Garden Villas Neighborhood Real Estate & Developments

[WVK]

A few views of our house

backyard of opposite position:

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd244/WEVK/DSC06032.jpg

"mother-in-law house"

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd244/WEVK/DSC06033.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd244/WEVK/DSC06034.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd244/WEVK/DSC06037.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd244/WEVK/DSC06035.jpg

It has been a labor of love (and a buttload of$!)

WVK

[musicman]

you just don't see yards like that in most of houston.

[jm1fd]

A few views of our house

backyard of opposite position:

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd244/WEVK/DSC06032.jpg

"mother-in-law house"

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd244/WEVK/DSC06033.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd244/WEVK/DSC06034.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd244/WEVK/DSC06037.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd244/WEVK/DSC06035.jpg

It has been a labor of love (and a buttload of$!)

WVK

The backyard is pretty....you have a well to water from? When was the house built? Is that a pecan tree in the middle of the driveway? I'm surprised it survived the paving around it....usually pecan trees don't do well when their roots are disturbed/covered.

[WVK]

The backyard is pretty....you have a well to water from? When was the house built? Is that a pecan tree in the middle of the driveway? I'm surprised it survived the paving around it....usually pecan trees don't do well when their roots are disturbed/covered.

Thanks, there is a 9 zone sprinkler system fed from a seperate "sprinkler" meter. The original house was 2br, 1 bath built in the 30s. In 1958 a master BR, 2nd bath and a room that now serves as a home office was added. The entire house was reroofed and rebricked for uniformity. All of it pier & beam construction. (Unlike many that are a mixture of slab & pier & beam) The garages and mother- in- law house were also added in 1958.

Yes that is a pecan tree in the drive and has always been the most productive of the 7 trees. Go figure.

WVK

[editor]

Fantastic yard. You must love coming home from a hard day at work.

[jm1fd]

Thanks, there is a 9 zone sprinkler system fed from a seperate "sprinkler" meter. The original house was 2br, 1 bath built in the 30s. In 1958 a master BR, 2nd bath and a room that now serves as a home office was added. The entire house was reroofed and rebricked for uniformity. All of it pier & beam construction. (Unlike many that are a mixture of slab & pier & beam) The garages and mother- in- law house were also added in 1958.

Yes that is a pecan tree in the drive and has always been the most productive of the 7 trees. Go figure.

Mother of god....your water bill must be enormous.

What type of pecan are most of the trees in GV? Native? Stewart? Papershell?

[WVK]

Mother of god....your water bill must be enormous.

What type of pecan are most of the trees in GV? Native? Stewart? Papershell?

Last year the average for june/july/august/2006 was aprox $35.00 per month, this year I had it on once. Since I work from home I micro manage

the usage.

I believe the majority are Papershell.

[WVK]

Fantastic yard. You must love coming home from a hard day at work.

I enjoy it a lot since I work from home. The privacy afforded by 3/4 acres (and your neighbors having 3/4 acres) is true luxury.

I met the rear neighbor (who was working on his gas line located in the easment) a couple months ago for the first time in 20 years!

Once experienced there is no going back to a track house on a dinky lot.

WVK

[WVK]

"IN 1926, a River Oaks developer platted the Garden Villas community north of Hobby Airport on the banks of Sims Bayou and planted 6,000 pecan trees that today form a shade-giving canopy over the 876-acre neighborhood's neat streets, churches, schools and homes on large lots.

Those are among the amenities the Garden Villas Civic Association is promoting as part of its revitalization plan prepared by the organization's Vision Committee.

The plan, which outlines the neighborhood's vision, mission and goals, was unveiled Sept. 11 by Susan Hernandez Lee, committee chairwoman, at Garden Villas United Methodist Church, 7155 Ashburn St., before about 150 local residents."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/eas...ws/5152347.html

WVK

[lonestargirl76]

"IN 1926, a River Oaks developer platted the Garden Villas community north of Hobby Airport on the banks of Sims Bayou and planted 6,000 pecan trees that today form a shade-giving canopy over the 876-acre neighborhood's neat streets, churches, schools and homes on large lots.

Those are among the amenities the Garden Villas Civic Association is promoting as part of its revitalization plan prepared by the organization's Vision Committee.

The plan, which outlines the neighborhood's vision, mission and goals, was unveiled Sept. 11 by Susan Hernandez Lee, committee chairwoman, at Garden Villas United Methodist Church, 7155 Ashburn St., before about 150 local residents."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/eas...ws/5152347.html

WVK

Thank you for posting this. I wasn't able to open the article, but found a similar announcement on the GVUM church website. My husband and I are going to look at a couple of properties in Garden Oaks this week, thanks to the invaluable information on this forum. I'm not crazy about the flight path overhead, but we do love the big yards, old houses, and the canopy of trees. And seeing that there is such a proactive civic organization eases our minds a bit. If we could live anywhere it would be one of the larger lots in Idylwood or Eastwood, but it seems that those are out of our price range. Does anyone have an opinion about the longterm value of the GV area? It seems like it's positioned to improve. Thanks again.

