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Take A Walk Down Farnham Park Dr.


RWB

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I biked over to Farnham Park and brazened my way past the guard to see what there was to see. And you can see it too. I have posted a little travelogue with photos at my blog.

http://robertwboyd.blogspot.com/

Hope you all enjoy it.

Very good! So the guards didn't give you any problems? I think I may have to break out the old bike.

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Robert, thanks so much for doing that. Sorry about all the grief the guards gave you on the way out. Maybe the reason that area is guarded is to protect people from some of those ugli-phonic houses, like that Greek Revival International Style thingummy. I invite you and everyone else to the Houston Bicycle Club's Sunday morning EZ Rides, which are on the second and fourth Sundays of the month, meeting at the Museum of Natural Science parking lot at 9:00 am. We usually ride for about 20 miles through places like downtown, the Heights, River Oaks, Memorial, etc. This Sunday's is downtown. Very little traffic usually, and interesting things can be seen. Here's the schedule:

http://houstonbicycleclub.org/Pages/RideSchedule.aspx

They're free and you needn't be a member.

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I think you would have been fine just riding and looking, but once you pull out a camera in a gated community its going to get ugly. People pay for privacy.

Truthfully, I get a little wigged out when people stand in front of our house and snap pictures too. I know a lot of the time its because they like the landscaping or the door or the lanterns...but you can't help get a little disturbed about it,especially when you have kids and all the things that you hear about that start with just a photo.(WHole 'nother topic that's really aweful). When someone asks if they can and tell me what its for, it doesn't bother me at all. In fact we'll have a nice conversation and they probably get a lot of information.

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^Yeah, I hope people ask, especially if you (or your children) are visible.

I haven't been normally take pictures of occupied houses of late, but I try to talk to neighbors if they are outside (especially if they weren't aware the house next door was about to be history).

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I'd like to know more than conjecture what the status of this street is. If it is a public (as in taxpayer maintained) street, how do they get off having a gate? My understanding of a "gated community" is that the homeowners association assumes control and maintenance of the roads within. There was similar controversy about the gating of ex-President Bush's street off of Post Oak.

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I'd like to know more than conjecture what the status of this street is. If it is a public (as in taxpayer maintained) street, how do they get off having a gate? My understanding of a "gated community" is that the homeowners association assumes control and maintenance of the roads within. There was similar controversy about the gating of ex-President Bush's street off of Post Oak.

If a neighborhood is gated, the streets are owned by the residents. They pay for the upkeep, gate and gaurd through the HOA fee.

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If a neighborhood is gated, the streets are owned by the residents. They pay for the upkeep, gate and gaurd through the HOA fee.

Is there a gate? Doesn't look like it on Live Search. But there is a guard shack. I think that's why it's such a gray area for this neighborhood.

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If a neighborhood is gated, the streets are owned by the residents. They pay for the upkeep, gate and gaurd through the HOA fee.

You may be right. But this neighborhood isn't literally gated. There is a guard shack, but no gate. So is it possible that Farnham Park is a public street, but that the HOA pays for a guard just to keep an eye on who's coming and going? I know other public streets in the Memorial area pay Templar to do roving patrols, and others pay for surveillance cameras. If Farnham Park is truly a private street, they might consider doing what other gated communities do: putting up a gate with card or keypad access.

These are paranoid times, and people taking photographs (or doing anything that is in any way out of the ordinary) causes suspicion and fear. I think these fears are generally irrational (based on the actual danger associated with them), but they are there and people might very well call the cops or the local guard shack when they see someone snapping photos. I am always aware of this, and occasionally try to explain what I'm doing. But frankly, telling people I am taking pictures of interesting buildings and lawns and parks for my blog hardly seems to reassure them! I have actually thought of printing business cards with my blog website on it, so people could see that what I'm doing is really quite tame (and perhaps even interest them in the project itself). In any case, I prefer not to alarm people or make them feel uncomfortable--but that preference is slightly outweighed by my desire to explore and record.

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You may be right. But this neighborhood isn't literally gated. There is a guard shack, but no gate. So is it possible that Farnham Park is a public street, but that the HOA pays for a guard just to keep an eye on who's coming and going? I know other public streets in the Memorial area pay Templar to do roving patrols, and others pay for surveillance cameras. If Farnham Park is truly a private street, they might consider doing what other gated communities do: putting up a gate with card or keypad access.

