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My apologies for posting on the same topic in two different forums, but I thought there might be people on this forum who, like me, missed the original discussion on this in the Real Estate forum. As others of you already know, GHPA added the West Mansion to their Endangered Buildings List. Links to articles and other background information have been posted here, on the other forum, but I'll include some links again here for those interested:

1/13/07 Chronicle article

10/25/06 Chronicle article

12/6/06 NYT article re Hakeem Olajuwon's real estate investments

GHPA Endangered Buildings List

Texas Historical Commission write-up

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I have been in that building once. I was so impressed. It is to bad that they are just letting it fall apart. I have always wished that I could purchase it and restore it back to its former glory! But alas I have trouble just making it from check to check some times. The curse of being a partent with 2 kids in todays society!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks to both of you for the reference to the article in Houston House & Home. Those are some great old pictures - taken from the "Civics" section of the May 11, 1930 issue of the Houston Gargoyle.* I especially liked this photo of the playroom done in "zigzag Moderne style":

west5.jpg

Here's the full article:

DOWN AT THE VILLA: WILL A HANDFUL OF FADED NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS SOON BE ALL THAT'S LEFT OF THE LANDMARK WEST MANSION ON CLEAR LAKE?

By Linda Barth

On busy East NASA Parkway, just past Space Center Boulevard, you still can see through mossdraped oaks an enchanting villa built in Italian Renaissance Revival style. Lumber and oil magnate James M. West and his wife, Jessie, commissioned Houston architect Joseph Finger to build the house in the 1920s on what was then their 30,000-acre ranch. The house was unusual for its place and time. While mansions were being constructed in rural areas on Long Island or Westchester County, New York, in the 1920s, most large houses in Texas were built on a smaller scale in country club settings. And they were not being built in Italian style; Spanish Colonial was more popular. The Wests boldly situated their Italianate home with Art Deco and Moderne flourishes on the then-unpopulated north shore of Clear Lake between Houston and Galveston. At 17,000 square feet, the villa was one of the largest residences built in Texas in the 1920s, and no cost was spared for the interiors richly finished with exotic tile and marble, inlaid woods, fine paneling, stenciled ceilings and leaded glass. Considered one of the finest examples of 1920s residential architecture in Texas, the house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. It is also notable as a significant work of architect Finger, who designed Houston City Hall, Houston Municipal Airport (William P. Hobby Airport), Jefferson Davis Hospital and the Clark and Courts Building. The West villa has survived several hurricanes; vagrants who illegally used the property when it was vacant 1941-1969; conversion to a conference center for Brown & Root executives and then for Rice University; and conversion to a research facility for NASA scientists. But it might not survive real estate developers today who may choose to demolish it for apartment projects or retail office development.

THE ENDANGERED LIST

The Greater Houston Preservation Alliance (GHPA) has added the James & Jessie West Mansion on Clear Lake to the organization's Endangered Buildings List. In October, former Houston Rockets star Hakeem Olajuwon purchased the Italian Renaissance mansion and its 41-acre site from the Pappas family. The restaurant owners had held the remnants of the former West estate for more than a decade. Olajuwon immediately put the waterfront property back on the market. The site on NASA Parkway at Space Center Boulevard is being offered for subdivision use and may be sold for high-rise residential projects or retail/office development. “Over the years, GHPA has been approached by a variety of individuals and small organizations who wanted to acquire the West Mansion and operate it as a museum, but were never able to develop viable financial plans,” says GHPA Executive Director Ramona Davis. “We had hoped that Mr. Olajuwon would use his resources to preserve this extremely important property as he did with his adaptive reuse of the Houston National Bank building on Main Street,” says Davis. “That has proven to be wishful thinking.” David Cook of Cushman & Wakefield, the commercial real estate firm representing the sale of the West Mansion property, declined to speak directly to House & Home about the fate of the house on the property. Connie Lewis of Cushman & Wakefield returned our calls to Cook. “We are not in a position right now to show the property or discuss it,” Lewis said. “The owners are working on a land plan, and that's what we are waiting for.” Cook has represented Olajuwon in several real estate transactions.

