marketingwiz

I happen to know the woman that bought the spiral staircase from the List Mansion and now has it in her house. Her husband and her bought the staircase when they were tearing down the mansion.

I was there yesterday as she is moving to Denver and is selling everything that she can not take with her and took a pic of the staircase as it is now.

When the homeowner told me that it is was the actual staircase where the murder occurred I just had to take a pic. When we were high school in the early 90's we always passed by the "Murder Mansion" because it was so spooky looking.

Just thought I would share this random info. Hope you enjoy the info.

How macabre...... I'd have to have that thing torn out, no offense to your friend.

Anyone know what's going on at this Shell station? They took out the underground tanks and the pumps last week. They backfilled the hole and the windows and doors have been boarded up since.

flipper

P.S. It looks like the Shell is open for business again.

Well, you're a much better researcher than I because I didn't see the address either. But every time we've driven by, my husband and I both comment how empty and unoccupied the house seems. We have yet to catch any lights on. I certainly don't mind the design of it, it just sticks out in Bellaire, like I said, it seems more suited for The Heights' style of architecture. And it is absolutely HUGE! They don't seem to have done anything with the yard, no landscaping, fencing, pool, etc., and there definitely appears to be enough room for all of that including a tennis court!

I have noticed a home that looks relatively new on the south side of Bellaire Blvd. (inside the Loop) between 610 and Newcastle. It is yellow with white trim and it sticks out like a (really large) sore thumb from the traditional Bellaire residential environment. The architecture is more suited to the Heights area with its all-siding construction, wrap-around porch and antique 'Gingerbread' look. It reminds me of the farmhouse of a really affluent family. Even stranger, it doesn't look like anyone lives there nor is it for sale.

Does anyone have any inside scoop on this home, like who built it and is it occupied? Thanks in advance for your help!

Wistfully, I remember the 5-7-9 Shop and my ability to legitimately shop there. Just add a zero to the end of each figure to calculate my current size.

Did anyone mention Margo's LaMode? I actually had one of their credit cards.

Does the new Kolache Factory have a drive-thru? That's a killer feature on the Shipleys.

Indeed it does and it's very convenient to drive through the KF and then take an immediate right into the Shipley's drive-thru for fresh, hot donuts! Just like I did on Saturday! YUM!!!!!!!! (What weight problem?)

Now that you mention it, I noticed that there was a white lady sitting outside, when I drove by, when I backed up to do a double-take on that Weingarten gem, and get an address. Just thought, she must be used to this, by now. Frankly, I don't care what color the people are, as long as they love & take care of those beauties. That front beveled glass is what caught my eye initially.

Oh, and I would like to see that film you all talk about, heard of it many yrs. ago.

I managed to snag a copy from the director, Jon Schwartz, no less, when I went to its most recent screening last April (I believe) at the Museum of Fine Arts. I wasn't able to stay for the 2+ hour film but I did buy a copy from the director who was there to present his documentary. Last time I checked, you could buy a DVD from the MFA gift shop. It's worth a check.

My husband and I drove around the remaining parking lot yesterday and it appears that someone still lives in a second floor apartment facing W. Bellfort. I thought all residents had been instructed to leave but there are plants and a small outdoor grill on the balcony as well as a couple of cars parked in front. We plan on touring on foot and taking a few snaps before 'the end' comes. My husband grew up in Bellaire and remembers Westbury Square as the coolest and hippest place in Houston during its heyday.

Gulf Bank and Antoine area? That will put a definite damper on your property values. The oil bust of the 80's pretty much killed any chance that part of town had, once Inwood Forest started to nosedive.

I think that hideous (faded) red carpet, bad un-updated kitchen and baths are killing its chances of getting sold. Just sayin'..... Perhaps I lack vision.

Thanks for the Pics Susan. That place is hideous. And thats crazy that he was somehow connected to the Karla Faye Tucker crud too...

That place has 'evil' written all over it. I don't think I'd even want to step inside. And someone earlier in this thread mentioned the existence of a strange bathroom that looked more like a locker room with toilets lined up against the wall. Well Mr. List was quite the sexual deviant, as it turns out, although he claims he never made anyone do anything they didn't want to do. One of his regular house boys was quoted as saying that he vomited after being asked and paid to watch List in action with some fresh meat he picked up in Montrose. I'm guessing it was some pretty hard-core stuff. Check it out online.

Actually, the killer's name was Karla Faye Tucker. I have no idea where that other name came from, but it's out there in so many places that it does turn up in a Google search.

