Used To Be Kinda Spooky Somewhat But Not Anymore

[terrbo]

While out and about Saturday.. and thinking of that party I went to a few times in the early to mid 80's.. that wacky Porno Picnic outdoor party.. that was identified as being on Helena.. I drove down Helena.. for the first time in awhile.

In the 70's.. when I was a bit of a "barfly" at Theodore's around the corner.. one guy I went out with some lived in what I call a "group hippie house" on Helena.. so I was in that neighborhood some and liked that area. In the 70's or so, I used to drive down Helena and it was kinda spooky or eerie, to me. Lots of pretty old looking homes and lots of trees around there.. it kinda looked dark around there..

But not anymore of course.. it's Condo/Townhome city now.

[detached]

I finally found my old photos, taken the Summer of 1996, of the house at the SE corner of McGowan and Helena! I attach a screen shot of the corner as it is now, and 2 composites of the old house that used to be there. The house faced McGowan and the side shots are down Helena Street. I found a similar house to the one that was there in a Sears stock plan book from the early 1900's. Stairway would have been situated on the side of the house where there was a window halfway up the wall. The home had a sleeping porch upstairs at the back, that would allow occupants to put beds there and be cooled by SE Summer breezes. In the same way, the home owners also chose to enclose the upper front porch/gallery with windows that no doubt gave a nice extra bit of living area.

Edited May 9, 2011 by detached

[NenaE]

Thanks for sharing the pictures of the old house, I was always intrigued by similar ones that I saw traveling many times through downtown, viewed from the Pierce Elevated, when I was young.

So many of those houses were so large, hard to upkeep, as they aged. I can recall a few in the East End, of course, all gone now.

The history of Oak Place is something new to me.

[HoustonConfederate]

I finally found my old photos, taken the Summer of 1996, of the house at the SE corner of McGowan and Helena! I attach a screen shot of the corner as it is now, and 2 composites of the old house that used to be there. The house faced McGowan and the side shots are down Helena Street. I found a similar house to the one that was there in a Sears stock plan book from the early 1900's. Stairway would have been situated on the side of the house where there was a window halfway up the wall. The home had a sleeping porch upstairs at the back, that would allow occupants to put beds there and be cooled by SE Summer breezes. In the same way, the home owners also chose to enclose the upper front porch/gallery with windows that no doubt gave a nice extra bit of living area.

Thanks for posting the pictures! What a great house that was. All the windows. Even up in what looks like it was an attic.