Heather

[Vertigo58]

Thank you for posting this. I wasn't able to open the article, but found a similar announcement on the GVUM church website. My husband and I are going to look at a couple of properties in Garden Oaks this week, thanks to the invaluable information on this forum. I'm not crazy about the flight path overhead, but we do love the big yards, old houses, and the canopy of trees. And seeing that there is such a proactive civic organization eases our minds a bit. If we could live anywhere it would be one of the larger lots in Idylwood or Eastwood, but it seems that those are out of our price range. Does anyone have an opinion about the longterm value of the GV area? It seems like it's positioned to improve. Thanks again.

Heather

If I were you I would contact someone that actually lives there. We can only give you our "outside looking in opinions". I know that James Rodriguez (whom just won) would be a long time resident with great insite on your question. Try reaching his campaign headquarters. I am sure he would be more than happy to share and discuss recent improvements, etc. In fact now that he won there may be even better improvements to that immediate nabe. My sis once owned a house there in early 80's but had to move. I did like the tranquility and serenity (except for the flights above).

Goodluck!

[rps324]

IMO the flight path issue will always create a certain "cap" on Garden Villas. If it weren't for that, I think the uniqueness of the neighborhood would have carried it much further up long before now. The sections up on Haywood right behind the Sonic seem to be the nicest and do not have the extent of plane noise issues that you get in the middle of it.

Garden Villas has some great houses, some even listed in the Architectural Guide to Houston. I don't think the neighborhood has fully taken advantage of promoting the "architectural/historical" aspects of the community.

James Rodriguez does live in there, on Santa Fe I think.

[WVK]

IMO the flight path issue will always create a certain "cap" on Garden Villas. If it weren't for that, I think the uniqueness of the neighborhood would have carried it much further up long before now. The sections up on Haywood right behind the Sonic seem to be the nicest and do not have the extent of plane noise issues that you get in the middle of it.

Garden Villas has some great houses, some even listed in the Architectural Guide to Houston. I don't think the neighborhood has fully taken advantage of promoting the "architectural/historical" aspects of the community.

James Rodriguez does live in there, on Santa Fe I think.

Plane noise seems to be an issue only for those who don't live in the the neighborhood. I don't recall it being raised at civic assoc meetings in the 20 years that we have lived here. Hobby does not (and has no plans) to fly in freight, a 24/7proposition. It is a commuter airport so the traffic pattern there is roughly the same as road traffic, heaviest in the morning and afternoon. It is light at night, during the day and weekends. 95% of the time the planes are landing when they fly over therefore only fractionally as loud compared to takeoff. Also the traffic tends to be erratically spaced unlike a annoying dripping faucet. I believe this is why the noise has been a non-issue even for those who live right under the flightpath.

The flight path runs about 3 lots west of and roughly along Prentiss. If you stay about 5 house lots distance from this path in either direction you should have no problems with noise.

If anyone has any questions about Garden villas I will try to help.

WVK

[jm1fd]

Plane noise seems to be an issue only for those who don't live in the the neighborhood. I don't recall it being raised at civic assoc meetings in the 20 years that we have lived here. Hobby does not (and has no plans) to fly in freight, a 24/7proposition. It is a commuter airport so the traffic pattern there is roughly the same as road traffic, heaviest in the morning and afternoon. It is light at night, during the day and weekends. 95% of the time the planes are landing when they fly over therefore only fractionally as loud compared to takeoff. Also the traffic tends to be erratically spaced unlike a annoying dripping faucet. I believe this is why the noise has been a non-issue even for those who live right under the flightpath.

The flight path runs about 3 lots west of and roughly along Prentiss. If you stay about 5 house lots distance from this path in either direction you should have no problems with noise.

If anyone has any questions about Garden villas I will try to help.

I found pretty much the perfect house on Sims, and didn't buy it because of the air traffic rumbling overhead.

[WVK]

I found pretty much the perfect house on Sims, and didn't buy it because of the air traffic rumbling overhead.

While I would also be hesitant to live directly underneath the flightpath I would bet that whoever lives there now dosen't notice. This adjustment is quite remarkable, after a few weeks living here the preception of the sound simply gets filtered out. I have yet to find an exception to this.

WVK

[KatieDidIt]

Gosh, those lot sizes can make you drool.

Swing this to the west side of town, with the same distance to downtown it would be 1.5 million easy. http://www.har.com/3208404

Edited November 8, 2007 by KatieDidIt

[rps324]

Anybody remember this one from when it was on the market before? The one thing they did not do, that they should have, is put a privacy fence up around the side grounds to diminish the impact of the nearby commercial development.

Garden Villas house

Edit: I didn't see you already had it up Katiedidit. Keep it mind too it will be a challenge for them to get that price. I think the exterior is Cypress.