That's it, Tucker. Thanks for the heads up, Filio. Boy would I love to see the photos that accompanied the '85 article in its original format. I've emailed the Chronicle to see if there is anyway to include the photos with the archived feature story. I hope to hear back soon.

I actually worked for The Midway Companies back when they first acquired T&C and made several trips through the 'bowels' of the mall after the tenants left. We salvaged some very cool commercial-grade seasonal decorations (Christmas, Easter, etc.) and recycled them for use in Midway's residential developments. One of Midway's fat execs used to squeeze himself into the Easter Bunny costume we saved and run around our corporate offices yelling "which way did da wabbit go?" We were very professional.

It was eerie to be in T&C just before they demolished it. Some of the food court vendors had actually left rotting food for all to enjoy like huge jars of moldy pickles, rotten nacho chips WITH hardened orange cheese, fossilized hot dogs still on the warmers and popcorn strewn everywhere. (I don't know why some of the food equipment was left). Very tantalizing stuff. But the funniest thing was Midway's decision to bid a fond 'farewell' to T&C by having an employee only paintball party. By then, T&C was almost completely stripped down including the safety railings on the upper floors. I, along with a couple of other sensible employees, decided against participating in this stupid and seemingly moronic exercise. Of course we were branded as not being "team players" because of our stance. Everyone put the pressure on us hold-outs to take part in the paint ball mania. However, we didn't seem like the stupid ones the next day when all these battered and bruised 'team players' came limping and whining into work. The receptionist had taken a paintball right in the face and had a huge black eye and swollen nose. She wore sunglasses at her desk for a week. Others had sprained ankles, twisted knees, contusions, massive bruises, swollen faces and busted lips. Naturally, Midway made every participant sign an agreement holding them blameless for any injuries at this fun and festive event. Best of all, the paintball 'party' left these real estate 'professionals' looking like mixed martial arts fighters who ended up on the losing end of a fight.

some memories of meyerland - circa late 50's-early 60's

separate water fountains - good topic for another thread - I had same experience with my parents as the

poster to this thread who mentioned about it.

At 55, I remember separate water fountains AND laundromats, or washaterias, whatever. My mother yanked me away from a "colored" water fountain when I was about six because I wanted to see what color or colors the water would be when I pressed the button. I envisioned a water rainbow! (The 'colored' water basin was black, btw.) I was further confused when we moved from Ft. Worth to a small town and had to use the local laundromat until our new washer/dryer arrived. In my naivete, I thought my mother could only wash our white laundry there because the sign read "no coloreds." Ah....the innocence of youth.

Just learned something a little odd. Bill List was the biological father of Ron Carlton. Ron was the brother of Debbie Thornton, one of the victims in the Karla Faye pick axe murder. Bill left when Ron was three and he was raised by his step father. The police thought Bill List might have hired someone to kill Debbie because she was to testify against him for tax evasion. Not sure if he was also Debbies father.

I read on-line that Bill List was indeed Debbie Thornton's father. The article pointed out how both father and daughter had died violent deaths. Just 'Google' Debbie Thornton or Carla Faye Baker.

My husband and I drove by 215 Westmoreland just yesterday and it is coming along magnificently. Kudos to the owners of the 'Nash House' for restoring it. The painting seems complete and they are now restoring the railings to the front porch and balcony. Right now they are still natural wood but we're hoping they'll be painted white to match the rest of the house. I promise to take a photo this week and post it for all to see. I do think these homeowners deserve a 'Good Brick' award from the GHPA and will look into finding out criteria for nomination. I cannot believe how far this home has come since we first discovered it driving around one Sunday afternoon almost 3 years ago. What a job!

I got lost in this thread, so interesting. There is a great link with lots of pics of Brownwood before and after.

Get comfortable and get a drink and snack, here it is.

http://www.rice.edu/~lda/wet/index.htm

I'll admit that I'm somewhat Internet-challenged, but I cannot navigate this 'Wet' site. It is confusing as hell - in my opinion - and I think it's a total mess the way it's been built. Can you, BabyJane, or anyone else, give me pointers on how the site works and where I'd find something on Brownwood? Thanks in advance for your help!

Your welcome everyone and I undersand. I actually spent a whole night on this site and was actually surprised when I saw the sun rising, I have learned so many things and a lot of my questions were answered as well and a ton of new questions. I never knew that there use to be a round hosue at the old Katy Repair facility.

