interior spaces, and quite affordable at this point. Negatives I see are no real "pedigree," kind of the bastard stepchild of MCM; dated and possibly shoddy building materials/methods of the era. Not really looking at that angle right now, at this point my preferred choices are building a new modern or finding a MCM I can afford, but I just wondered if this style of house is universally abhorred here or grudgingly loved.

That corner has various restaurants/businesses on all four corners, what were you looking for in particular?

This latest listing makes me sad though. Memorial Bend still seemed reachable to me, I've been patiently watching the last year or so for a house to become available in a condition and a price that I could afford. The two latest mods have been for $435K and over $500K, I guess I was mistakenly hopeful that I might find something liveable for under $300K still. I suspect the influx of McMansions has increased the value of the area and driven the land value up accordingly. I could afford the Memorial house, but I think the cost of repairs would kill me.

I went to see the house today. As SpaceAge noted, it is a very cool design and I could even live with the busy street. That said, it is in deplorable condition. Evidence of roof leaks is everywhere, I would think the only way to do it right would be to strip off all the old sheetrock and paneling, fix any current leaks, then fix the damage from the previous ones. The tile flooring also needs replacing, and what I could see of the wood floors MIGHT be fixable, but lots of other foibles such as rotting window casements around the rear atrium. Frankly, it's just out of my price range. I have limited experience with remodeling, but I'm guessing you could easily spend $100K to restore the house to its former glory. At or near its asking price, that would put it around the price of other similar houses in the interior of the subdivision. If the price was closer to $150K or less, I'd be all over it and take my chances that the structure is still good, but at $245K, I'm afraid it will go the way of the McMansion.

Always perusing HAR.com...I noticed the Riverside Terrace listing on South McGregor and Scott has been drastically reduced from $260K to $160K. It would still take a very brave soul to undertake restoration but it's much more in reach now. It's kind of out of my way to go look inside but I would love to hear first hand how good/bad it is, I know the exterior is pretty worn.

I did a driveby yesterday...for some reason I had been thinking it was east of the Beltway instead of the small strip west. Whatever its condition, it's going to be a hardsell. In some areas, i.e. east of Voss, a Memorial Drive address would be pretty desirable, here it's just being on a busy, noisy street with minimal setback. I'm sure when the houses along this stretch were originally constructed, Memorial Drive was a lazy meandering path to the country, now it's a couple hundred yards from the intersection with Beltway 8. This falls into the category of very likely that it will linger on the market for a while, then someone will probably try building a McMansion with lots of brickwork on the front to insulate it from the road noise. I did notice that the mod next door to it is undergoing some sort of service with a dumpster in the driveway. There's also a couple of mods east of the Beltway that look vacant or in pretty poor shape. Along the same lines, I visited the Riverside Terrace house on MacGregor at Scott on my bicycle Saturday. It looks to be in horrible shape from the outside, even the wood siding looks warped. The listing realtor told me it had flooded at least twice, and with the seedy looking apartments right behind it, I see this one sitting for a long time too.

The favorite now extinct car dealer of my youth was Rudi's Automotive on W. 34th Street between Hempstead Highway and what would now be 290. They were the purveyor of all things Italian being a dealer for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, and Fiat. I would ride my bicycle, then later my motorcycle, over from Spring Branch to drool over their latest offerings. The employees were always nice to this kid, letting me sit in the cars, etc. Right out of high school, I owned my own little piece of Italiano, a Fiat X 1/9, and as I was learning how to work on it myself (a frequent occurence), one of the mechanics there was always giving me advice and letting me borrow some special tools from time to time. Today, I'd venture to say most exotic car owners are more into image than performance. Back then, only a true enthusiast was brave enough to face the sometimes ackward ownership and maintenance of such wonderful cars.

I talked to my realtor about it yesterday. He was over looking at the exterior of it a couple months ago when the listing agent called him and told him it was sold so neither he nor I ever went inside. We're planning on looking at it in the next few days. I want to see for myself what "lots of work needed" is.

My late mother graduated from Reagan High in 1933. A few years before she passed away she took me on a driving tour of the Heights showing me all the houses she lived in at one time, all but one of them were still around. I think she would be pleased to know her alma mater is strong once again.

So a couple questions for one of the realtors on this board. Has this house flooded? It would seem likely given its location. Secondly, what is a realistic estimate of what it will go for? I believe on most foreclosures you can see what the bank loaned on it, etc to give a ballpark figure. thanks

That's precisely why I asked my original question. The house looks pretty good from missjanel's photos. The realtor doesn't seem to want to get that across.

Is this a "lot value" kind of sale? or does the price reflect a salvageable structure? I have looked at two foreclosed townhouses, one's asking price was almost $75K less than what was loaned on it, the other similar, so it could be possible to get this for a lot less than asking.

I agree that the article probably scared the owner. He must have figured that hurrying the demo was in order before even more people found out. Hope that the Chron follows up with another blurb.

Would it be appropriate to have a "wake-demo watch?" How much time will elapse from the permit to when the deed is actually done?

You know he is right. The fastest way to stop this would be for someone to offer to buy the property from him at a competitive price. Sorry I can't afford it. In the big picture, these types of houses could find willing buyers interested in restoring them, it's just a smaller potential group. It would be great if some wealthy benefactor would step in to buy up mods, someone financially able to float with them until an appropriate buyer came along. Too bad Mr. O'Quinn didn't offer it up on the open market to begin with, but sounds like he just wanted to end a bad memory.

This article, prominently displayed on Page 1 of the Arts/Entertainment section, will do 100 times more than our little forum here. Hopefully someone with enough money and clout will see it and try to stop the otherwise inevitable razing of the house.

RIP Ramones.....I got to see them a number of times both here and in Austin. Most interesting show was around '90 or '91 when they played at The Unicorn Ballroom. It was a converted Safeway supermarket on East Crosstimbers, mostly used for Latino Quincineras (sp?). A new act from Chicago, Smashing Pumpkins, opened the show, middle act was co-headliner Social Distortion, followed by the Ramones. Gabba Gabba Hey!