Toulouse

Torch Song (1953) with Joan Crawford has some great mod interiors. There is one scene in her apartment where she's having a cocktail party. It shows several rooms in the apartment and all are over the top mod....pull down lamps, wall hangings, cool furniture, clothing. There's even a smart jazz ensemble playing mod tunes at the party.

As you may have read in a previous post, I recently had a pipe burst in my super mod house in Glenbrook Valley. The water damaged my fritz tile and I think my replace value insurance will replace it. I wasn't happy with fritz tile, and I'm considering polished concrete in all the areas that will be replaced. Does anyone have any experience with this flooring ?

Specific questions:

I've heard it can be hardened and made more dense so that it isn't as porous as regular conctrete ?

I've seen commercial instalations that looked ok, but have heard polished concrete can be made to look like poured terrazzo ?

Please let me know of any experience you've had with it, and your observations. I'm getting antsy to pull this place together again.

I bought a mod house in Glenbrook Valley over 2 years ago and had 2000 square feet of Fritz Tile installed. I have not been happy with it at all. After about 6 months the colored stones started getting darker in some areas. I contacted Fritz Tile headquarters and they told me it wasn't their problem and offered no help at all. According to them, the problem was my slab, which they claim was having moisture issues, therefore affecting the tile. The dealer that installed my floor did offer to replace the damaged tiles. I decided not to replace since it would cause such a disruption. Last weekend I was out of town and an upstairs bathroom pipe burst, causing the ceiling below to collapse and much of the tile to be additionally damaged. I was not surprised to see that many of the tiles buckled up, like paper or cardboard would do. I will likely have it replaced with some sort of terrazzo tile, but definitely not Fritz Tile. The way it buckled led me to believe that fritz tile isn't precast terrazzo, but some other material that isn't nearly as durable as stone.

If you are looking for terrazzo I would strongly urge staying away from Fritztile.

My last house was a cool little ranch between Donna Bell and TC Jester West in Oak Forest. I liked it alot over there, but McMansions are taking over in a big way. I don't think Shepherd Forest has the McMansion problem yet.

There is a neighborhood just west of Oak Forest called Mangum Manor. One street in that neighborhood had to be Parade of Homes because there are about 5 or 6 mods in a row on that street. Most appear to be in the hands of good owners. Can't remember the name of the street but next time I'm in the area I'll snap some photos.

My Glenbrook Valley house was built in 1955. In 1960, the original owner added a gameroom over the garage which is now called "The Kit Kat Lounge". It still contains the original furnishings. After the 2nd owner's (Mrs. Peggy Nelson) husband died in 1974, Mrs. Nelson added a vapor light to the front and back of the house. I guess with these tragic irreparable additions that have happened over the last 48 years, I need to get the house demolished. Oh...wait, it could be one of the 20 in Section 1 that the previous poster has deemed "worth saving".

These photos were taken last Saturday and cleaning up the outside. Finally it is looking a lot better but I need some folks to volunteer to do the yard at least once for the backyard and we don't have lawn equipment to do it and I am sure our dear friends would love to do it for at least once and we'll have a outing soon in helping us do the yard.

The yard needs to be mowed, weed eat, edged, and it will help keep mice and bugs away from the house because the grass will be shorter and nicer. Then we can do more things to it.

Please anyone? I know some of our new friends do have lawn equipment and the backyard is something i am worried about. Because grass is so tall and not sure if any lawn mower will just cut it. Will probably need a commercial lawn mower. Anyone have it? or just try and see if a regular mower will work.

JMT:

A group of your Glenbrook Valley neighbors will help out on Saturday. I'll get with you later in the week to let you know what time we'll be over with lawn equipment.

i want to hear more about glenbrook too. i'm about to become a new homeowner (hopefully me and the SO will close on the 7510 Cayton property at the end of October/first week of Nov) and I know nothing about this area as well...

i do want to add - is there anything comparable to whole foods/organic food, et cetera in this area?

thnx.

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Welcome to the neighborhood AJM ! I hope you'll like it as much as I do. There is a very nice signature Kroger on South BW8 and Gulf Freeway. It's about a 5-10 minute drive on the freeway. They should have anything you need. While you're there, killl 2 birds with one stone and hit 2 Brothers Pasta for lunch or dinner. Great little mom and pop Italian !

I'm with the "just clean it up" crowd. A purist's dream....a livable time machine. I really love this house!

Sorry to say the contract with the couple that was going to fix this up right fell thru. It's back on the market. Someone please save this little gem !

