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I saw a "for rent" sign on the Penguin Arms, 2902 Revere -- the wildest apartment building in Houston, the one that looks like an accordion on its side. Designed by Arthur Moss; built in 1951; so astounding that it appeared as an illustration in the magazine article that gave Googie architecture its name. The weird ruffly curtains were still in the windows, which makes me think that the old lady who owns the place may still live there. Anybody know anything?

Three fonts, free for the asking: https://www.houseind.com/catalog/

The Penguin Arms is at 2902 Revere -- a few blocks east of the West Ave. complex going up on Kirby. It's definitely worth checking out.

I wrote about the building Sunday in the Chron: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/ar...ay/6213541.html Unfortunately, the paper didn't run any images. I've got a couple of nice renderings from a booklet about the opening... but I can't figure out how to upload them. Anybody want to help? And I almost forgot: I asked a couple of readers whether I could share their e-mails with Houston Mod. In this one, Richard Brinlee says that LBJ campaigned at the bank: "Just a quick note to tell you that I truly enjoyed the article in today's paper. It brought back many, many fond memories. "Being in my mid-teens in 1963, I cannot describe how proud we were when it opened. We thought, wow, we are really "on the map" now. I can remember seeing all the important and prominent men and ladies there when I went in with my Mom and Dad. I grew up in Pasadena and still work in Pasadena to this day. (Although I do live in Deer Park). I also remember when LBJ came to Pasadena to deliver a speech in the parking lot of 1st State. They landed the big helicopter just to the side of the bank and I was fortunate enough to be along the roped-off walkway for him as he shook hands with most of us as he made his way to the podium. A day I'll never forget. "I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the 'ol boy is imploded and you can rest assured that I will be there with a tear in my eye. I love Pasadena and its history."

That's in Midtown? Is it still occupied?

Here's a web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/lisa.g.gray/Ca...bZ87pr0YQkrX4Q#

My friend Catherine McIntosh, one of the Chron's photo editors, is selling her house. (See her e-mail below.) I haven't seen the house, but I can vouch that she's got great mid-century taste. (Her dad, Harrison McIntosh, has been a big deal in the Southern California pottery scene since the '40s. Has lots of stuff in museums.) I told her that I'd post her note on this board, and have asked her for photos. She's also looking for help figuring out whether it's really a Floyd. Anybody know off-hand? Or know how to find out? ************************ From: Catherine McIntosh [mailto:cath.mcintosh@earthlink.net] Sent: Wed 11/12/2008 9:53 PM To: Gray, Lisa Subject: our modern home is for sale Lisa, With your interests in architectural preservation, I thought you might know someone interested in buying a 1961 modern home in west Memorial. As you may know, I took the buyout and plan to move back to California in January. Given the looming recession, my husband thinks we should sell quickly to a builder. I hate to see a nice modern torn down and we are considering signing with a realtor. But first we are fishing for interested buyers and trying to decide how to procede. Our home is at 426 E. Gaywood, off Memorial between Beltway 8 and Wilcrest in Rustling Pines. It has GREAT public schools, close to Town&County shopping center, one block from the Audubon Nature Sanctuary and a short walk to Terry Hershey park's 6-mile trail. The house is 2,595 sq. ft. with 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths and a detached garage. The lot is 11,905 sq ft.. We have lived here since 1989. It does need a new roof, but otherwise has only minor defects. We are asking $375,000. If we put it on the market with a realtor, it will list for $400,000. It was probably designed by William Norman Floyd, the architect who designed many homes in Memorial Bend and the surrounding neighborhoods, such as Rustling Pines to the west. I has a low-pitch roof, open flowing living spaces, simple clean built-ins and fixtures and lots of floor-to-ceiling windows. See attached photos. Please feel free to pass this on and have anyone contact me or my husband Charley Tuggle at 713 973-2413. Thanks, Catherine