These are paranoid times, and people taking photographs (or doing anything that is in any way out of the ordinary) causes suspicion and fear. I think these fears are generally irrational (based on the actual danger associated with them), but they are there and people might very well call the cops or the local guard shack when they see someone snapping photos. I am always aware of this, and occasionally try to explain what I'm doing. But frankly, telling people I am taking pictures of interesting buildings and lawns and parks for my blog hardly seems to reassure them! I have actually thought of printing business cards with my blog website on it, so people could see that what I'm doing is really quite tame (and perhaps even interest them in the project itself). In any case, I prefer not to alarm people or make them feel uncomfortable--but that preference is slightly outweighed by my desire to explore and record.

I think erecting a gate at the enterance would cause a traffic backup on San Felipe. Probably that's why there is a gaurd gate only.

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All still conjecture. Is there some way, some public record available, that shows the status of the street? The idea of a guard shack on a road I help pay to maintain rubs me the wrong way. If the homeowners are paying upkeep on the street, more power to them.

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All still conjecture. Is there some way, some public record available, that shows the status of the street? The idea of a guard shack on a road I help pay to maintain rubs me the wrong way. If the homeowners are paying upkeep on the street, more power to them.

Ok, according to an insider, Farnham Park was purchased from JD Taylor in 1973. All the streets were privately constructed and are privately maintained. Much like Stablewood is. Whether this is true of not, I can only go by what I've been told. BUt obviously some sort of arrangement and agreement was made at some point with Memorial Villages to have that gaurd house. The residents in there have plenty to protect and are probably travelling quite a bit. I respect that.

My parents live in a gated community for many reasons, its not just so they don't have to rub elbows with the help. That point of view irks me. They are old, they travel and they want to come home from travels to find their house intact. Or feel safe that they aren't getting followed home from the grocery store only to get held up in their driveway. Its not like they've walled themselves up out in some suburb, they are in heart of Miami. Everyone wants to feel secure right? So if at that age, or any age, you can actually afford it I think its wonderful.

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I thought that if streets were private that they would show up on the hcad plat maps labeled as pvt.

(Farnham Park does not)

it would seem that the private owner of a street (e.g. home owners association) should be taxed on the land with the road (since it is private property).

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I thought that if streets were private that they would show up on the hcad plat maps labeled as pvt.

(Farnham Park does not)

it would seem that the private owner of a street (e.g. home owners association) should be taxed on the land with the road (since it is private property).

They show up on the HCAD and block book maps as private - this one is for the Stablewood area:

http://www.hcad.org/iMaps/Tiles/Color/5157B2.pdf

http://books.tax.hctx.net/v117/AE1997_117_0098.jpg

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Finally found the Chronicle article on this I was looking for. The important parts are in bold:

Paper: Houston Chronicle

Date: THU 02/05/2004

Section: ThisWeek

Page: 6

Edition: 2 STAR

Piney Point wants district to put sprinklers at school

By ANNETTE BAIRD, Houston Chronicle correspondent

The City Council has put the Spring Branch school district on notice to install an automatic fire sprinkler system at Memorial Drive Elementary School, 11202 Smithdale, by March 23.

If the system isn't installed by then, Mayor C. Barrett Monday II said the school could have its certificate of temporary occupancy severed.

Through a lack of communication, the district did not install a sprinkler system while the school was undergoing renovations and construction.

In October, the district's board of trustees approved a change order for an additional $1.2 million to go toward a sprinkler system.

At last Monday's regular meeting, council denied a request to remodel the guard house at the entrance to Farnham Park, located on the south side of San Felipe near Voss Road.

Monday said the guard house shouldn't be there in the first place, because it stands in the middle of a public street, but the council allowed the guard house to remain where it was.

At the meeting, council discussed whether to delete a provision in a city ordinance code that requires doors with direct access to swimming pools be equipped with alarms. The provision is applicable to new homes.

The city will host a 50th anniversary dinner March 5 to recognize city volunteers and workers. The event will be at The Kinkaid School.

The bridge over Soldiers Creek at the corner of Smithdale and Hedwig has been fixed. A new concrete support was installed for $5,000.

In other news, council approved The Kinkaid School's request to construct lighting facilities on the athletic fields.

Council will have a discussion about clearing city streets to make way for emergency vehicles at the next regular meeting.

Monday said some streets have overhanging tree limbs and rocks and boulders, making it almost impossible for fire trucks to get through.

Council meets at 7:30 p.m. the fourth Monday of the month at City Hall, 7721 San Felipe, Suite 100. For information, contact the city at 713-782-0271.