HISTORIC LISTINGS NO PROTECTION

Neither its national nor state historic designations would prevent the building's demolition, although National Register listing means the property is eligible for substantial federal preservation tax credits if the house is restored to high standards. The city of Pasadena has annexed the West Mansion and its grounds. Pasadena has weak land-use regulations and no historic preservation ordinance, which would offer the only local protections. The house's exterior, noted for its superlative cast-concrete classical decoration, looks much like it did in the 1930s. While the furniture and many decorative fixtures have been removed, the house is otherwise largely intact and unaltered. In addition to the mansion, the wooded site includes the original tennis court with twin gazebos, historic swimming pool and changing rooms, nine-car garage and manager's house. West sold the ranch to Humble Oil in 1939, but kept the mansion and grounds. After West's death in 1941, his wife never returned to the property. Humble Oil purchased the house and remaining land from Mrs. West's estate in 1953. Eight years later, the oil company donated the mansion and 21 acres to Rice University, which later purchased additional acreage. Humble Oil donated an adjacent 1,000 acres as the site of what is now the Johnson Space Center. From 1969 to 1991, the mansion housed the Lunar Science Institute (later Lunar and Planetary Institute). Rice University again took possession after the institute vacated the house. Rice sold the property to the Pappas family, who, in turn, sold the back portion of the land for apartment/condo development. “Despite the intrusions, the property retains a very high degree of architectural and historical integrity,” says David Bush, GHPA's information director. “We will continue our efforts to focus attention on this significant property and increase public awareness of the threats to this designated Texas landmark.”

*Houston Gargoyle:

Looking for more information on this magazine, I found a 1928 TIME Magazine article called "Texas Magazines", which read in part:

"Ioway, Ioway, that's where the tall corn grows... By thy rivers gently flowing, Illinoize, Illinoize...

Songs are all right. They go handily from mouth to mouth. But certainly the sovereign states of the U. S. have matters of more permanent value than dithyrambs. Texas has. What does it do with them? It puts them into a new magazine called Bunker's Monthly, 160 pages of eye-easy type. Does Vermont (native state of Calvin Coolidge) fill as many pages each month with readable material of its own efforts? No. Does Iowa (home state of Average American Citizen Roy Lewis Gray) do as well? No.

Texas, of course, was once a republic in itself, a land where tradition makes bloody Alamo a Bunker Hill and Sam Houston a George Washington. It is now the largest state in the Union, the seat of the Democratic National Convention (at Houston). Bunker's Monthly, however, is no passing boom sheet, no harp twanging the glories of yesteryear. It is substantial in size, pleasing in appearance, broad in editorial content. New Yorkers and Californians can read it with profit.

....

Bank Robbers. An immediate problem in Texas is revealed in the February Bunker's Monthly by W. M. Massie, president of the Texas Bankers' Association. He writes an article justifying his organization's standing offer of reward posted in 1,500 banks: $5,000 for each DEAD ROBBER. Not one cent for a hundred live ones. Mr. Massie believes that live bank robbers 'rarely are identified, more rarely convicted, and most rarely kept in the penitentiary when sent there--all of which operations are troublesome and costly.' He points with a banker's pride & joy to the three dead and two wounded robbers, the captured gang and the single successful burglary during the six weeks which the $5,000 rewards have been in effect. He neglects to state that two innocent Mexicans were shot in front of a bank in Midland, Tex., for the sake of rewards--a fact which caused the distant New York World to cry: '[This shows] how vicious it is to meddle with the principles and processes of the law.'

Houston Gargoyle. The Texan younger generation, by no means entirely given to bank robbing, is reading with gusto a weekly, entitled the Houston Gargoyle, which appeared in January. A sample of its humor may be found on a page headed, 'I Hereby Resolve': Al Smith--'That I will join the Ku Klux Klan and invite Bill McAdoo to have a cup of tea.' McAdoo--'That I will accept Al's invitation and surprise him by bringing a wee drappie on the hip.'"

Thought that was interesting. I hadn't previously heard of Bunker's Monthly or the Houston Gargoyle.

Edited by tmariar
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I think he was the one that used to keep silver dollars in racks at his

house. He used to have servants polish them up real shiny..

Then he would take a bunch of them and go ride around town in

his limo throwing them at the poor lessers that would come across his path.

While he was doing that, the servants at home would be refilling

the racks with fresh polished dollars for his next trip around town.

Course, I might be mistaking him for someone else, but I think it

was him. This tale was told in the book, "blood and money", the

story about John and Joan Hill in river oaks.

