Sol Weingarten Mansion At 3222 Oakmont St.

[NenaE]

I have another one, 3222 Oakmont. In Southland Terrace. French chateau style (what's the proper term?)...reminds me of the big Weingarten house, smaller scale, of course. Has a porte-cochere. This one's just sitting there, rotting. HCAD says it was built in 1949, renovated 2002. Huh? What a waste. It's open to the elements. A fallen yard sign said something about the "sale of the lot".

[JLWM8609]

So many people have bought that house and tried to restore it, only to flee from it. I think it has some very expensive issues that cost more to repair than the house is worth.

I don't think it's in Southland Terrace. Southland Terrace begins past Shenandoah.

I have another one, 3222 Oakmont. In Southland Terrace. French chateau style (what's the proper term?)...reminds me of the big Weingarten house, smaller scale, of course. Has a porte-cochere. This one's just sitting there, rotting. HCAD says it was built in 1949, renovated 2002. Huh? What a waste. It's open to the elements. A fallen yard sign said something about the "sale of the lot".

Edited April 27, 2009 by JLWM8609

[NenaE]

So many people have bought that house and tried to restore it, only to flee from it. I think it has some very expensive issues that cost more to repair than the house is worth.

I don't think it's in Southland Terrace. Southland Terrace begins past Shenandoah.

Yeah, sources are not always right...there are so many little sections within Riverside, many names. The Southland Terrace name came from the block books. Said something about resubdivided. I would like to see or make a map of the whole area, by each little subdivision. It's complicated.

Saw many home owners for that lot, and the list only went back to 1984. Sad...I would like to know who designed it. And how long ago were the train tracks taken up? The large apt. complex close to the rr tracks (on the north side) looks like it needs to go.

JLWM, You really know your neighborhood. I'm impressed. What a place to live, among these giants.

I'm surprised the Weingarten house doesn't have a nice iron fence around it.

Crescent Island was interesting, only slabs left now. Hermann St., as well. Looks like Hwy 288 or flooding took care of that. The creek on the map was interesting to see (It was by N. MacGregor Way & Riverside Dr.).

Cosmic08, now you see why I'm so fascinated with Riverside, I see so much architectural talent there. And the sloping land makes it even more interesting. In the 1960's-70's, my grandmother would take us down those main bayou drives in route to the zoo, and we would admire those homes.

Edited April 27, 2009 by NenaE

[NenaE]

I have another question, On the Weingarten lot, what was the white rectangular shape seen in the earlier 1957,64 historic aerial maps? I'm guessing a tennis court or a pool. Close to the side road, was slowly covered by the scrubs.

[JLWM8609]

Yeah, sources are not always right...there are so many little sections within Riverside, many names. The Southland Terrace name came from the block books. Said something about resubdivided. I would like to see or make a map of the whole area, by each little subdivision. It's complicated.

Saw many home owners for that lot, and the list only went back to 1984. Sad...I would like to know who designed it. And how long ago were the train tracks taken up? The large apt. complex close to the rr tracks (on the north side) looks like it needs to go.

JLWM, You really know your neighborhood. I'm impressed. What a place to live, among these giants.

I'm surprised the Weingarten house doesn't have a nice iron fence around it.

Crescent Island was interesting, only slabs left now. Hermann St., as well. Looks like Hwy 288 or flooding took care of that. The creek on the map was interesting to see (It was by N. MacGregor Way & Riverside Dr.).

Cosmic08, now you see why I'm so fascinated with Riverside, I see so much architectural talent there. And the sloping land makes it even more interesting. In the 1960's-70's, my grandmother would take us down those main bayou drives in route to the zoo, and we would admire those homes.

The train tracks were taken up in 1985. There's rumors that the tracks will be back in the guise of commuter rail to Pearland in 20-30 years, and that homes along Ardmore may be in danger of future acquirement by TxDOT for the purpose of adding a station or double tracks. Hopefully that's not true as I'm on Ardmore!

I'm not too surprised about an iron fence not being around the Weingarten mansion. The current owners of the Weingarten mansion aren't giving it the TLC it really needs. I hate to point this out, but in "This is Our Home...", the original white owners of the homes in the area believed that the black owners wouldn't give the houses the TLC they needed. In a twist of irony, the current owners of the Weingarten mansion are white and have been there for a long long time, just proving that race doesn't matter, anybody can let their home fall into disrepair.

That "creek" was actually the original alignment of the bayou until the 1910s or 1920s. Part of it still exists, as you can see it from the 288 feeder road driving NB between N. Mac Gregor and Riverside.

Those apartments on N. MacGregor should be history soon. The winds and flooding during Ike took them out.

I have another question, On the Weingarten lot, what was the white rectangular shape seen in the earlier 1957,64 historic aerial maps? I'm guessing a tennis court or a pool. Close to the side road, was slowly covered by the scrubs.

I think that was a tennis court.

[NenaE]

The train tracks were taken up in 1985. There's rumors that the tracks will be back in the guise of commuter rail to Pearland in 20-30 years, and that homes along Ardmore may be in danger of future acquirement by TxDOT for the purpose of adding a station or double tracks. Hopefully that's not true as I'm on Ardmore!

