livinginEastwood

That's just too far...

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The Lockwood/Harrisburg site (formerly Stewart & Stevenson) has been shopped for years for a grocery store.

Kroger would be a prime candidate with a Signature Store (and close the Krappy Kroger on Cullen & Polk) but they have

not been interested. WalMart's neighborhood grocery store looked seriously at the site, but then passed. There aren't

any other grocery chains left. HEB has their mega store in Gulfgate and has ditched the Pantry concept. My suggestion is

that everyone who would like a decent store to start contacting Kroger and put some pressure on them--the morons at

the Cullen/Polk store can't even pick up the shopping carts that are all over the neighborhood. Also, my understanding

is that the owner of the S&S property (Frank Liu) might be in some financial binds because of all the raw land he owns

in town--I hope that's not the case, but we'll see in the next year.

My cousin just moved in to the Eastwood area and is looking for a cool chill bar to go to? Can you please let me know where I can find any?

The only I know of is Lucky's.

Thanks.

Don't know if anyone ever responded to you. Bohemeo's on Telephone is a grat coffee house/wine/beer/live music venue. Many of the local ice houses (like Mac's on McKinney near Cullen) are very friendly to newcomers to the area.

Then why is there a bunch of craftsman style woodwork in the living/dining room, and why did you put in a craftsman style vanity?

I hate to be this way, but it's my restoration and I do whatever I'm in the mood to do--that's a luxury that I have. I answered your question, now, please answer my original question: have you ever restored or renovated a house to put on the market for re-sale?

Hi Victoria,

Thanks for your e-mail. Apparently after I contacted you on city-data, one of the

other posters didn't like our talking and banned me for advertising spam--see

how some of these sites work? Please feel free to contact me here or at my e-mail

address: Garlandcompany@aol.com.

Thanks,

Bill England

The cabinet doors look like something that can be had at Home Depot, and are quite jarring when considering the craftsman style of the woodwork in the rest of the house. Why anyone would custom order those cabinet doors to go in a house where all the rest of the woodwork is a Craftsman style, I have no idea. Hello?!?! Shaker style doors! And for the love of all that which is sacred, why do people put in granite countertops and then not use an undermount sink?! It makes it look like you're cutting corners. Is there a tile backsplash in the kitchen? It looks like there isn't. Again...makes it look low end.

The vanity is nice, and so are the hex tiles on the floor.

The fact that there's a window in the shower is a maintenace nighmare...but it is a pretty window. Too bad it'll be rotten in a decade or less. The uni-knob control for the shower and generally stingy use of tile on the bathroom walls gives it a low end feel.

Thanks for your inpuit. The kitchen cabinets are done for resale purposes only--one cannot do personal selections in a spec property--I did Shaker-styled cabinets in one house and absolutely everyone who looked at the house hated the look. They wanted something more versatile. I personally am not crazy about granite countertops--but that's what people want. I personally don't like undermount sinks and have only had one buyer who wanted an undermount--so that's again a personal issue. The backsplash is being left up to the buyer--My preference is subway tile--I hate when people put tumbled stone backsplashes in these houses. The window in the guest bath will be covered with a sealed piece of glass--again waiting for a buyer to customize that. The single-lever shower control is my personal choice--there is tub to ceiling subway tile (expensive, by the way) so I'm not sure what you mean by stingy use. If you mean tiling all the walls with subway tile--well let's just go to a Shell service station bathroom then--I hate the sterility of it. As you can see, these are all personal issues. I do have a question--and I'm asking this for no reason other than just to ask: have you ever restored a house to sell? You quickly learn that your personal tastes don't always translate in what buyers like. They want a nice, fresh blank canvas that they can personalize themselves.

Really great that someone documented this neat little school as you did.

If you can believe, the school was so tiny that we had to go to JP Henderson because this one was at full capacity in 1968. It wasnt until 69 we were able to then register at Cage. I still remember us kids sitting on those steep stairs at the entrance while mom's chatted below with teachers.

The dodge ball used to pound that wall where that water fountain is. Thats where Ms Kriskie (with cat eye glasses) had the ball hit her as she sipped water. It was like the end of the world for the kid that threw it or so it seemed. Directly to the left of that fountain is where several portable class rooms stood.