MK

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nm5k -

You've got the right guy - he was definitely a big part of the mythology that surrounded Houston and Texas for much of the last century. I still haven't gotten to read Blood and Money yet, but there's more about "Silver Dollar Jim" West here (plus a truly great photo of him). I also found a 1958 TIME Magazine article along the same lines, plus a couple of TIME Magazine references to him (here and here) in articles on eccentricity. He was even mentioned in a National Geographic article. Texas Monthly, in their December 1999 issue, named him "Comical Texan of the Century".

West owned the West Building on Main at Walker, which (I think) is still standing. A book I have on Houston street names says that there is a "Jim West Street" in Bellaire, that West named the street himself, and that he also named other streets in Bellaire (Dorothy, Darsey, Mildred, Cynthia, Jane, Effie, Valerie, Betty, Lula, Edith, Bess, Vivian) after the women who worked in his office and the wives of his partners.

The Johnson Space Center was built on land that was once part of his 30,000-acre ranch, hence the close proximity of the West Mansion to JSC. Here's an early photo of "Silver Dollar Jim" West's house and cars. (In a prior HAIF topic, the cars were identified as a Chrysler Airflow and two Chrysler Imperials.) The land his ranch was on also now encompasses Armand Bayou Nature Center. When Pappas owned the house, there used to be a big American Cancer Society fundraiser held there every year - the Silver Dollar Ball - with performers such as the Dixie Chicks and Jerry Jeff Walker.

Many of the articles posted about the mansion and/or West himself mention his numerous contributions to the city of Houston - and I hope that such civic contributions are as much a part of the Houstonian/Texan stereotype that West embodied as some of the entertaining aspects of his personality. Preserving the West Mansion would be a fitting memorial to the man and the considerable role he played in our city's history - saving an early-20th-Century architectural landmark building in a part of the city that has few others from that era would obviously be a bonus. It's just frustrating that the only contact information I've found for trying to convey some of this to Mr. Olajuwon is email addresses for the Cushman & Wakefield agents representing him in the sale (see HAIF forum discussion moved to Other Neighborhoods). Mr. Olajuwon has apparently received (hopefully reliable) offers that contemplate the preservation of the home, but I don't know enough about Cushman & Wakefield to know whether they would pass on to him emails or other communications (like those posted by HAIF members) urging him to accept one of those offers even if it diminishes somewhat the profit he (and possibly they) would make from the sale - presumably they would.

If nothing else, it's good to see the house discussed, and Jim West remembered, on this forum. Thanks.

Edited by tmariar
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  • 2 weeks later...

I think he was the one that used to keep silver dollars in racks at his

house. <<'nm5k'

That would be Jim West Jr, not to be confused with Jim West Sr. who actually built the house. Sr. died in the 1940's and his wife Jessie in the 1950's. In his will he stipulated that the house was not to be used as a private residence again. I hope they can save the house, it's very cool.

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That would be Jim West Jr, not to be confused with Jim West Sr. who actually built the house. Sr. died in the 1940's and his wife Jessie in the 1950's. In his will he stipulated that the house was not to be used as a private residence again. I hope they can save the house, it's very cool.

Oops! Thanks for the clarification, 2fatcats. I was afraid I might have mixed up the two to some extent, as the background information I found didn't always make the distinction between father and son. I think the house has been tied in the public's imagination to "Silver Dollar Jim" West (the photo of the house and cars above, for example, is labeled as if it were the son's house), but I believe you're correct - the house was built by Jim West, Sr. (who doesn't sound as eccentric). The Historical Commission write-up makes that clear.

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I think he was the one that used to keep silver dollars in racks at his

house. <<'nm5k'

That would be Jim West Jr, not to be confused with Jim West Sr. who actually built the house. Sr. died in the 1940's and his wife Jessie in the 1950's. In his will he stipulated that the house was not to be used as a private residence again. I hope they can save the house, it's very cool.

That would make sense, as the info I read on the "silver dollar" Jim West, that liked to

ride around with the police, died in about 1957 or thereabouts.. I didn't realize they had

two of them.

MK

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Oops! Thanks for the clarification, 2fatcats. I was afraid I might have mixed up the two to some extent, as the background information I found didn't always make the distinction between father and son. <<'tmariar'

No problem. And yes you're right, the articles were kind of vague. I really hate that even though a house is put on the list of historic places and other registries that it still can't be saved from the wrecking ball. I really do think those laws should be amended. Maybe someone will step up to the plate yet and find a use for the house and the funding to pursue it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Looking for contact info on Mr. Olajuwon. Does anyone have any ideas of how to get into contact with him? I'm a student at UHCL and would like to do an article on his recent purchase of the West Mansion and would like to try to interview him or one of his representatives.

