Happy Historian

Eagle Lake High School would now be part of the Rice Consolidated School District and they have no high school in Eagle Lake. I would probably guess that the building has been repurposed to another school type if it still exists. Their present high school is in Altair.

Not a very dynamic area anymore as they are just waiting to be absorbed into the Houston Metro Blob that's eating it's way across the west. Rice production is way down since many of the established farming families aged to indifference after 40 years of the youth's exodus to the big city. Besides in Alvin, Katy, and Sugar Land they long ago decided it was easier to plant suburban sprawl over the most fertile farm lands in the state than actually farm. Other than some oil & gas production the major industry has been in the many gravel pits. For three generations my family was part of the Parker Brothers group that developed that resource. The overwhelming majority of aggregate that went into the concrete that built Houston/Galveston and southeast Texas since the 1930s came from that area. And there are still massive deposits there to continue with.

Then there is the little infamous Camp Logan riot's that would have really enticed the military and pwers that be to erase and rapidly redevelop as soon as possible. A cemetary would also have been set aside on the area's deed plat maps of that period. I would assume the Harris County archives might be of use there. Unfortunately, none of that is available for a midnight webb browse - you have to get it the old fashioned way by physically digging and snooping.

Is now spruced up and has a DR34M sign out front.

A quick glance of the county records still shows that Olajuwon Farms LLC still owns 3303 E. Nasa Boulevard (does anyone else REALLY dislaike renaming NASA Road 1 this "parkway" crap?) They bought it in October of 2006. It had belonged to Rice University until 1995. The property value jumped $1million this year and the owner's paid roughly $49K in taxes in 2011. $50K a year is a lot just to let something return slowly to nature.

Looks like it's getting a basic spruce up for something. Not much long term thought going into putting up a steel tube fence there as it will only last 10 years at the most before totally rusting out - shorter if made of cheap import steel. But at least it's an improvement. The other house of note nearby is the one now used as the yacht club across the road behind the hotel at Bal Harbour Marina. That house is named Windemere in 1929 when built by a Hughes Tool Co. executive.

I now live a mile or so away from it and drive by every few days. I grew up here and recall a few of our friends big boats piled up on the bridge by it after Carla blew through. I've noted the sprucing up - appears to be at a snail's pace for any significant rehab of a residence like that. I'm more than curious.

The golf course serves as a continuom of a cultural imperative. It's not for the masses, but for the masses to aspire to and the few to demonstrate by example. It's like the sport of fishing - not about catching any fish, but taking the time to exercise and think while casually occupied. Golf is far more about a positive social experience rather than manicly slamming the bejeesus out of a little plastic ball then anxiously praying it will miraculously seek a hole. I miss the stables and bridle path that used to allow one to relaxingly canter among the oaks around the park. I enjoyed feeding the ducks while picnicing and climbing all over the locomotive that once rested there when an embryonic Houston was far more bright potential than contemporarily conjested delima.

The best use of that land is preserving a public course where small groups of communicating people engage in social interaction and problem solving outcomes while comfortably recreating rather than hordes herding with blaring iDevices shouting into multi cell phones while trampling everything in sight.

The replacement looks like it is being built for the Adams family branch from New Orleans. I wonder if a hand will grab the mail in the mail box?

I am restoring my MCM following IKE and have learned volumes, even though I've been in residential construction for almost 30 years. Flipper makes a painfully valid point - what will "THEY" let you do on a floodplain, CODE issues, etc. Today we have an unpleasant number of "partners" who butt in and can surprise you as you grab that hammer and head for YOUR house. I'm speaking of FEMA, those County engineer types, local codes, insurance inspectors, and a group of people who will come out of the virtual woodwork as you start. Your best bet, and advice I have given anyone for decades - take your time, get to know an architect who's done this, and develop a thorough plan. My father still reminds me almost weekly to "build it on paper first." That simple advice will save you tens of thousands. Do try and avoid the four most expensive words in construction - "while you're at it".

But on the good side - far outnumbering all those new "partners" that will appear -are people like you will find on this board and in the preservation community. Reach out to the local AIA and historical preservation organizations as well as the national ones. They've been doing this well for a very long time and will be there for you.

And, if you need some formica history - drop me a line. I'd really love to see it.

Gee, it seems that when someone says "formica", a 1950s modern kitchen image appears with a teenage Debbie Reynolds, in heels and pearls, smiling from the blender on the counter. It always surprises me that few know this was developed in the early 1900s as an electric insulator for motors, switches, and electric stuff. It evolved into furniture laminates by the beginning of the Depression. Imagination and versatility coupled with that majic association with the PLASIC world does lock it into the American 50s-60s home decor landscape. Properly cared for and bonded, whatever it covers in that house will become better preserved than current fossils. And look pretty cool in the process.