Sadly enough hurricane Ike wrecked this place even more. Good thing you took pictures. There once were several people on Haif that said they were part of the org that helped stop demolition once or at least have it registered as historical landmark? They seem to have vanished from Haif though?

The cafeteria was where most of the other action occurred especially the plays and celebrations. We all once had to wear costumes of the solar universe. Our outfits were made of crepe paper etc. It was really camp but fun. The cooks made some of the best vegetable soup ever! Imagine it was only 15 cents!

Historic Houston has been working for several years to purchase this property. The last time I checked with HH, HISD had thrown a monkey wrench in to the process. I'll find out this week and report back. Historic Houston would be a wonderful addition to the neighborhood and would be a great steward of the property.

HUUUUUUGE price cut on this listing. We're down to $260k now. I figured that was coming given the location, square footage, and quality (or lack thereof) of the remodel. The trim work in the living/dining is great. But I think they gave up and just schlepped Home Despot crap in when they got to the kitchen and bathrooms. Too bad. I think they could've gotten the $260k number if they had carried that level of finish all the way through.

Actually there's very little in the house from Home Depot--and I do resent the way people who have no knowledge of renovations use that as a slur. The kitchen is a custom design that does use KraftMade cabinets, the countertops are Absolute Black granite, the Craftsman vanity in the master bath was a custom ordered item. As anyone who is familiar with my houses knows, I do restorations--I don't do "flips". I buy the crappiest houses on the blocks in Eastwood and restore them so the rest of the block starts to look better, too. There are many homes to be restored to take Eastwood back to its former beauty and I would welcome any other interested neighbors or investors to come in and put your money where your mouth is.

I had heard that the house was moved from the Heights (or the Heights area) and intentionally put on the lot backwards.

I'm Bill England--I restored the home you're wondering about on Walker Street. The house was

moved in (I was told from West U, but I think the house is a little too old to have been in West U)

in 1988. It was intentionally placed backwards on the lot--have no clue as to why it was done that

way. When I purchasd the property, I was faced with the decision to create a stage-set bungalow

facade to the existing house (which, of course, had a strange floorplan) or have the house turned

around on the lot--I chose to turn it around.

The Garland Co's latest rehab across the street from me is now on the market. Just noticed the Greenwood King sign out in the yard--interesting because the last few were all private sales.

My, how the prices are going up. We watched the whole thing get re-done, and the guys who re-created the period woodwork did a really nice job. This place was called the bait camp. The house sat backwards on the lot. It was cool watching the Cherry Demo guys turn the house. The lot is huge. It gives me lot envy.

http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cf...mp;backButton=Y

Thanks for the kind words. The price that had been on HAR was for the house and the adjoining lot--it is now being split

to just reference the house on its 4800 +/- square foot lot at 259,900 (HAR still has the wrong square footage on the revised

listing) and the adjoining lot will be sold separately. Several potential buyers have not wanted the extra lot--which I find very

difficult to understand, but they just can't get their arms around an empty lot, even though they lose total control as to what happens right next to them

Yeah, I've heard that this was owned by a local artist and used as a studio.

The old Sterling Laundry was purchased quite a few years ago by William Steen, an artist and worked for The Menil Collection. He used the building as his studio and residence. When he moved to NYC 2 or 3 years ago, the property was sold to a woman who's late husband had been a fairly important artist in Houston. The building sold for somewhere in the neighborhood of $230,000. She lives in the building (it's really quite wonderful inside) and uses it as a gallery for her late husband's artwork. But be prepared--it and the building to the west are scheduled to be purchased by METRO and demolished for right-of-way for the new Harrisburg Lite Rail. Much of the face of Harrisburg will change--some for the better/some not so.

Yeah, I'm not really crazy about the interior either. (hardwoods in a bathroom = really bad idea!) However, I'm glad that someone at least had the vision to save this house and make a positive contribution to the area. Even with the cheap kitchen, this house will attract the upscale buyers that so many people in the East End are hoping for, whereas very few people would touch this house prior to the remodel. Besides, I'm sure some future owner will change stuff on the interior to fit their individual tastes.