I was depressed to realize that I couldn't afford a three-bedroom house zoned to a high-achieving school. But Meadowcreek Village, a few miles from Glenbrook Valley, has been good to us since we moved in December. Both my kids are in magnet schools. I like what I've seen of Carnegie, a great science magnet not terribly far from Glenbrook. But I'm still looking for a comparable middle school. (Suggestions, anyone?) ***** As for restaurants... Las Hamacas: A Honduran restaurant at the Monroe exit. Plantains for breakfast! (Alison Cook reviewed it for the Chronicle a few months ago.) Dot Coffee Shop: At I-45 and 610, you can see Houston's best surviving example of Googie architecture -- a style so retro-goofy that I'd like the place even if the food were terrible. But in fact, the food is decent, and often more than decent. (It was the Pappas dynasty's first restaurant, and the family still runs it.) I especially like the homey plate lunches with things like meatloaf and three vegetables. Great green beans, cabbage and fries. Avoid desserts. And be warned: Portions are enormous. Those dinner plates easily feed two people. 888: Chinese food in the Gulfgate Mall area (tucked just behind Dot Coffee Shop). Less Americanized than most Chinese restaurants. (I think Alison Cook reviewed that one, too.) Taqueria Jalisco, Monroe/Winkler/Richey Rd near Forest Oaks: A great taqueria -- the kind that makes its own tortillas while you watch. Very cheap -- I can make lunch off a $2.50 soup, but often add a $1.50 taco. And on the bleak, un-electric Monday after Hurricane Ike, the place was open for breakfast, fresh-squeezed orange juice and all. Knowing a little Spanish helps ("huevos rancheros, por favor"), but isn't necessary. ***** Organic groceries are hard to find. The HEB at Gulfgate stocks some organic produce -- but for really good bread, or esoterica like Brown Cow yogurts, you have to schlep into town. Mi Tienda, HEB's prototype store for serving Hispanic immigrants, doesn't carry anything organic. But for foodies, it's fabulous. As far as I know, it's the only place in Houston where you can buy tortillas made with fresh masa -- a six-inch-tall stack, still warm in their plastic bag, for $2. Terrific ceviche. Great cremas and cheeses. And a juice bar, where you can order "jugo vegetales." Right in front of your eyes, the juice ladies will push hunks of fresh pineapple, celery, carrots, beets and more through the juicer. I feel healthy just thinking about it.

When I talked with the would-be buyers, they were having trouble with their financing. Sigh.

After the Chron article, I had an e-mail from Rob Griffith, of Trellis Properties -- a company that he says restores older homes. He said he and his life partnerhave signed a contract on the place. And his business partner, Rebecca Perez, is even now getting bids to restore the house "to its former glory." I sent him contact info for Houston Mod. And I can't wait to see the place.

It's hard to back up far enough to shoot the entire facade because you run into the bushes that separate the yard from the street. If you're standing on S. Braeswood, looking at the house, the garage would be on your left. The house is on a corner lot, and the garage faces South Rice.

Okay, so it wasn't the best analogy. My point was that it doesn't make sense to save just one building at a time. Unfortunately, it's a concept that I'll probably need to explain again soon. Anybody got a better way to say it?

The U.S. Postal Service is honoring the Eameses: http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm...0,3198801.story The stamps look gorgeous. And unlike most things Eames, they're highly affordable.

Those original photos make me want to weep.

What on earth is that saddle-backed building? And where is it? *** Also: Is the Astrodome Googie on a grand scale? It definitely has the space-age vibe.

Yes -- that's the flying saucer. Doesn't look as Googie as I remembered.... is it me or the aerial photo? What church is that?

An L.A. Times story today -- L.A. Googie tour -- offered a tour of Los Angeles' wildest mod architecture. (Don't miss the photo gallery.) Googie's all Space Age exuberance -- flashy, trashy and low-brow. I love them, and I was wondering whether I could dredge up enough examples to write a Houston tour for the Chron. (I'm tired of writing building obituaries; would rather lavish a little love on them while they're still around.) So: Any favorites out there? Folded roofs? swoopy facades? Any great bowling alleys? signs? service stations? My starting list: The Penguin Arms Dot coffee shop, in front of Gulfgate A great river-rock carwash in Pasadena -- I'll have to drive by for the name and address Would you count the Neuhaus & Taylor office building at 3323 Richmond Ave. -- the flashy white one on stilts, above its own parking lot, with the fab '60s eyebrow overhangs? And did other cities put mid-century office buildings on stilts, to shade their own parking lots? Can there be such a thing as a Googie church? And if so, would you count Park Place Baptist, at 4101 Broadway? What about a Googie bank? like the white one on Washington, across Yale from the Social? And isn't there a flying saucer of a building somewhere in the Fifth Ward? I guess I might count the old Pig Stand on Washington. Although it's been de-pigged, it still has that great, swoopy Coffee Shop lettering.

