Memories Of Bellaire

[IHB2]

grew up on Jessamine in Bellaire 48-66, my wife grew up on the 4500 block of Maple. sold my parents house last year. a 2-1-1 it had never been updated except for wiring, appliances, but was in excellent condition. the original 16" square solid oak parque flooring was still beautiful, original cedar shakes in good shape. old Bellaire was just a small town at the edge of Houston in the early-mid 50s, with small acreage properties with horses and other livestock past the city limit at Bellaire Blvd and Chimney Rock - hard to imagine in today's Stepford Bellaire, land of the faux-stucco tract mansion.

[Pleak]

Man, I hated scraping & painting those shingles on the side of those houses. Bad flashbacks.

[Fringe]

Man, I hated scraping & painting those shingles on the side of those houses. Bad flashbacks.

I can relate. I painted quite a few of those old Bellaire homes. Of course you know the paint we were scraping was lead based and the shingles were asbestos. Something to look forward to in later life.

[Pleak]

I can relate. I painted quite a few of those old Bellaire homes. Of course you know the paint we were scraping was lead based and the shingles were asbestos. Something to look forward to in later life.

My wife would probably say that explains a lot.

[sevfiv]

Thanks for posting more photos!

My folks finally moved last year and surprisingly the buyer kept the house.

[billyf]

My grandparents lived on Holly St which is one street over about 5 houses west of 610 until 1992. They moved there around 1954 when my mom was 5 years old, about 4 years after the house was built. As stated 4 houses were removed east of Post Oak on each street for the construction of 610. Those Houses were less than 10 years old when they were demolished. It makes me wonder if the builders even bothered to check the freeway plans. It's pretty sad how they divided the neighborhood, but they really didn't have a choice. I can imagine a lot of people being pissed when it happened, but the state really didn't get public input like they do today. The freeway was pretty loud from my grandparents house. I remember hearing it while trying to go to sleep when I spent the night there.

Besides the freeway the neighborhood was very quiet and felt very safe. Crime began to be an issue in the 1990s which was one reason my grandparents moved, though it was much safer than where we lived on the Northside. Who ever bought the house made out as the value of it almost tripled by 2007. A lot of the houses have been demolished and newer, much bigger houses have been constructed. They were good houses with a lot of space, but my grandparents had foundation issues. It also wasn't sealed very well which allowed bugs from the outside to get in.

Thanks to the OP for the pics. I always wondered what it looked like back then. For some reason all of the pics my family took never showed the other homes in that area.

[SpaceAge]

 

Houston Mod invites you to join us this Sunday, March 23, for a Mod of the Month open house event from 2 - 4 PM. 

Two vintage 1950's modern/contemporary style houses, situated southwest of downtown Houston are featured.  They are both in need of new preservation-minded owners.

Thanks to Houston MODern Market for sponsoring this FREE event. The next MODern Market will be held in fall 2014.

 

4520 Oleander Street, Cranford Place, Bellaire, Texas 77401

(For Sale by Owner and Option Pending)

 

Architect William Jenkins, associate of the firm William N. Floyd Associates (possibly assisted by Harwood Taylor) designed and built this beautiful modern house in 1952 for Arthur and Hannah Ginzbarg on a large lot in the City of Bellaire.  Mrs. Ginzbarg has recently died.  Her son who lives out of state is searching for a new owner for the house who will promise to preserve it. 

 

The house was cherished by the family and thoughtfully maintained in original condition in hopes it would someday attract an appreciative next owner. It has a compact and efficient design incorporating many fine details such as walls of floor to ceiling operable windows,  blueprint matched wood cabinet walls, built-in TV and hi-fi system, built in clock, cork flooring and a tectum ceiling.   Next door and two doors down, to the East, Jenkins and Taylor built two similar houses which have been replaced with new construction.

Photos shown from the Houston Mod publication High Style in the Suburbs- The Early Modern Houses of William R. Jenkins, 1951 - 1958   

 

 

 

5702 Warm Springs, Westbury, Section 3, Houston, Texas 77035

HAR LINK 

Rob and Laura Petrie of the 1960's Dick Van Dyke television program would be right at home in this still authentic house built for the 1959 Parade of Homes in the Westbury neighborhood. Architect Jack W. Knostman, of the firm Knostman & Webster, designed the house as well as two others for the '59 Parade plus oversaw the architectural control committee that year.  He was a 1936 graduate of Rice Institute.  

 

The house features three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and large open living, dining and kitchen areas as well as many unique features incorporated in response to surveys of thousands of potential home buyers from the previous year's event. The house was included in Art & Architecture magazine.  The original promotional material states: 

A gay informal note is struck by the Hawaiian lanai entrances which are located on each side of the house behind the carports (now enclosed). The housewife hasn't been left out.  Her paradise is a beautiful kitchen of inspired design.   The kitchen remains in near mint condition as well as many other aspects of the house.  