As a long-time resident of Eastwood and one who has restored many homes in the area, I take great exception to the catty comments regarding the house on the corner of Bell and Dumble (no, it is not one of my restorations). Anyone who comes into this neighborhood and sinks the money that was put into that house--close to $100,000--should be congratulated, not given petty criticisms about the stupid bathroom sinks. If you think you can do better--and make a profit--come, buy a house and see how difficult it really is. Until then--keep your opinions to yourself. Most of you on this site are armchair quarterbacks who've never done anything to preserve a neighborhood. So my suggestion is that you put your money where you mouth is. AND thank the people who are doing their best to preserve Eastwood and the surrounding neighborhoods rather than scraping the lots and building the junk we see in Montrose and The Heights.

The land for the long-time Houston watering hole The Stables at South Main and Greenbriar was sold yesterday. Witness once again the suburbs invading Houston. Who in the world needs all these branch banks!!

I did some "googling" and apparently Crain was also involved in building in Garden Oaks as well.

Yes, I understand parts of Garden Oaks were a Crain development. But their original planbook--of which I have a VERY poorly Xeroxed copy only lists Pineview Place, Southside Place, Brady Place and Cherryhurst. When I bought my first rental house in Pineview I actually would squint and imagine what the neighborhood must have looked like in its heyday. the paved driveways, rear-loading garages--it was a very nice neighborhood.

The 11th Annual Eastwood Historic Homes Tour will be

Saturday & Sunday, October 21 & 22 from 12 noon to 5 pm.

This year's theme is "Celebrating the Bungalow". It seems like

a timely topic with the mass destruction of Houston's beautiful

bungalows taking place throughout the city.

There will be six bungalows dating from 1911 to 1926.

Tickets are $10 and may be purchased on tour days at

Church of the Redeemer, Episcopal, 4411 Dallas Street.

Tickets will be sold on the Telephone Road side of the church.

Eastwood is one of Houston's first master-planned communities,

developed by William Wilson in 1911.

For more information, call Bill England at 713-412-8861 or 713-926-4307.

Hope to see you there!

Prior to being a Days Inn, the building was a Holiday Inn. I used to live at 2016 Main when it was still functioning as a Holiday Inn and it was maintained pretty well. That was in the early 80's and then the oil bust hit.

The guy from Brinks alarm that sold me my system grew up in Pineview Place 50+ years ago. He was telling me what a nice place it was when he was a kid. His parents looked at homes in Pineview and Idylwood. Back then they were the same price. His grandmother lived with them and wanted the better bus access at Pineview so that is why they bought there.

Just saw this category for Pineview Place. If no one has said this before, let me give you some background on the neighborhood. It was developed by Crain Ready-Cut House Company--their manufacturing plant was across Harrisburg. Crain Ready-Cut House Company also developed Cherryhurst (where you'll see many of the same house plans though in much better condition) and Southside Place near West U. I've owned several homes in the neighborhood over the years (as rentals), but did get the chance to visit with some of the original owners 15 or 20 years ago. One of them was a lady who had lived in her home (it was on Jamaica, I believe) since 1926 and she was selling her home to move to Florida to be near her son. She had a 1972 Mercedes sedan in her garage with 24,000 miles on it! This was a lovely neighborhood in its day and could be again.

Hi there. I'm new to this site, but really enjoying the forums. In case anyone might be interested, the 11th Annual Eastwood Historic Homes Tour will be Saturday and Sunday, October 21 & 22 from 12 noon to 5 pm. This year's tour will the"Celebrating Bungalows". It seemed a timely topic considering all the uproar in town over the loss of so many of Houston's beautiful bungalows. There will be six bungalows dating from 1911 to 1926. Tickets are $10 for all homes and will be sold on tour days at Redeemer Episcopal Church, 4411 Dallas Street (ticket sales will be on the Telephone Road entrance to the church). There will also be a table for residents in Eastwood to sign the petitions for the renewal of the deed restrictions (some of the oldest, continuously-enforced restrictions in Houston, dating from 1913). Hope to see you there!