I'm not too surprised about an iron fence not being around the Weingarten mansion. The current owners of the Weingarten mansion aren't giving it the TLC it really needs. I hate to point this out, but in "This is Our Home...", the original white owners of the homes in the area believed that the black owners wouldn't give the houses the TLC they needed. In a twist of irony, the current owners of the Weingarten mansion are white and have been there for a long long time, just proving that race doesn't matter, anybody can let their home fall into disrepair.

That "creek" was actually the original alignment of the bayou until the 1910s or 1920s. Part of it still exists, as you can see it from the 288 feeder road driving NB between N. Mac Gregor and Riverside.

Those apartments on N. MacGregor should be history soon. The winds and flooding during Ike took them out.

I think that was a tennis court.

Have studied that 288 section of the bayou, recently, saw it on an early map, & drove by, it's interesting.

You're right, it's easy to stereotype...It's a shame the Wgtn house is falling into disrepair. I was wondering if deed restrictions had something to do with the fence. Would like to see it "somewhat" protected by an iron one, then we could still see it from the road. I would have thought such a prominent family house would have had one to begin with, especially with that cemetery in the back.

[Dan the Man]

I wish the Weingarten House was better maintained; it's a beautiful house. I've heard that it flooded during Allison, can anyone confirm this?

Here's a picture of 3222 Oakmont from 2005:

[JLWM8609]

You know, in all of my 22 years (all of them spent in Riverside), I don't think I can recall a time when 3222 Oakmont was livable. My relatives call it the "Monster House" because in its present state, it looks like something out of a horror movie.

[NenaE]

Thnx for the pic, Dan...By-the-way, this house looks the same, now. You could see that there were windows on each side of the door, identical to the ones seen on the front, bottom, bricked up now. Didn't notice on the drive-by that the left front window is longer than the right. What do you think the long piece across the front, above the door was? Maybe something ornamental, wouldn't have been a porch on a design like that. The middle porthole window is busted open, now. The long (staircase?) window on the side is a neat one. The roof looks fairly new. Wish it could be saved.

Too bad about the vacancy history, just know at one time, it was very grand.

[Dan the Man]

Thnx for the pic, Dan...By-the-way, this house looks the same, now. You could see that there were windows on each side of the door, identical to the ones seen on the front, bottom, bricked up now. Didn't notice on the drive-by that the left front window is longer than the right. What do you think the long piece across the front, above the door was? Maybe something ornamental, wouldn't have been a porch on a design like that. The middle porthole window is busted open, now. The long (staircase?) window on the side is a neat one. The roof looks fairly new. Wish it could be saved.

Too bad about the vacancy history, just know at one time, it was very grand.

Actually, I think that long piece across the front is the ghost outline of a porch roof. However, it was probably added after the house was built, and it was probably really unattractive, due to the fact that it clashed with the style of the house. I have a feeling that the entry is not original either, as it has this tacky patterned glass or plastic in it, very 1960s. Speaking of style, I'm not really sure what this house falls under; the design is kind of a mix of French and Georgian elements, but it's very attractive. The brickwork is amazing, but it's a shame that it was painted. JLWM8609, do you know what color the house was originally?

[JLWM8609]

Actually, I think that long piece across the front is the ghost outline of a porch roof. However, it was probably added after the house was built, and it was probably really unattractive, due to the fact that it clashed with the style of the house. I have a feeling that the entry is not original either, as it has this tacky patterned glass or plastic in it, very 1960s. Speaking of style, I'm not really sure what this house falls under; the design is kind of a mix of French and Georgian elements, but it's very attractive. The brickwork is amazing, but it's a shame that it was painted. JLWM8609, do you know what color the house was originally?

It's been painted as long as I can remember. I think I remember it used to be white at one point. I wouldn't be surprised if it has been painted its whole life.

[sixthwardguy]

It's been painted as long as I can remember. I think I remember it used to be white at one point. I wouldn't be surprised if it has been painted its whole life.

Several years ago at an estate sale in Meyerland I saw a small stack of 1940's photographs of that house. The house was already painted by then and it displayed a faux wrought iron balcony across underneath the 2nd floor windows where the 'scar' stands. What made it poignant is that the house looked so impeccable in the background with a beaming young family standing proudly on the beautifully landscaped front yard. The pictures screamed "we found the American Dream". I wanted to buy these pictures but the dealer wanted far too much for them.

[NenaE]

Several years ago at an estate sale in Meyerland I saw a small stack of 1940's photographs of that house. The house was already painted by then and it displayed a faux wrought iron balcony across underneath the 2nd floor windows where the 'scar' stands. What made it poignant is that the house looked so impeccable in the background with a beaming young family standing proudly on the beautifully landscaped front yard. The pictures screamed "we found the American Dream". I wanted to buy these pictures but the dealer wanted far too much for them.

I can't even imagine what the iron balcony looked like. Wish I could see that photo.