Timbergrove Information & Developments

[Heights2Bastrop]

Down the street on 14th between Dian and Beall street on a subdivided lot:

$459,000

That lot is directly across the street from the house I grew up in. I tried to tell Mama not to sell the house, but she didn't listen.

[HeightsGuy]

In the past few months things have also really picked-up in Clark Pines. Besides the aforementioned, a few more houses have been torn down, and there are variance requests up in a couple of spots.

I was right about the tanks and the time it would take, the hole stayed open until just a few weeks ago.

[Heights2Bastrop]

Heights Guy, Tom Snyder also owned the business on Dian right where Wynnewood intersects. The property backed up to Prince and had corrugated tin fencing. Did that property sell? Is the main building on Dian still there?

I am coming to Houston this weekend for the first time in quite a while. Hopefully I

[HeightsGuy]

Did you take that drive around Heights2Bastrop? Anyway, Tom Snyder's property, is it one of these?:

13th st

Dian st

Also, just heard that 20 homes are going in at the end of 14 1/2 street that butts up against the baseball field. All will be in the half-million range, and it will be a gated community. Bulldozers are on the site pushing dirt around, I hope they don't make it 4 feet higher than the surrounding area like Park on Prince did.

Looks like all the builders that are being chased out of Heights proper are turning Heights Annex, the southern part of Shady Acres and Clark Pines into a future mini-West U.

[Heights2Bastrop]

Did you take that drive around Heights2Bastrop? Anyway, Tom Snyder's property, is it one of these?:

13th st

Dian st

HeightsGuy, I didn

[mary]

Something else I noticed was that the map for Clark Pines shows the old 1905 W 14th property as being subdivided into three lots, so that indicates that the maps are fairly up-to-date. However, they do not show any subdividing of the property at the end of 14th 1/2.

I also noticed that the map with Heights Annex shown Dian still connecting to Wynnewood, but also extending to W 13th. Is that the case now?

Hi Heights2Bastrop:

I live in Clark Pines and no Dian does not go through to 13th. There is an utility easment at the end of Dian at Wynwood. The new Catera develpment abutts that corner on the SE.

1905 W. 14th has 3 houses currently being built there by Cooksey Custom Homes. The sign states that they start at $400K. The developer and builder had orignally planned to divide this lot into 4 20-foot lots with alley/common driveway access that was supposed to have been granted from the lot on Beall. Apparently the part of that property facing Beal that was sold to another builder had some problems allowing his driveway to be used as a driveway for 4 houses. This homeowner has not kept in contact with CPCA so we are not sure how this issue was eventually resolved. We may not be happy about all this density here but I feel we have to take some comfort in the fact that it's only 3 houses and not 4!

Directly across that street at 1904, Lindsey Custom Homes is also building 3 houses. These are supposed to retail around $450K. He also owns the property at 2001 W. 14th. Original plans called for that lot to be subdivided into 3 lots but because of the big old oak tree in the easement that property is now only two lots. These houses are supposed to be in the $500k+ range.

Northgate Custom Homes is developing the property at the end of W. 14 1/2 abutting the Timbergrove ballfields. Their plans call for 19 houses to be built in a gated development. This developer has been particulary irksome to us here in Clark Pines. They eventually agreed to meet with us only after numerous property owners sent them certified letters letting them know that water run-off from their propety would not be tolerated and legal action would be taken if water was not contained on their development. They are building in a floodplain so fill is not allowed. If they bring in sand they have truck out a load of dirt. We were happy to find out that they were aware of the "shaky" nature of the debris/fill on this property. Some of these houses will require 40-foot piers! This property has changed hands several times since Tropical Storm Allison.

At 1901 W. 14 1/2, next to the creek, Flatiron Development wants to build 4 houses with a common driveway. Their plans are causing some concerns about their driveway acces and the creek bank. The city engineer still has not approved their plans.

FYI, the creek known unofficially as Turkey Gully around these parts, but only having an offcial numerical designation is going to be named Night Heron Creek.

Hope this answers some of your questions.

[Dan the Man]

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but...

I noticed that most of this area is in the 100 year Flood Plain; it extends from White Oak Bayou, almost all the way to Dian. How does it typically fare during heavy rains? It looks like most of the older homes are built pretty close to the ground, but the newer ones are built several feet off of the ground.

[Heights2Bastrop]

Dan, that street has only flooded once, and that was from Allison. The floodwaters extended east of Turkey Gully for about 4 houses. Everything from there to White Oak was flooded.

