Meyer Family Farm & Estate At 202 Avondale St.

[Ross]

George B Meyer was probably the brother the son of Joseph F Meyer, Sr. The 1923 City Directory shows George Meyer as a VP at the Joseph F Meyer Company. In 1923, he lived at 202 Avondale. I'll do some more digging and see where the Holcombe house was.

It looks like the house was at 1907 Holcombe, which is the Ronald McDonald House now. From teh 1950 Census:

[Highrise Tower]

I never knew the Meyer family had a 30-acre farm in the Courtlandt Montrose neighborhood!  Some sources say the farm was Joseph F. Meyer, Jr.'s, where Ross had mentioned the Avondale home was George B. Meyer's.  Maybe dual ownership? Another possibly is there was multiple homes on the farm/estate. Lastly, the home at 202 Avondale arose once the Meyer farm was all destroyed.

First article is from the Historic Marker Application for the A. M. Armand House located at 110 Stratford.

The Avondale neighborhood was one of a series of new subdivisions inducing Hyde Park (1905), Courtlandt Place (1906), and Westmoreland (1902) that provided upscale subdivisions away from the Main Street corridor south of downtown. The Greater Houston Land and Improvement Company platted Avondale in 1907 intending to set this new neighborhood apart through particular attention to quality of life issues. Deed restrictions established setback requirements and minimum costs in addition to preventing businesses from opening in the neighborhood. Likewise, the developers included alleys behind each lot on which all deliveries an trash removal could take place with minimum interference to the resident's lives. Following the same logic, utility poles, light posts, and water and power lines were also installed in the alleys to maintain the feel of elegant, uncluttered boulevards and residents.

Officers of the Greater Houston Land and Improvement Company, and those responsible for the development of Avondale, included: Joseph Meyer, owner of “Meyer's Farm” on which the eastern half of the subdivision was located; W.T. Carter, a lumberman and Houston businessman; and Thomas Ball, namesake of the town Tomball.  The company held a citywide contest to decide the name of their new neighborhood. Nine contestants won with the same nomination of 'Avondale,' derived from two places in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, the home of William Shakespeare. The company liked this name because it evoked the ideas of Houston's rising prestige and culture that the developers sought to present in their new neighborhood.

An earlier and more detailed mention of this was from the newspaper The Houston Post dated April 23, 1907.

Meyer Acreage

Consisting Thirty-Two acres in South End to be opened.

Deal involves large sum.

This is the last acreage inside the city limits- Will be platted and improved for a residential addition.

One of the most important and largest real estate deals in the city real estate was closed yesterday afternoon whereby a syndicate of prominent local men purchased from Joseph F. Meyer the $31.95 acres of land adjoining the new Courtland addition on the north for a consideration of $125,000. The names of the purchasers are the time being without pending incorporation.

The syndicate making this purchase was organized by the Penn-Friedmann Realty Company of the Binz building, who will at once take hold of the improvement and sales of the property as exclusive managers of the company.

The consummation for the Meyer deal now practically brings into Houston's residence the last great body of acreage within the railroad belt bounding the outskirts of this city in the Third and Fourth wards. The land is about the highest elevation of any part of the south side residence section, and has a gentle slope from the northwest corner of it to the southeast, which makes the drainage and sewerage problem a most perfect one--

[Highrise Tower]

Looks like George Meyer's old home is still standing!

Additional details about the house, straight from the source, the developer.

The Houston Post dated Saturday, January 1, 1921.

Avondale Home For Sale
10-room 2-story residence, at 202 Avondale Ave., formerly owned by C.A. Barbour, for sale at a real bargain; can give immediate possession. Lot 72x130 feet, in connection with the house. Houston Land Corporation Preston 1823.