NenaE

http://www.garygreene.com/homes/TX/HOUSTON/77021/3932_South_MacGREGOR/13170593099/index.html

 

...ok. Here's the listing for 3932... is that house also part of the original Weingarten estate? On the market at the same time as the huge house. Does anyone know it's story?

Looks like it was bought by George Guy Lavinghousez in 1986. It was built in the early 50's. Shows a cracked slab. Has a pool, but that was filled in a while ago, per GoogleEarth. Has a driveway entrance off of Roseneath. 

Concerning the two properties, it would be nice to see the land bought as a package deal and then sold, in sections. The land deals could fund a restoration of the Weingarten estate, with the front estate view left alone. The overall space would be condensed. Yet, it would still be a nice piece of property. And, at least the main residence and garage apartment would survive. Wishful thinking on my part. 

The appraisal records list the 4000 S. MacGregor Way residence as Superior Quality. I've looked at a lot of appraisal records. I've never seen that description. The condition is listed as very poor. Under extra feature - cracked beam - crawl space.

Didn't this place burn up a few weeks ago??

I believe the fire was next door, or very close to the Finger property.

http://www.garygreene.com/homes/TX/HOUSTON/77021/3932_South_MacGREGOR/13170593099/index.html

...ok. Here's the listing for 3932... is that house also part of the original Weingarten estate? On the market at the same time as the huge house. Does anyone know it's story?

 

BOTH lots are now for sale. 

 

MLS:

3932 S MACGREGOR WAY - 69,024 SF - MLS 37058649

4000 S MACGREGOR WAY - 205,838 SF - MLS 70593099

 

The two lots.

yeah... that will be a hard one to take. I could see the house staying, and the back part sold for development, though, and maybe the side lot too. It is listed as two separate lots.

Gulfgate HEB is a good ways away. I could see another one being built, especially with the UH status change/ growth and EE development.They should do it. The good thing about HEB is that they poll neighborhoods of each targeted area, to see what they want in a future store. 

As appealing as it sounds to have someone buy up and restore it to it's former grandeur, it is a goner.

Is this a fact or speculation based on Houston's past tract record? pun intended.

Great plan for the reuse of the Fingers property. I hope to see it actually developed soon by some company. I've read so many posts about the need for updated grocery stores in the area. 

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2014/07/historic-weingarten-home-on-the-market-after-almost-five-decades/#25292101=14

 

Article about it in the Chronicle.

Thanks to you both for the info. 

I've always wanted to see the interior. Those time warp pictures in the listing are interesting. Did you see the dining room table and the study's leather furniture?  Didn't see any kitchen shots. Must be in bad shape.

I never realized the property had such a slope. Makes sense, looks like a gully runs through those trees. Are there any restrictions on fences in Riverside Terrace? I always wondered why there was never one surrounding the property. 

Hard to get a picture of it but the whole most of the back portion on that one wall is now stripped!

 

 

2014-06-17 20.05.32 by marclongoria, on Flickr

 

2014-06-17 20.11.58 by marclongoria, on Flickr

I don't altogether dislike this building. The side facade is rather nice. I see those colors used quite a bit, in new construction. 

So, it looks like the horse trails (that originally ran through much of that land) next to the polo field are still used. Anyone seen any lately? I've never spotted any from the parkway. 

Hardy at Opelousas - Old Fifth Ward

Hardy at Opelousas - Second View

Brays Bayou - Daniel Shipman Labor Survey

isuredid or someone... do you have any idea what this buildings name was? It's very old.I recently ran across it on GoogleEarth, was intrigued.

Torimask- Cleburnes is still there... second location. The first location (on Cleburne) is rumored to have been a speakeasy. It's one of my favorite topics on HAIF. It was recently painted white, much to my disappointment. Great list, thanks for sharing.

DebbieW - Welcome to HAIF... yes, I am familiar with that McDonalds. I took HCC classes in a '70's (4 story?) office bldg. (now demolished) across from it. 

House used in the movie Jason's Lyric (Jada Pinkett) - Sauer and Tuam - Third Ward

2817 Sauer ...for sale: http://search.har.com/engine/2817-Sauer-St-Houston-TX-77004_HAR27062987.htm

Voice St. Of Houston was the name listed with the property on Swamplot.