If I wasn't already up to my ears in mod I would.

The word on the street in Glenbrook is that this little gem will have a happy ending. A young couple that are into mod design apparently have a contract on it. Let's hope they get it ! I'd love to see this house done up !

Does anyone know the date of the date of the next Glenbrook Valley Civic Meeting. Have lived here over a year and have not made it to one, but want to know what is going on over here so I want to make it a point to attend the next one. At times it looks like things are getting better over here and other times not so much. Does anyone have an opinion?

Howeth:

The next general meeting is September 18. There will not be much business conducted at that one because it's the annual covered dish and Bingo. I'm not at all a fan of bingo but I had a great time last year and won a 50.00 gift card to 888. The ladies in the Civic Club put on quite a spread of great home cooking too. As far as Glenbrook getting better, in my section people are moving in that take great care of their yards and are restoring their houses to the original ranch and mod granduer. Since I moved in 04/07...I have become good friends with new owners of at least 10 houses north of Bellfort. I consider that pretty good for 1 year. There is a group of new residents that have formed the Glenbrook Valley Supper Club. We go to local restaurants monthly and usually have 20-25 people in attendance. For the next 2 months different Sections are planning Progressive Dinner Parties.

If you are south of Bellfort theres alot going on there to with the effort to get Historic Neighborhood status for the 1956 Parade of Homes street, Cayton.

If you don't get the Monthly Newsletter email me and I'll see that you are put on the list.

The location of the house really isn't bad. It's on Cayton Street which is loaded with small mods that haven't been modified with exception of 1 or 2. Cayton is in the process of undergoing consideration for Historic Neighborhood Designation. Hopefully by getting that designation it will create some pride inthe homeowners to take better care of their yards and building exteriors.

I've been in this little house several times over the last couple of weeks. It has tons of potential. Nothing..Nothing has been modified. As RPS stated, the garage is unfortunate. I think they built it that way because the lot is in an unusual position. It's placed between the back of 2 homes, so it is essentially in 2 backyards, but still faces the street. Across the street 2 of the best mods on the Parade of Homes were demolished to build a high school track. Therefore, the front faces the track, but there are no windows in the front so that might not matter. All of the windows face a courtyard (behind the garage which I assume the original owners used as additional auto space since it's cement. The windows facing the courtyard are practically ceiling to floor. To take out the cement in courtyard and landscape that area would be a 100% improvement and would really be the centerpiece of the living area.

I think the unfortunate placement of lot could be mitigated with some cool Mod looking fencing and landscaping.

I got a couple of pics but only of the 1959 Turquoise Cadillac in my driveway. I'm very camera challenged...but as soon as I get the disposable camera developed I'll post the Caddy.

I had a blast at this event.....over 25 Glenbrook residents met at Stolitx's for brunch prior to the open houses. Stolitx and the owners of the Precipitron House on Glenview definitely overserved us their refreshing Peach and Orange Mimosa's. A couple of fellow HAIFer's asked for a tour of my house during the event. About 15 toured my house and caught a glimpse of the Kit Kat Lounge upstairs. Based on their feedback..the day in Glenbrook appears to have been enjoyed by all. Next time I'll serve refreshments for HAIFer's in the Kit Kat Lounge !

The Mod of the Month on Arletta is at the end of a culdesac on a secluded street. It's a desirable location in Glenbrook Valley that's booming with new modsters. The Rancho Deluxe on Stony Dell has gigantic rooms, and is on a street with topography that is rare in Houston. It's similiar to the lots in Idylwood that overlook the golfcourse. If you go inside the Stony Dell house do yourself a favor and walk around the yard. From the backyard there's a view of the back of one of Glenbrooks finest mods, one of the Glenview Parade of Homes House from 1954, and also next door to the "Multi Levels of Living House".

Don't miss this chance to see several different styles of homes in Glenbrook. The residents of the hood will be out in force. Several of us have set up private tours of our homes at the request of other HAIFERS. You might see us walking around with Peach Mimosa's !

Looking forward to seeing you all !

Thanks for the offer. I really don't have any additional pics, but I can get them. I'll get the owner's permission over the weekend. If you would be willing to help get them uploaded here, I would appreciate it. This is my first time using this sort of forum and the picture thing seems to give me a lot of trouble when I try it. I will take the pics and send them to you if you can help.

SClark:

Be sure and get some good shots of the floor. For the most part people on this board really appreciate terrazzo flooring that is poured in place and is in excellent condition like it is in this house.