Edited November 9, 2007 by rps324

[WVK]

New management district aims to forge 'real identity' for Hobby area

"If the newly created Hobby Area Management District joins forces with civic organizations like the Rotary Club of Gulfway-Hobby Airport and the Greater Hobby Area Chamber of Commerce, the area stands to gain not only capital improvements, but a sense of community, a district board member said at the Wednesday, Oct. 3, chamber luncheon."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/eas...ws/5186242.html

WVK

[rps324]

I definitely think the management district will be a huge boost for the area. I hope it gets rolling soon.

[lonestargirl76]

Anybody remember this one from when it was on the market before? The one thing they did not do, that they should have, is put a privacy fence up around the side grounds to diminish the impact of the nearby commercial development.

Garden Villas house

Thanks so much for everyone's input. I really can't get over the wealth of information that I find on this forum.

[TheNiche]

I found pretty much the perfect house on Sims, and didn't buy it because of the air traffic rumbling overhead.

I'm guessing it was the one on the north side of Sims Drive, backing up to Sims Bayou, and one lot off of Swallow Street? I looked at that one too, but I'd pulled into the driveway, was admiring the aesthetic, and then got blasted completely unexpectedly by the roar of a landing jet. It was an awe-inspiring experience, but not one that I'd like to repeat several times per hour.

One other thing that was funky about that one was that there was the big deep hole in the backyard, which was owned by HCFCD, preventing me from even landscaping it nicely with any expectation that they wouldn't come in and remove it--or for that matter invade my privacy regularly.

[jm1fd]

I'm guessing it was the one on the north side of Sims Drive, backing up to Sims Bayou, and one lot off of Swallow Street? I looked at that one too, but I'd pulled into the driveway, was admiring the aesthetic, and then got blasted completely unexpectedly by the roar of a landing jet. It was an awe-inspiring experience, but not one that I'd like to repeat several times per hour.

One other thing that was funky about that one was that there was the big deep hole in the backyard, which was owned by HCFCD, preventing me from even landscaping it nicely with any expectation that they wouldn't come in and remove it--or for that matter invade my privacy regularly.

Nope. It was on the south side of Sims. 7266 Sims Dr.

It was (and hopefully still is) a lovely custom MCM with a 3 car garage and garage apartment out back. Wonderful kitchen, terrazzo floors, mostly original, really cool wall mount toilets and bathroom sinks as well.

Biggest problem with the house (aside from the planes rumbling overhead) was that the previous owner was an HVAC engineer and had used the house as his laboratory. It had a commercial style 4 pipe hot/cold water cooling and heating system which all eminated from a 10'x6' room at the back of the house off the den. In that room there was a boiler (!!) and a crapload of heat exchangers, pressure switches, pumps, expansion tanks, thermostatic switches. The walls were COVERED in plumbing and electrical controls. Wish I had taken pictures of all the crap in there it was just absurd. The neighbor said it was a "Solar A/C" system and pointed to this big ass aluminum framework on the back of the garage. I have no idea how it managed to work seeing as how what was presumably the solar collector was in the shade.

[PapillionWyngs]

My Aunt lived at 7105 (I believe) Sims Drive. It looked like a two story home, with dormer in the finished attic. They had a well. My Uncle built a mega garage and workshop. I would love to go by there, but never have the time. I would love a picture.

Edited January 2, 2008 by PapillionWyngs

[GREASER]

We drove the hood looking at houses and was very impressed with lot size and variety of houses.

[Vertigo58]

We drove the hood looking at houses and was very impressed with lot size and variety of houses.

Go at night and find out where or how far away good schools are. Also ask where nearest shopping/grocery is. Imagine the yard maintenance for these huge lots.

Edited January 2, 2008 by Vertigo58

[JLWM8609]

Garden Villa is a beautiful looking neighborhood. I love the way the trees canopy over the streets, and as for being in the flightplan of Hobby traffic thundering hundreds of feet above, that's not so bad, I'd actually love it, being the aviation fan that I am. One issue I had with the neighborhood was missing street signs. Some intersections had no street signs at all, no concrete street signs or white on green signs (the absence of curbs didn't help either, no tile signs). I was leading a group of cars looking for a certain street to turn down once and we ended up all the way at Airport because we missed the turnoff. We found the street we were looking for, but I imagined how bad that would be for an ambulance drivers or police department if something happened and they had a hard time finding the house because of that.

[Scott08]

I've got some friends I've known for almost 20 years who've lived in Garden Villas longer than I've known them. They raised three kids (all gone now) in what started as a 2 bedroom/1 bath. They added on a two story addition later with an extra bedroom/bath and office. They've got a huge garage/workshop and pool and still have lots of greenspace left over. They've never had any problems with crime that I know of, their kids attended local HISD elementary schools, then went on to magnet middle schools and HSVPA for high school. I think it's a wonderful area but too far from my work to seriously consider.

[MiMi]

The correct name for the neighborhood is "Garden Villa". I lived there in the 70's and I researched the history of that area's development. When I get some more time, I will dig out my research and note it on this site. It's very interesting!

[DBH]

No the correct name is Garden Villas

[WVK]

No mention of Garden Villa

History of Garden Villas:

http://www.gardenvillas.org/GVdocs/historymain.htm

WVK