As I said before in this thread, my house was at 1903, and the water came right up to floor level. I believe the water made it inside, but not really sure of that. But that should give you an idea of how high the water got. My guess is that had those new houses been there at the time, they would have been OK.

[Eggplant]

There have been many mentions on these boards of builders that "cart off" older bungalows to make room for new construction. Are these homes preserved and rebuilt elsewhere; or, is their purpose to provide vintage materials for new construction? Is there a mass (and massive) graveyard out there with these remnants of Heights history?

I've followed the discussion of new construction versus renovation; however, it's unclear whether a displaced Heights bungalow has a second life elsewhere. Thanks in advance for helping to fill in the missing pieces.

[TheNiche]

There have been many mentions on these boards of builders that "cart off" older bungalows to make room for new construction. Are these homes preserved and rebuilt elsewhere; or, is their purpose to provide vintage materials for new construction? Is there a mass (and massive) graveyard out there with these remnants of Heights history?

I've followed the discussion of new construction versus renovation; however, it's unclear whether a displaced Heights bungalow has a second life elsewhere. Thanks in advance for helping to fill in the missing pieces.

A few bungalows get hauled off, and it seems like most of those that do end up as a farm house or in a small town, but most are not so lucky.

The demolition contractor typically will typically strip any scrap metal that they can and then sell salvage rights to another company that can come in and take any architectural antiques that might have value. Then the house gets knocked over, put in dumpsters, and carted off to a landfill.

[kylejack]

There have been many mentions on these boards of builders that "cart off" older bungalows to make room for new construction. Are these homes preserved and rebuilt elsewhere; or, is their purpose to provide vintage materials for new construction? Is there a mass (and massive) graveyard out there with these remnants of Heights history?

I've followed the discussion of new construction versus renovation; however, it's unclear whether a displaced Heights bungalow has a second life elsewhere. Thanks in advance for helping to fill in the missing pieces.

Don't they smash them to bits and then cart off the bits?

[cwrm4]

I know a couple from Woodland Heights, including one that was diagonally behind me, ended up being taken all the way to Lake Somerville, near Brenham, and turned into weekend lake houses.

[west20th]

For awhile, not recently though, it seemed every night there was a house being moved past 20th and Heights around 9:00 PM. I assumed they were being moved off of a pricier Heights lot to a less pricey lot further down Cavelcade.

[TheNiche]

I know a couple from Woodland Heights, including one that was diagonally behind me, ended up being taken all the way to Lake Somerville, near Brenham, and turned into weekend lake houses.

There's a lot of that going on in the Brenham area. It sure is going to be odd to compare the 2000 and 2010 Censuses and see that there was a substantial increase in the number of older homes.

[tmariar]

I've only talked to one person who moved a bungalow. She moved it to her ranch. Sounds consistent with what some others have said above.

[aggie92]

The house that was on our lot was moved to Tomball to be rebuilt/restored. Some end up lined up on lots to be sold like used cars but most go direct to a homesite. You can see some way out 290 (think it's Cherry House Moving's lot) and I saw another on Aldine Bender west of 59.

[Porchman]

Some of the moved houses stay a little closer in.

Mentioned in many threads is Bungalow Revival. They have moved a number of houses within the Heights. Their Victorian Cottage used to be located on Ashland, I believe. The Craftsman was a much smaller bungalow that also was towed in from somewhere else. The garage apartment for the Craftsman was a small cottage that they jacked up and built the car space underneath. I think they did a similar garage project on W 22.

Another entrepreneurial preservationist has apparently moved a number of bungalows up to the Garden Oaks area (on Judiway, I think). He moved a bungalow from W 18 near Joshua's last July.

[sixthwardguy]

There's a lot of that going on in the Brenham area. It sure is going to be odd to compare the 2000 and 2010 Censuses and see that there was a substantial increase in the number of older homes.

I can vouch for that, since the 1970's over 25 houses from the Heights area, including the Old Sixth Ward, have been moved to the Chappell Hill/Brenham area. While my country house in Chappell Hill came from Fayette County, the house around the corner was hauled from the River Oaks area, and the one across the hill from the Sixth Ward. I know of two Victorian cottages from the Heights that were brought in to become guest houses on a ranch in Hempstead.

[heights_yankee]

i think this is great. sad that the ones that are moved are still the minority. clearly, they have usefulness left in them...