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks,

Mandy

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Looking for contact info on Mr. Olajuwon. Does anyone have any ideas of how to get into contact with him? I'm a student at UHCL and would like to do an article on his recent purchase of the West Mansion and would like to try to interview him or one of his representatives.

Mandy - From what I've heard, nobody has been able to speak directly with Mr. Olajuwon about this. I think that any communications have been with one of the agents whose email addresses I linked to in post #8 above. David Cook is the person I've seen comment in articles. Good luck with your paper!

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Hi, everyone! I was surfing the internet for information on the James West Mansion and I found this site. I really want to save this beautiful building, and I'm happy to see that so many others feel the same way. Perhaps a group of us could work together as investors to buy the home.

If you have any ideas on how to save this mansion, please reply to me here or contact me privately at SavetheJWMansion at gmail dot com .

And if anyone has already started a preservation group dedicated to this building, please let me know so that I can join!

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  • 3 weeks later...
Hi, everyone! I was surfing the internet for information on the James West Mansion and I found this site. I really want to save this beautiful building, and I'm happy to see that so many others feel the same way. Perhaps a group of us could work together as investors to buy the home.

If you have any ideas on how to save this mansion, please reply to me here or contact me privately at SavetheJWMansion at gmail dot com .

And if anyone has already started a preservation group dedicated to this building, please let me know so that I can join!

There is in fact a non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to save the West Mansion called Preserved in Time. They tried to save the mansion once before and even had the funds to purchase it from the Pappas family but for reasons unknown the Pappas family would not sell it to them (possibly because they wanted to hold out for more money, but we don't know). I'm in the process of writing a magazine article to try to get the word out (if it gets published). Even if it doesn't get published, I will come back here to post the contact info for Preserved in Time. They will be needing volunteers to help try to save it one last time. I just met with the founder and CEO this afternoon for an interview and the wheels are currently in motion for a second go at saving the mansion. Public support is greatly needed!!

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There is in fact a non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to save the West Mansion called Preserved in Time. They tried to save the mansion once before and even had the funds to purchase it from the Pappas family but for reasons unknown the Pappas family would not sell it to them (possibly because they wanted to hold out for more money, but we don't know). I'm in the process of writing a magazine article to try to get the word out (if it gets published). Even if it doesn't get published, I will come back here to post the contact info for Preserved in Time. They will be needing volunteers to help try to save it one last time. I just met with the founder and CEO this afternoon for an interview and the wheels are currently in motion for a second go at saving the mansion. Public support is greatly needed!!

Do you want to save just the mansion or both the mansion and the grounds?

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Some good news in the Heights/Neartown regional section of this morning's Chronicle: a deed restriction which prevents razing the West mansion until 2012 has been discovered.

How the West won

For those who still subscribe to the paper version of the Chron, this was actually on the front page of the City & State section, not the Heights/Neartown one - apparently I should've had that second cup of coffee before posting.

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I am new to this forum and well...to Houston as well. I first want to start off as saying thank you. I have always wondered about this property and I had no idea of it's history. I was walking about one day and I ran across it. With so much this house has to offer it would be such a huge misatke to let it be demolished. Again...thanks for the information.

Edited by prisclynn
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I am new to this forum and well...to Houston as well. I first want to start off as saying thank you. I have always wondered about this property and I had no idea of it's history. I was walking about one day and I ran across it. To my amazment...the front door was wide open. I couldn't help but go in and all I can say is..WOW! With so much this house has to offer it would be such a huge misatke to let it be demolished. Here are just a few photos I've taken. Enjoy them and please leave them here in the forum. Again...thanks for the information.

Welcome, prisclynn, and thanks for posting the photos.

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  • 1 month later...
Welcome, prisclynn, and thanks for posting the photos.

This is my first time here! Woo hoo! I've been lurking around here for a month or so. Anway, I'd love to see more pics of the mansion; that's what brought me here. I've googled, and googled, and googled, and can't find many of the mansion. However, I've looked at it on google earth and local.live.com. I was in Houston here recently and missed out, because of the weather! :(

Does anybody have any more pics, old, new, inside and out? BTW, I live in Fort Worth, and this place rocks 100 times more than the Dallas Historical Society boards! :D

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