I did get your point as I originally intended to add "two-way see through windows, edible wall paper, and sneeze through open plan hallways filled with factory air conditioned air from your own air conditioned air factory" myself.

I would not be too hasty to quip about "air conditioning" domus48, as it would surprise you to know how few MCMs built in Houston until the late fifties had central a/c. In the 1950s central a/c was a big luxury here. Window units were a luxury too and usually only in the Master Bedroom! A real problem with the preferred flat roof designs were no room for the standard house attic fan that most homes had here.

You can actually tell a lot from these photos about what to expect in the house itself. First of all this has to be the best urban camouflage I have ever seen. IS there a house in there or not - and what could really be lurking in those bushes? There is also a great deal that is said by the correct placement of original pink flamingos and did anyone notice the Sony SL-5600 box - that's a beta max! This person was an early adopter and embraced new technologies along the way. The type and condition of the books, the kitchen, the general layout suggests a home someone aged in for some time. This someone probably could not physically keep up with things as could be evidenced by the absence of all those recent "trendy" home improvements. With all the trees in close proximity I would be looking for foundation issues, a/c compressor issues, and roof/structure challenges first - not deal breakers, just need to be factored into the restoration plan. The thing is to look at HOW to do something first to answer that why question later.

Now wait a minute! I have a cousin that works at a Home Depot and her husband manages one. They both have reasonable tastes and know better. That design product mix is targeted for the General Homes production suburb tract house units - you know the vast prairies of shimmering asphalt roofs extending from horizon to horizon across the nation. Those are the neighborhoods where anything custom is usually spelled with a "K" anyway.

Could very well be the steal of the year. But that area is changing very rapidly with a lot of low end development. Someone is going to get this for the land and 3 1/2 acres will feed someones idea of a mini development that are found all over that area of Houston.

No garage? Was the garage once separate and gone by dividing lot and prior sale? I am always amazed at no garage here in Houston. It has really helped (at least the pictures) to show it furnished.

I hope the pictures are archived - no one who buys this will concern themselves about the house. They will take the land, max divide it and monster box the whole thing.

BTW the window treatments and knotty pine paneling are great.

I remember eating "family style" at the Monument Inn next to the Battleship Texas. And my long lamented eatery has been the Clear Creek Inn at Kemah. Ah, the garlic toast and pickled beet relish. Mary was our waitress from the time I was carried in on a pillow and fed crackers until I began dating and taking girls there myself in the 1970s. My usual was the Fisherman's platter and I still recall my grandmother slipping me fried shrimp she didn't want from her plate. On Saturday nights we'd have shrimp cocktails too. Even today when my family goes out for seafood - I always start with saltenes and butter to "set my mouth right."

Alas, one too many storms swept Kemah clean and they never returned. Now there is that goofy mall amusement park convolution there and their food pales in comparison. If you want REAL seafood, there needs to be caudrons of boiling oil in the kitchen and someone like Mary making sure your ice tea glass is always full!

Neuvo Home Depot - must be a whole new genre.

Why would someone hang a painting right above a stove?

Real bullets for the guard costs! These are well built, I've done media in several in this area. The trees seem to moderate the traffic noise in this enclave surprisingly well too.

To get reasonable flood info try these two sites, one is NOA for storm history (in this case Allison) and the other is the Tropical Storm Allicia Recovery Project - with interactive maps.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hgx/projects/allison01.htm

http://www.tsarp.org

From what I could tell from the photos this house has a Nutone type "house stereo" that probably had an intercom or paging feature. These systems never worked reliably, but there are alternatives. There are ways to use mod faceplate styles to introduce current technology. That said, virtually all the speakers put in these type of houses in Houston that I have seen over the last 30 years (and that's been alot!) were the cheapest "dentist office" specials. If you are going to do any relevant system in a very live environment like this, your speaker choice is critical. The odd shaped rooms are a distinct advantage and with wireless control technology - stealth volume/media controls are a snap. The amount of metal used in framing, windows, reinforcement in a house like this would mean that one should anticipate wireless shadows and problems. These are minor challenges to wireless computer networks, home automation/management systems, and telecom systems. If you anticipate them - solutions can be engineered in advance. Using well designed architectural speaker systems appropriatly and you can really mask ambient noise as well as create environments. This house would not seem to present a problem for stealth introduction of contemporary technologies as most of you know - there is always an engineering solution.