Mod remuddles

[rps324]

Okay, I am just b**chin'

What is wrong with people? A friend of Murphygirl sent me a circa 1958 photo of his Grandmother's house in Glenbrook Valley. One of the 1954 Parade of Homes (not to be confused with the 1956 ones on Cayton). It used to be a great mod, but now....it has been adorned with a hip roof complete with dormers.

The home was the "Fashion Time Show House" and furnished by Stower's for the show. Designed by Crochett & Carroll.

It originally looked like this

on the 7900 block of Glenview looking towards Glencrest. I can't believe how few trees there were back then.

In later years it looked similar. I tried to get the owners to sell since it was obviously a very cool mod.

But nooooo. They had other ideas....

Ewwwww!

[sevfiv]

Wow. Just wow. At least we have a picture of what it used to look like

[crunchtastic]

Those dormers are just so out of scale, tiny and sad.

I have an aunt and uncle who live just outside of Beaumont, and their place looks strikingly similar to the the original house in the photo--custom built in 1960, I believe. They lost the roof in Rita, and guess what the new roof looks like?? Complete with those ridiculous dormers!

[NenaE]

What is wrong with people? A friend of Murphygirl sent me a circa 1958 photo of his Grandmother's house in Glenbrook Valley. One of the 1954 Parade of Homes (not to be confused with the 1956 ones on Cayton). It used to be a great mod, but now....it has been adorned with a hip roof complete with dormers.

That's just wrong!!! They know not what they do. Thanks rps324, for trying, & for sharing the great early photo of the nabe. This goes along with my theory that most people do not have an eye for design. (Proof is constantly seen in the HAR pics). Dormers on a mod?????

[lgg]

Those original photos make me want to weep.

[hadooga]

Wow.

The dormers are so out of scale, like crunchtastic said. It's like tiny bits of the house are trying to escape.

[Dan the Man]

Hey, this one also has the true sign of a remuddel - the oval glass front door from Home Depot!

[Happy Historian]

I love the $300 Home Depot designer Stanley prehung steel door that replaced the pair of solid wood custom doors. They also removed/boarded over most of the windows to the sunken den at the left. Last time I read any design texts, light was a good thing! This room had solid glass 10" tall along the entire east wall that opened to a tiled private patio. Behind this den across a tiled platform was a dining room surrounded by frosted glass interior partitions. This was an open and happy home then. This house also had a novel whole house music/intercom system controlled from the kitchen in 1955.

Okay, I am just b**chin'

What is wrong with people? A friend of Murphygirl sent me a circa 1958 photo of his Grandmother's house in Glenbrook Valley. One of the 1954 Parade of Homes (not to be confused with the 1956 ones on Cayton). It used to be a great mod, but now....it has been adorned with a hip roof complete with dormers.

The home was the "Fashion Time Show House" and furnished by Stower's for the show. Designed by Crochett & Carroll.

It originally looked like this

on the 7900 block of Glenview looking towards Glencrest. I can't believe how few trees there were back then.

In later years it looked similar. I tried to get the owners to sell since it was obviously a very cool mod.

But nooooo. They had other ideas....

Ewwwww!

[sevfiv]

I love the $300 Home Depot designer Stanley prehung steel door that replaced the pair of solid wood custom doors. They also removed/boarded over most of the windows to the sunken den at the left. Last time I read any design texts, light was a good thing! This room had solid glass 10" tall along the entire east wall that opened to a tiled private patio. Behind this den across a tiled platform was a dining room surrounded by frosted glass interior partitions. This was an open and happy home then. This house also had a novel whole house music/intercom system controlled from the kitchen in 1955.

Thanks for sharing information about the home, and welcome to HAIF!

[20thStDad]

I'm not really a mod guy, but that does look bad. It's like a bad botox job, should never even have thought about it.

[Subdude]

Gee, the round window or decoration or whatever it is under the eaves facing the street is a nice touch.

[BryanS]

I would put this is the category of "functional" albeit ugly, remodel. This house does not have a hip roof. It still has a gable-style roof. If you look at the original roof pitch (which was very low) - you can't use shingles with anything less than 3:12 pitch. So they probably had a number of leaks (with an old tar and gravel

[rps324]

I would put this is the category of "functional" albeit ugly, remodel. This house does not have a hip roof. It still has a gable-style roof. If you look at the original roof pitch (which was very low) - you can't use shingles with anything less than 3:12 pitch. So they probably had a number of leaks (with an old tar and gravel

[Happy Historian]

My grandparents owned this house from 1954 until they built a bigger one a few blocks away in 1965. The original roof was white gravel and the only leak issues were around the central a/c unit on the back of the roof that was quickly fixed (central a/c was still very much a novelty/luxury) then. The foundation certainly was not designed for all the added weight of that new roof and I wonder how much the added pool disturbed the supporting soil. Unlike most new homes, this was not built on quickly thrown up and unsettled fill, yet this entire area is a clay we call gumbo. Gumbo expands and contracts constantly with moisture content and proper landscaping/irrigation is the key to long term stability. The original landscaping had azalea shrubbery completely surrounding it, bordered by fine "monkey grass", with a meticulously maintained serious St. Augustine lawn. All trees were planted a minimum of 20 feet away. Foundation hydration here takes awareness, knowledge, and discipline with all being consistently applied. These factors are not a common characteristics of many contemporary home owners.

My grandfather had the added advantage in dealing with foundations as he was an executive with Parker Brothers & Co. which supplied almost 60% of all the concrete Houston now sits and drives on. Also by 1954 my father had finished his second degree in architecture at the University of Houston. In short, it wasn't our first rodeo!

As for flat roofs in general, I now own the house my father built for my grandparents in 1950 on Galveston Bay (you know - winds, rain, storms). It has a flat roof still and still tar and gravel. For the past 58 years it has had fewer problems that all the other homes I and my family have owned in that time. When something is done right to begin with - it works.

[NenaE]

My grandparents owned this house from 1954 until they built a bigger one a few blocks away in 1965. The original roof was white gravel and the only leak issues were around the central a/c unit on the back of the roof that was quickly fixed (central a/c was still very much a novelty/luxury) then. The foundation certainly was not designed for all the added weight of that new roof and I wonder how much the added pool disturbed the supporting soil. Unlike most new homes, this was not built on quickly thrown up and unsettled fill, yet this entire area is a clay we call gumbo. Gumbo expands and contracts constantly with moisture content and proper landscaping/irrigation is the key to long term stability. The original landscaping had azalea shrubbery completely surrounding it, bordered by fine "monkey grass", with a meticulously maintained serious St. Augustine lawn. All trees were planted a minimum of 20 feet away. Foundation hydration here takes awareness, knowledge, and discipline with all being consistently applied. These factors are not a common characteristics of many contemporary home owners.

My grandfather had the added advantage in dealing with foundations as he was an executive with Parker Brothers & Co. which supplied almost 60% of all the concrete Houston now sits and drives on. Also by 1954 my father had finished his second degree in architecture at the University of Houston. In short, it wasn't our first rodeo!

As for flat roofs in general, I now own the house my father built for my grandparents in 1950 on Galveston Bay (you know - winds, rain, storms). It has a flat roof still and still tar and gravel. For the past 58 years it has had fewer problems that all the other homes I and my family have owned in that time. When something is done right to begin with - it works.

Wow, what a great post. This is what I hope to study about in the near future. You are so right about the "proper landscape/irrigation" being the main factor for "long term stability". My house/backyard had recent drains installed (by a landscape architect) to carry rain water from back to front curb. What a much needed improvement. In heavy rains it works unbelievably well.