I also always wondered what that old house that use to sit at the corner of 610 S, 610 N and Braes bayou use to look like. Now there is just a huge hole there.

Hi Hunter: I'm no expert but I believe the home you're referring to was the old George Meyer home, the man who developed Meyerland. There were some photos here on HAIF by someone who shot the property and remains of the house back in '06, I think. The house had burned many years ago and the property had become a mecca for vagrants, as evidenced by the rusting grocery carts and other 'camping trash' that were captured on film. You could still see the foundation and some of the original tile floors that were in the bathrooms. Try a HAIF search on the George Meyer home.

I can't help but notice that his obituary has no mention of his parents. Gee. I wonder why. You guys can remember him for his car collection if you want. I'll remember him for what he did to his own mother and father. As I recall, he evicted them from a house he owned at the time. I don't remember the details, but it did attract a lot of unwanted attention for Moore.

I think I'm going to research this a bit. Somehow I believe it. He actually looks mean. Check out the obit pic. A true measure of a man is how he treats his family, not how polished his car collection is.

Anyone remember Meyer's Speedway? I told my husband I took drivers ed (Westbury 1969) on a racetrack and he doesn't believe me! It was great! Seems like it was down S. Main past Post Oak by the stadium we used to have our football games at.

Hi Carol!

Somewhere within the Historic section is a BIG thread on Meyer Speedway complete with photos of old racing programs, some of the races themselves and discussions about some of the drivers. I'm not sure exactly how to find it other than checking older pages for it, or maybe trying a search. The search - I think - is a bit 'iffy' as I've searched for topics that I KNOW are on here and that I've read previously but for some reason they don't come up on my search. So I end up scanning page by page until I find what I'm looking for. But again, there is an existing thread on Meyer Speedway that I think you'd really enjoy. It has a lot of information.

Typical Stewardess attire in the mid 60's. Had to be single, no children and beautiful!

Very common to see these ladies around our NEW Intercontinental Airport. This is my big sister.

Vert: Your sister was/is quite the dish! Hubba hubba. The photos are fantastic and thanks for sharing them. I had two older cousins who were 'stews' for Texas International Airlines (now Continental) and I lived in an apartment complex on Westheimer in the 70's where many of my friends flew for Southwest Airlines. They had a much better time than I did.

Foleys Downtown had a great (and cheap!) cafeteria in its basement. Used to meet a friend there for lunch who worked in One Allen Center back in the late 70's. Anyone else eat there?

I hope that is the truth. I heard my info - that the neighbor paid to have it repainted - at a party just down the street from the house, with several of the neighborhood association's officers in on the discussion.

I don't know who's paying for it but there is progress at 215 Westmoreland! My hubby and I drove by today and saw that a light mint green coat of paint had been applied over the white primer. We had to stop and really look to detect the color but it is there. Assuming that more paint applications are to come, it looks like it will be a lovely mint green with white trim. We think it looks great, and there's also progress on the carriage house area. I will snap a pic next time and post it. I do hope they reinstall the upper railings on the second story.

I know it's not officially a 'restaurant,' but does anyone remember Udder Delight homemade ice cream on the Westheimer curve near Montrose, close to Marini's Empanada House? If I recall, they were the original mix-in kind of ice cream shop with a limited number of flavors made fresh daily. Needless to say, their logo involved a spotted cow. It was very popular in the late 70's, early 80's.

How about Hungry International sandwich shop, also on Westheimer near Montrose? They made a great steak hoagie. YUM!

I remember the one at Gessner & Westheimer being named The Great Mining Company. I ate at Baby Doe's Matchless Mine in Dallas when I was a student at Baylor - in Waco. That was a destination for Baylor Bears in the 70's. Waco hadn't had a restaurant boom yet when I was living there.

Here is a video about Baby Doe's closing in Dallas, and it even mentions that it was a tourist spot. And here is a website actually about Baby Doe, but has a page about the restaurants. Scroll down about halfway.

Hereis one of the sleeping porch.. the master bedroom negative was heavly damaged...I will be posting more detail images of the den and dinning room also... story III

Gosh, that was FAST! Thank you so much, Story III. The sleeping porch is very much how I imagined it. Your photo collection is amazing. I actually feel 'lost in time' when I look at these, don't care how corny that sounds. These images are transporting.

I thoroughly enjoyed looking at those historic photos and thanks for sharing them! Are there any photos of the upstairs 'sleeping porch' that I've read so much about or the master suite area? I'd love to see those. And yes I've contributed to and signed the petition to save the JW Mansion.