[Scott08]

The house next door to me in North Norhill came from the Woodland Heights. The previous house had burned down and the lot had been vacant for a couple of years. A flipper fixed it up and sold it, ran in to him the other night in a restaurant and he said "I hope the house I did makes the neighborhood look better than with the vacant lot." I think he succeeded.

[houstonray]

Ditto for the 'country relocation'. We have some friends out in Brookshire who did the same thing about 15 years ago, found a couple of frame bungalows and had them moved to about 25 acres out there. It's great to see them have new life.

Cool thing is, they've 'saved' us a spot near a pond and if the day ever comes, we would consider moving our bungalow (in the Woodland Heights) to the property out there rather than have it torn down. It's been a great, solid, well built home for almost 100 years and I could never see it relegated to the junk heap. I hope that someday it can be our 'retirement' home. It would be a great feeling to sit on the familiar front porch and stare at a pond instead of the street out front! :-)

[20thStDad]

I randomly see them at nursery type places, but is there a place that has good prices and selection? I know nothing about quality either, is there such a thing as a crappy one? I would assume staying away from the ones for sale at Kroger is a good idea.

[20thStDad]

Barrio Antiguo on Yale between 7th and 8th. Definitely the best selection anywhere near here.

We went to 2 Houston Garden Centers, and although they were having a 50% off chimineas sale, they didn't have any. Home Depot and Lowes each had 1, which sucked. There was a little place on Richmond just west of Greenbriar that had some nice ones, but no stands to go with them. Barrio Antiguo wins.

[TexasVines]

you need to be careful with the pottery ones you can get them too hot and burn a hole in them I would not use one on a deck or any area that could catch fire if a hole developed.....too much pinion pine (the wood commonly used in them though rare in Houston area) and any wood that burns hotter can put a hole in one.....I would be tempted to go metal

[20thStDad]

2-3 inches of sand in the bottom makes a great heat barrier. I've made huge rocket style fires coming out of those things and it's never hurt one. The metal ones I imagine get very hot to the touch, which is not a good idea.

[TJones]

I'm not kidding, but check your local H.E.B. for this item. Will most likely be sitting out front with the patio furniture and black smoker/grills.

[20thStDad]

Yeah we checked several grocery stores, not HEB because I just don't know one around here besides the small one on W 18th. They didn't have much this weekend, I know I have seen them with more before but I think they must have gotten cleaned out.

Split some of my hurricane wood this morning, ready for some cold, fireside relaxing tonight!

[plumber2]

That house moving company, Cherry, also has a sales site just outside of our city limits near Algoa on Highway 6. He has several of these "bungalows" on site for sale. Most people buy them and set them up on land outside the city limits. Our city inspector has made it difficult for someone to sit one up inside the city. He makes the owner remove walls to expose the wiring and plumbing . He usually makes them rewire the whole thing and basicly bring the structure up to code before he will issue an occupancy permit, therefore most stay out in the county. You can see them as you drive around looking totally out of place and almost as unsightly as a mobie home.

I say leave them were they are inside the loop.

[heights_yankee]

We did a lot of complaining about overpriced and poor service, but what businesses in the Heights are we glad to have? What ones, despite maybe higher prices or unusual inventory or weird hours, should we all be supporting for the greater good?

My votes:

1. C&D Hardware: not only do they have the weird screw that my FIL always wants to complete some project or another, they insist on carrying my dog/cat food to the car for me and someone is always ready and waiting to help. You can't get service like that at Home Depot. Period.

2. Oo La La: they don't really carry much that is my own personal style, but I always check there for gifts. The set up benefits so many local artisans and crafts people. You support a local business owner and a bunch of resident crafters and artists by shopping there.

[Heights CPA]

We did a lot of complaining about overpriced and poor service, but what businesses in the Heights are we glad to have? What ones, despite maybe higher prices or unusual inventory or weird hours, should we all be supporting for the greater good?

My votes:

1. C&D Hardware: not only do they have the weird screw that my FIL always wants to complete some project or another, they insist on carrying my dog/cat food to the car for me and someone is always ready and waiting to help. You can't get service like that at Home Depot. Period.

2. Oo La La: they don't really carry much that is my own personal style, but I always check there for gifts. The set up benefits so many local artisans and crafts people. You support a local business owner and a bunch of resident crafters and artists by shopping there.

I go to C & D pretty often.

My favorites are Someburger and Dr. Herrera.