The last part is a little over the top. It's not the soul of Houston. The title of "soul" should go to a place that has some connection to everybody like downtown, not a gift offering to assuage historical guilt.

The third sentence was right on, however.

There are obviously many definitions of the soul of Houston. I was furnishing one interpretation of what some Houstonians deem worthy. I was hoping to point out what we stand to lose (the two 1870's buildings are not in their original locations, one is a townhouse, the other an empty lot). The same argument can be made for each immediate area surrounding Downtown proper. Some areas seemed to flow from it, until the freeways cut them up. Some have always had natural and man-made borders that have isolated them. My fear is that the third sentence made not be accurate, in the near future. 

The Fourth Ward - (or whatever name it's called now) - I've read that some of the area was gifted, but not all of it. Naturally, integration brought changes. But landlords have had something to do with it, as well. 

"Its residents are caught in speculation and the absentee property owners are having buildings condemned rather than initiating improvements, waiting for the time when the land can be sold for big building"... Peter C.Papademetriou - Houston, an architectural guide (1972)

It is my hope that the small cottage got moved not dozed and the red bricks stay. Is it not possible to run the utilities under the sidewalks on these two streets? I don't have a clue how it works. I just know that I have come to appreciate the historical  blue-collar workers tiny dwelling more than the elite Houston mansion. 

The soul of Houston to me, personally, lies in the bayou and land of Harrisburg, Texas, or maybe the music of the Eldorado Ballroom. 

I liked going to Bill Williams restaurant on OST right before Southpark, across the street from MacGregor Park.

I saw that 1950's restaurant listed for demolition on Swamplot.  5080 O.S.T at M.L.K. (previously S.Park)

Arche_757 - I do agree that it is under utilized. I wonder if restrictions keep the city from doing too much. Or if they just chose to put all the money into Hermann Park.

I've never understood why the City of Houston ever allowed Memorial Park to be such an overgrown "woodland" anyway?  Most of the park is not useable, and the portions that are accessible to the public are right on top of two major roads that bisect the park into a north/south portion.

...

 

And where were these people during the previous phases of development along Buffalo Bayou?

I believe there was a clause in the deed to will the land to the city, by the Hogg estate. They wanted it to be a park, to honor returning soldiers.

... I've often wondered why that section of BB was left untouched, as well. 

809 Robin St. - c.1870's  - example of the Gulf Coast cottage (very small house, similar to the shotgun style, has side-facing gables) 

1318 Andrews St. - c.1870's - oldest datable building in Fourth Ward. 

"North of the Montrose neighborhoods lies the community now called Fourth Ward, the oldest black neighborhood in Houston. Fourth Ward is the antithesis of the popular image of Houston. It embodies everything the the city is supposed to lack: tradition, history, a stable, rooted community culture. Fourth Ward, because it is black and poor, has endured official neglect for most of its history, yet it is the most moving place in the city. It is, as the novelist Olive Hershey observed, the soul of Houston."  

Stephen Fox, AIA - Houston Architectual Guide, 2nd edition

Surely, a compromise can be reached. The area has already lost so much of it's history. Some of the remaining historical sites are on intersections. At least in these areas, the brick streets should be left undisturbed. 500 historically designated structures reduced to 35, shameful statistics. I plead, please save some of each ward's distinguishing characteristics. 

How did the 6th Ward's historical district address the utility updates, and not disturb the brick streets?

There were 2 other Longhorn Cafés. One was on Edgebrook (SE side) and another on Richmond. The second location may have turned into the Cyclone Anaya's. Guessing, on that one.

Chicken fried steak was the plate I remember.

I passed by that property after one of the bad, recent yr. hurricanes. It had a mangled piece of metal high up in the tree. Kinda scary, being so close to the water. Keep us posted on the goings-on. 

well, unless I'm writing a rent check, I'll continue to refer to it as The Rice Hotel.

Smith at Elgin. is it still there? The restoration was nice. Once again...Too bad they want to wreck it.  looks like it was originally a grocery store. In the '70's there was a pet store with an animal yard out back. Think it may have been in this bldg. Anyone remember?