   

 

 

News and Events

 

Thanks to all who attended and sponsored last week's DoCoMoMo US National Symposium in Houston.  Over 125 modsters from across the country visited Houston to examine modernism's legacy and consider its future.

April is MODern Month in Houston and Texas.  This year's roster of events will be issued soon.  Check the Preservation Texas Website for more information

 

Harris County commissioners want to hear from you about the Astrodome.  Please send your ideas and comments for new uses for the building by letter and email.

 

Support future Mod events by becoming a member of Houston Mod.  Houston Mod is planning several members-only and members get-in-free events. If you need to check your membership status, please e-mail info@houstonmod.org 

Houston Mod publications and vintage Astrodome bumper stickers will be sold at Sunday's event.   

 

We hope to see you at Mod of the Month!

   

[jbird]

my parents moved into new house across from Feld Park in 1947....Gordan Elementary was still a rice field...when it opened

u had to walk along a board walk to keep dry after a rain. Mom could look out kitchen window..toward Bellaire Blvd and see the

buses...for us boys, riding bikes to Teas Nursery was an adventure...like going out to the country. This was baby boom time so on our 

one block street there must have been at least 75 kids....easy to get up several baseball or football teams to play at Feld Park or to

organize "gangs" for building Christmas tree forts.....lots of good memories of old Bellaire.....lucky enough to raise a couple of kids

later on in what was "The City of Homes"............

 

[Michelle C]

I have some pictures of old Bellaire from the 50's.

[UtterlyUrban]

Thanks for posting those two images.  I love looking at old images like those.  It seems to me that one of those Images (the first) is older than the second, just from the loom of the cars?  I'm sure that the folks that know all about vintage cars will pipe in....

 

 

[mollusk]

The newest cars in the top one are '47 or '48 (kinda hard to tell on either of them) - a Dodge or DeSoto at the front left, and a Buick Sedanette on the right.  The bottom picture is likely from late '57 or very early '58 - there are a couple '57 Chevies and a '57 Ford, and the monster with the strange black roof profile is a '58 Lincoln. 

[sevfiv]

Those are great!

[Fringe]

Great pics.

My wife picked up a copy of this book at the Bellaire (McHugh?) Tea Room a few months ago. Has some really great pictures of old Bellaire and Southwest Houston if anyone's interested. 

http://www.bellairebook.com

 

[nate4l1f3]

I'm the first pic is that by the Starbucks on S Rice?

[Michelle C]

The first picture in on Cedar street looking east toward Rice. the building on the far left across the street from the Conoco sign is still standing today.

 

The second picture if the Bellaire circle Shopping Center at 5300-5317Bissonnet

[Michelle C]

Some more Bellaire pictures. The first picture is the A&P on Bissonnet between Rice and Cedar About where the HEB is now located. The second is Madding's Drug store at the Bellaire Triangle.

[august948]

On 10/9/2016 at 4:43 PM, Michelle C said:

I have some pictures of old Bellaire from the 50's.

 

I believe you could fit a Prius in the trunks of some of those cars in the second picture.  Ahh... the good old days. 

[spiderroller]

Wow.  I had no idea there was any other Valians location beyond the one on Main.

[blue92]

On 10/30/2016 at 8:22 PM, spiderroller said:

Wow.  I had no idea there was any other Valians location beyond the one on Main.

 

There was also on on Shepard Dr. just south of I believe Alabama.

[kajunteddy]

Looking for someone to refresh my memory. Im trying to remember a cafeteria that was in the Bellaire Shopping Center on Bellaire Blvd. It was a family name, not Luby's Wyatt's or Piccadilly..........I want to say it started with an 'S'....or possibly an 'A'....

[mkultra25]

1 hour ago, kajunteddy said:

Looking for someone to refresh my memory. Im trying to remember a cafeteria that was in the Bellaire Shopping Center on Bellaire Blvd. It was a family name, not Luby's Wyatt's or Piccadilly..........I want to say it started with an 'S'....or possibly an 'A'....

 

Allbritton's. They were a local, family-owned cafeteria that had several locations in Houston, including the one you remember at 3835 Bellaire Blvd. The last remaining one was on Waugh and closed in 1996. 

 

More info from a Chron article at the top of this page:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30502755@N06/

[Dray]

Well I too grew up nearby off Bellaire Blvd and Renwick area during the 60’s & 70’s and loved all the things a young man could find to do back then when it was still Dairy Farms , large undeveloped fields “cow -horse pastures,”and so much more . To answer the question asked earlier regarding the name of the restaurant with the Gambling upstairs and Large tasty steaks being served downstairs, That was Henry’s Steakhouse