Search the Community

As of last night, the porte-cochere is almost completely gone, and there's a huge scrap dumpster in the driveway. It was too dark to see much other than that. Of course, they could just be changing the front profile, but that's an awfully big dumpster.

I was house hunting with my cousin the other day in Memorial an I said I wanted to move in River Oaks(if I could ) She said River Oaks had a lot of racial undertones because they had Deed restrictions until 1986 saying minorities an jewish ppl live there. Is this true? (its hard for me to believe this

Does anyone know what is going on at 56 Tiel Way? The house is a rustic 50's mod that was designed by Hugo Neuhaus Jr. But lately it has been covered and some type of construction is under way. The home has always made me curious as it is as far from the typical River Oaks home as anyone can imagine. Hopefully it is a restoration.

Can anyone tell me if there's any way to see the Barnstone steel and glass pavilion @ 2930 Lazy Lane from the street or from nearby? I believe I saw it once, but going back over there we couldn't find it from any angle on the street. Maybe we were at Bayou Bend and saw it from there? Thanks, Jason

I think I found my next house: One of City's finest Mid-century Modern homes designed 1950 by Karl Kamrath, Houston's own Frank Lloyd Wright. Reminiscent of Wright's famous house Falling Water, the house takes advantage of its secluded, graceful, natural terrain & cantilevers with an approx. 2,200 sq. ft. deck over ravine w/stream. Extensively restored & updated in 2000. Original built-in furniture! Original cedar exterior & built-in furniture. Glass window walls, dry & wet saunas, putting green, hot tub, fire pit & more! http://www.har.com/853143 http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/86/hr1464486-1.jpg

Another house bites the dust. Those of us who went on the 2005 RDA tour got to see this house. I knew deep down that it wasn't going to be around much longer, but it's still sad to know it's gone. All that's left is memories, and Ben Koush's great book that documented it. Jason From Feb. 2005 (I changed is to WAS): Bousquet House, 1941, Donald Barthelme The Bousquet house WAS of the utmost significance to the architectural heritage of Houston. The architect, Donald Barthelme, was the perhaps the most important modernist working in Texas from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. His work was widely published and he was considered significant enough to be listed as one of the "Masters of Modern Architecture" along with Mies, Le Corbusier and Wright in John Peter's widely read book of 1958 of the same title. The Bousquet House WAS the last example of Barthelme's work in Houston that remains in a recognizable form. His two masterpieces, the ADA Oil Building of 1957 and his own house of 1941 have been destroyed in the last few years. The current owner of the Bousquet House, Henry Wightman, has resided there since the early 1960s when he purchased the house from the Bousquet's. Mr. Wightman has made relatively few changes and the house is a perfect illustration of pre-war domestic architecture and technology. The Bousquet house WAS located on its original lot in River Oaks, where surging property values often relegate houses of this size and age to the status of "tear-down". Realizing the importance of this structure and the tentative nature of the Houston residential market, Houston Mod has organized an initiative to document the house.

Developer Advances 68-Unit Condo Plan By Jennifer D. Duell Last updated: March 9, 2005 HOUSTON-Local development company, Pelican Builders Inc., plans to break ground within 30 days on its first mid-rise residential condominium project. The 68-unit Briarglen, set to deliver in late 2006, is the first of three buildings for the first phase of a redevelopment plan for the Mid Lane neighborhood. The condos, tagged at $240 per sf, will rise at 2215 Briarglen Dr. between Westheimer Road and San Felipe Boulevard. Derek Darnell, president of Pelican Builders, tells GlobeSt.com that 27 units have been pre-sold since Pelican began marketing the project in summer 2004. "We feel like we have find a nice little niche for the middle market," Darnell says, adding other condo projects in the immediate area are either lower-end apartment quality condos or million-dollar-plus condos. The six-year-old company, which specializes in townhouse development, purchased the one-acre tract in the Mid Lane area inside Loop 610 from a local partnership in December after having it under contract nearly 12 months, Darnell says. "We have been actively developing townhomes in the area for the past five years so we're familiar with the area," he adds. "We knew this type of mid-rise condo project would be well received." Briarglen, designed by urban residential team of Ziegler Cooper Architects, will feature a contemporary exterior with more traditional interiors--six floors of condos and two parking levels. Each condo will have a high-end finish-out with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, double crown molding and marble bathrooms. There are six floor plans in a mix of one-bedroom with study units and two- and three-bedroom units plus one penthouse. More than 50% of the condos will be two-bedroom designs. Units will range from 1,100 sf to 1,800 sf. Pelican Builders is working with a lender to finalize construction financing for the project. GT Leech of Houston has been chosen as the general contractor.

has anyone seen the kuhl-linscomb (kirby @ w. alabama)? they started off as one large store in an upscale strip center and now they have expanded. instead of tearing down a whole street of houses (vintage 2&4plexes which are really great), they bought every house on the neighboring residential street (about 6), painted them the same color and put a large number on each door. every house is a different "department" of the store. although not every company could afford to do this, i am glad that with their resources they chose to. it lends to something that this board discuses often, walk friendly vs. car friendly shopping, with a parking lot just in front of the main building. i ride my bike down this street everyday (now that the bike lane has been removed from w. alabama) and appreciate the houses getting to stay around. the only thing i dislike is the white burglar bars on the bottom floor of each house, it might look modern from the inside but it looks a little ghetto from the outside, since the houses are so dark. st. thomas also does this, buying property in the neighborhood and restoring most of them instead of tearing them down. actually, they just bought the 1940