Bunker Hill Village

A public hearing about Memorial Drive Christian Church's plans to build a new sanctuary on its four-acre property at 11750 Memorial Drive is scheduled for 7 p.m., prior to the next regular City Council meeting Feb. 17.

The church wants to build an 8,500 square-foot worship space, completing the final phase of a two-part plan started in 1994. The first phase was the education wing, which houses a preschool program.

The Reverend Todd Adams, the senior minister, said the sanctuary is long overdue. The church has been using the fellowship hall as a sanctuary since it was built in 1972.

Though the tallest part of the building will reach 43 feet, about eight feet above the city's height requirements, it would be less than 10 percent of the roof line. The majority of the building is under the height line. Council meets at 7:30 p.m. the third Tuesday of the month at City Hall, 11977 Memorial Drive. Call 713-467-9762.

I wouldn't call this desire for privacy paranoia, especially with that word that has become so familiar to our Latin American neighbors to the south: Kidnapping.

There are some REALLY wealthy people living in that neighborhood, and most of them have children and grandchildren that they want to protect. Personally, if I could afford it, I would do the same. But they need to take the necessary steps and make the neighborhood totally gated and private if they want that level of protection. Otherwise, they give off the stink being pretentious better thans that don't want to associate with "the little people" that tend their gardens, do their laundry and most importantly, serve as nannies and personal assistants.

What I would ideally want to do here is contact the Farnham Park Committee and see if they would allow documentation of their neighborhood. It's one of those places that few people know anything about, but it has a history (especially an architectural one) that's gone largely undocumented (except for the parties at the Japanese consul's house). This may be exactly what they want, but it's a part of Houston's history. There are many unique buildings back there, and builders are already starting to move in. I know that Bob Griffin won an award for an enormous mid-70's modern house he designed back there. Personally, I want to see that and be able to appreciate it.

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Great research Ben. I've been searching around TXDOT and City of Houston websites and coming up empty handed, also glossed over the fact that this is in Piney Point Village. I have to wonder how the guard shack got there in the first place if it shouldn't have been as the mayor pointed out. Sounds like some previous mayor or council overlooked it, possibly even paid for it through city coffers.

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  • 1 month later...

If anyone's interested, the big aluminum faced house that's visible from Memorial Drive and overlooks the bayou was designed by James H. Lingenfelter and a firm named Architects Plus. It was originally owned by Stephen Norwood. Thanks to Stephen Fox for the info. I can't find any other information about Lingenfelter, though.

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If anyone's interested, the big aluminum faced house that's visible from Memorial Drive and overlooks the bayou was designed by James H. Lingenfelter and a firm named Architects Plus. It was originally owned by Stephen Norwood. Thanks to Stephen Fox for the info. I can't find any other information about Lingenfelter, though.

I love that house. It looks like it could use a good powerwashing lately.

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Finally found the Chronicle article on this I was looking for. The important parts are in bold:

At last Monday's regular meeting, council denied a request to remodel the guard house at the entrance to Farnham Park, located on the south side of San Felipe near Voss Road.

Monday said the guard house shouldn't be there in the first place, because it stands in the middle of a public street, but the council allowed the guard house to remain where it was.

What I would ideally want to do here is contact the Farnham Park Committee and see if they would allow documentation of their neighborhood. It's one of those places that few people know anything about, but it has a history (especially an architectural one) that's gone largely undocumented (except for the parties at the Japanese consul's house). This may be exactly what they want, but it's a part of Houston's history. There are many unique buildings back there, and builders are already starting to move in. I know that Bob Griffin won an award for an enormous mid-70's modern house he designed back there. Personally, I want to see that and be able to appreciate it.

I heard today from a former resident. He confirmed that it is indeed a public street. (He had lived at 14 Farnham Park, one of the houses I photographed--the one descibed as boxy and airy. This house was designed by David Crane (dean of the architecture school at Rice and founder of the Rice Design Alliance), according to my correspondent. (He then defended the residents of Farnham Park, saying that most of them would not have had me ejected. I guess it only takes one!)

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  • 5 months later...

I got in today, but I didn't see anything terribly impressive. Alot of old late 70's/ early 80's homes, nothing that really jumped out except that white house with all the glass. You can't see the big steel house by James Ligenfelter from the street.

Very disappointing.

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  • The title was changed to Take A Walk Down Farnham Park Dr.

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