I went to the estate sale at this house last friday. The poured in place terrazzo is absolutley beautiful. It is a creamy color with hints of very light blue and very light pink in the stones. The rocks are huge ! I had to return to the estate on saturday just to look at the floors again. The bathrooms are all original too. Very cool house. I wish Glenbrook could claim it.

In Glenbrook Valley there was a house torn down in the culdesac of Colgate on Sims Bayou. For Glenbrook, the most tragic teardowns were on Cayton where it turns into Wilmerdean. 3 houses on the 1954 Parade of Homes.....gone....to build a high school track. One of the houses was called "The House of Ideas". It had a 4 level flat roof and 2 courtyards enclosed with cedar. In the broschure it looks absolutley fabulous. Check it out on page 17 of the Pararde of Homes booklet at Glenbrook Valley.com. Also check out the " The Texan Americana" on page 8. It should be up for sale soon. I peeked in the windows and it appears to be a mess..but completely original and completely mod. The exterior doesn't look like the picture in the broschure unfortunately. It's on a very strange lot so the drive through carport had to be modified when built.

I can't find it on HAR.com What's the asking price?

Pokeyhawk it's for sale by owner so it probably won't show up on HAR. The number to call on the for sale sign is 832-282-4523.

There is a super cool mod for sale by owner at 7703 Glenlea. I don't have any pics or scoop about the house but rps probably does. There is an exterior picture of the house on www.glenbrookvalley.com. It's in the section that is trying to get designated historic district status. If you know someone that wants a mod that likely won't break the bank this might be their chance !

I arrived at the sale 2 hours after it started. There may have been things that got grabbed earlier but by the time I got there nothing was left except junk in bad shape. There were a couple of buffets and side table that were cool, but they were in such bad shape I had no interest. I did get 2 pieces of art that are very cool. Wooden boards with an abstact cork sculpture. It was also very dusty in the building so I could barely breath for the rest of the day.

I live in Glenbrook and use what I think is Park Place for shortcuts to some of my haunts. If I am leaving Hobby and turn left onto Dixie from Broadway, is that neighborhood Park Place ? If so where does it stop being Park Place and become Santa Rosa ? Also, is there a neighborhood called Reveille/Park Place ?

I like that area on the other side of Broadway from Glenbrook and really wish it would pick up. There are some very cool 40's or 50's ranches back in there that haven't been violated on the exterior. Many have cool mod features. The retail on Park Place Blvd is all so trashy looking but some of the buildings are super cool. I hope the quickly coming back Glenbrook Valley will lead some towards Park Place and Santa Rosa so that the retail will pick up on Park Place BLvd as well as Broadway Blvd.

Sorry no pics. Didn't think I'd need a camera in Port Arthur.

I went to Port Arthur for the first time in my life Saturday. Just as you enter the town, there is a beautiful mod hood on both sides of Hwy 96. I rode around for about 20 minutes and it was amazing....flat roofs, butterfly roofs, no windows, cool doors. There really weren't any houses that had been violated on the outside very badly and most of the yards were well kept. If you are ever in that part of Texas it's definitely worth checking out. I can't think of a neighborhood in Houston to compare this one too, but it most similiar to Cayton in Glenbrook althought the houses in this Port Arthur hood are more atomic and the yards are larger.

It was Mod of the Month when I bought it. If you go to HAR.com, click on single family homes, then enter Santa Elena in the address field. Street number 7911. The before pics of the house will show up there. Alot of work has been done since those pics and the furniture that I have is much more appropriate for the mod look of the house. The bar room, which fellow Glenbrook residents refer to as the Kit Kat Lounge is unchanged other being less cluttered. I got all of the furniture in that room with the house with exception of the juke box which I didn't want. Although the Kit Kat Lounge is less cluttered now, it has become quite the party headquarters for many Glenbrook residents and their friends.

The Stoneydell house you are asking about is 8123. It's the one on the left if you are facing the house. It originally had a metalic sculpture on the left corner that pointed outward in a triangular position. It was attached to the house and a tree was growing up through it. My understanding is that the current owners removed it and are using it as a sculpture in the backyard beside the pool. I've never been in the house but I did see the "Four Levels of Living" article and it sounds like it would be very cool.

OK I may be missing something here..but...the right hand column, 8 houses down, with no address...is indeed 7911 Santa Elena. Believe me I know. I live in it. That is the view from Glendell Court and is technically the side yard.