Sadly, Macy's Classic Stove Works is no longer open. (I heard that the owner retired.) They used to do gorgeous jobs restoring old Chambers stoves.

You might also try the Blodgett St. Store, 2609 Blodgett, 713-204-3296. The little stuffed-to-the-gills place is only open Saturday afternoons, but the sweet talkative proprietor specializes in mid-c furniture and has a great eye. Last time I was there, she had arc lights, Knoll chairs, a Saarinen table. Lots of the stuff needs TLC; the hours are funky; and it's off the beaten track. But the prices definitely reflect all that. There's also the Guild Shop, 2009 Dunlavy, (713)528-5094. It's a consignment shop; selection isn't guaranteed, and again, you might have to do some refinishing or upholstering. But I was in yesterday and saw some great lamps; a kidney-shaped teal sofa; a pair of Danish modern armchairs; and a cheap cheap Emesco aluminum chair.

1. The thermostat isn't functioning, but it's still in the oven. I don't know whether it could be repaired or if you'd have to unearth a replacement. 2. And doh! It's 23.5" wide, 29.25" tall.

Alas: My oven needs a new thermostat, and my homeowners' warranty will pay for a replacement but not a repair. It's a Frigidaire "Deluxe" model, circa 1966. "Product of General Motors," it says on the front. Electric. If you want it, PM me.

It's operated by the Discovery Green Conservancy, a private non-profit. They've been great at fundraising -- good at tapping downtown business interests (which, after all, have an interest in downtown). With the park a roaring success, the conservancy should have no trouble continuing to pump in the money required.

Let me put in a plug for Meadowcreek Village, which I'd never heard of before RPS began showing me houses on the East Side. I moved here in January, and really like it. The Peach Creek house has one of the neighborhood's big lots -- the ones that that back up to a creek or Berry Bayou. To me, those lots seem seriously underappreciated (and thus, hallelujah, underpriced). Berry Bayou was "channelized" back in the '60s, around the time Meadowcreek Village was developed. But it's only paved in a few spots, and is full of wildlife. Ducks waddle down Forest Oaks Blvd., and on Laurel Creek Way, the trees are full of egrets. My kids like to haul stale tortillas to the Forest Oaks bridge and throw pieces to the turtles in the bayou. Most are cute little box turtles. But some are enormous, ancient-looking things, like sea turtles that took a wrong turn. The house on Peach Creek appears to back up to one of the bayou's tributaries, so the water near that ravine is probably even cleaner. (Like almost every body of water near human beings, Berry Bayou suffers from E. coli.) I haven't looked up the Peach Creek house's flood info, but several houses I've checked here aren't in the flood plain. My property line goes smack to the center of the bayou -- so technically, my lot includes both the 500-year and 100-year flood plains. But since my house itself isn't in either of those, I don't pay that hefty premium for flood insurance. The neighborhood is sweet. People wave to me, and kids ride their bikes to the park (though from the Peach Creek house, they'd have to cross busy Allendale). This weekend, our 71-year-old neighbor not only loaned my husband his ladder but came out to help tinker with the trellis. The neighborhood's front-yard aesthetics reflect the residents: a little high-end modernism (I've been admiring the yard that I think belongs to Karen from Mod Pod), but way more garden gnomes and Virgin Mary bird baths. The schools are a drawback -- the stats I saw recently in the Chronicle were appalling -- but my kids were already in magnet schools before we moved, so they've just stayed in the same ones. The bottom line: It's a good place.

I love that Meadowcreek Village house, too. I moved to the nabe in January, and I've been walking past it a few times a week. I never see anyone in the front yard. Lots of the houses here are still occupied by their original owners, but HCAD says that this one has had at least a couple of owners since it was built in '63.

It's gorgeous -- and looks to be in great shape. Did you buy from the original owners? If so, could they (or their heirs? or the neighbors?) give you any hints about the architect?