Frank Meyer Mansion At 9111 South Post Oak Rd.

[Native Son]

Are you talking about the new flood control drainage park by the westbound 610 loop feeder, across from the Metro park and ride?

Yep, that's it..thanks, cause I could not read that sign from the loop

[NenaE]

Do any of your guys have photos or info on what I have always known as the "old Meyer property" at the NE corner of 610 Loop South & S. Post Oak, right across the freeway from the MeyerPark retail property. I know there were some scenes from a movie shot at this location, there appears to be the old footprint of a home, and there is (or was) a small retail building at the SE corner of this property that used to be a gas station ( i think ). Anyone have any citable information about this property or any photos? HCAD.org doesn't describe it at all except for the northern edge next to the bayou as being HCFCD (Harris County Flood Control District) ownership.

Kevin Jackson

I've been looking at this house on the aerial maps, it was huge! Does anyone know what style it was? What did it look like? A friend of mine from work who grew up in Bellaire said it burned down, looks like in the 1980's, maybe.

Looks like it was built after early 1950's. Didn't realize until today that the front of the house faced north, back was to the freeway.

[Fringe]

I used to sneak around the property when I was a kid in the 60's. It wasn't far from where I lived. I stayed away from the house because it was said to be haunted. ( What abandoned property wasn't haunted when you were young?) I just liked the area because it was so woodsy, unlike anything else in the area.

[readam]

I used to sneak around the property when I was a kid in the 60's. It wasn't far from where I lived. I stayed away from the house because it was said to be haunted. ( What abandoned property wasn't haunted when you were young?) I just liked the area because it was so woodsy, unlike anything else in the area.

My dad worked for Hubert Lumber Co in town and they did a lot of work for Meyer. In fact I believe that Meyer and Krist Hubert and others began the MeyerLand subdivision. Since we had an open invitation, we went to the area often in the late 50s and early 60s to go fishing at the pond on the acreage (we called it "Meyer's Lake"). It was stocked with perch and other fish so for we small fry using cane poles it was a treat to catch "the whoppers". Meyer often held barbecues on the property for companies related to the construction business. Such a bucolic place before the urban sprawl.

[57Tbird]

Is this that property in the picture in this old thread? There appears to be a house at the bottom of the picture just south of Brays Bayou?

[Fringe]

Is this that property in the picture in this old thread? There appears to be a house at the bottom of the picture just south of Brays Bayou?

That's it. The picture shows my house just west of Post Oak and my good friends house just east of Cliffwood. To get to his house meant following Braes Bayou or cutting through the Meyer property.

Edited March 7, 2011 by Fringe

[NenaE]

I have never driven through the neighborhood you speak of, Fringe, though I've passed by it a million times.

GoogleEarth shows a house at 9015 Cliffwood Dr. with a very sunken front lawn. Looks like it was a naturally occuring ravine; they probably built the original house around it. Do you recall it? From viewing HCAD documents, seems that some of the houses on that street have had flood issues.

The original house at 9015 is gone, looks like a new build took it's place, with a bridged front walk. I'll have to drive by that one, and check it out.

I really like the design of the one next door, at 9011 Cliffwood Dr. Too bad it has flood issues.

[Fringe]

Meyerland went through a couple of major floods in the 70's and 80's. I'm pretty sure many of the homes in that neighborhood suffered , especially those closest to Braes Bayou.

[NenaE]

I noticed on the historic aerials (year 1957) & freeway map, above, that two roads led out of the Meyer estate. One is labeled Meyer Forest Dr., roughly where Meyer Park Blvd. is now.

The freeway map link photo shows what looks like a sandy or dirt road that led roughly to the neighborhood where the William Jenkins house sat, on Willowgrove St., before W. Bellfort was there.

The other road led out to S. Post Oak Rd. (before the freeway took over).

Edited March 15, 2011 by NenaE

[spiderroller]

The slab was still there about a year ago. We hit it with a metal detector and found a few very old coins. That pic from the other thread does not look like this property. There has never been new development on this old Meyer estate land. The dug it all up, filled it with water, and who knows what now.... it was supposed to be a park, but looks like nothing but a big water hole of sorts.

There are older threads out here with aerial views and lengthy discussions.

[NenaE]

In post # 32's photo, you can see on the left, towards the bottom, where a strip of vacant land is, between homes, that's where the freeway (loop 610) cut through the land. It curved around the top of the Meyer house and followed the S. Post Oak Road in the right bottom, crossing over the bayou.

I watched the property, in later years, in all phases of change, until it became a water holding tank. Att one time, it was a beautiful property with nice trees and grass. Too bad it ended up like that.

I never saw the house standing. It must have burned many years ago.

Edited March 21, 2011 by NenaE

[Reefmonkey]

I took a look on historicaerials.com, it looks like the house was built some time in the mid 50s and torn down in the mid to late 70s. Here is the timeline:

 

1953 - nothing there

(no aerials between 1953 and 1957)

1957 - house is there, looks complete

1973 - last aerial where house looks intact

(no aerials between 1973 and 1981)

1981  - it looks like it had been torn down and only the driveways and a pad remained

(no aerials between 1981 and 1995)

1995 -  the driveways and pad aren't distinguishable from the surrounding land, except for being clear of trees

2002 - the first color aerial, better resolution, some of the driveways and pad are visible

2004 - no significant change from 2002

2009 - current flood detention pond is in place and looks about 1/4 full of water. all aerials since show the site as it is now

[Highrise Tower]

I have found an official address for the Meyer property.  I was reading the newspaper The Bellaire & Southwestern Texan dated November 1, 1967 and came across an article containing the address.

Statement of ownership
(Act of Oct. 23, 1962; Section 4369, Title 39, United States Code.)

The Bellaire Texan is a weekly publication located at 6622 N. 6th Street (Royalton), Houston, Texas 77036 (Bellaire Post Oak 999, Zip Code 77401), both editorial and advertising. Publisher is John K. Gurwell, P.O. Box 999, Bellaire, Texas 77401; Editor is Kate Gurwell, P.O. Box 999, Bellaire, Texas 77401.

Owner is Texas Publishing Co., Inc., P.O. Box 999, Bellaire, Texas 77401. Stockholders owning one (1) or more percent of total stock are John K. Gurwell, 5118 Evergreen, Bellaire, Texas 77041-- Frank Meyer, 9111 S. Post Oak, Houston, Texas 77035.

The official project number for the Harris County Flood Control District is D500-08.

Here's a map of all the HCFCD projects in Meyerland.

Information on the Meyer property and the flood control project:

Meyer Storm water Detention Basin Mitigation Purchase: The District purchased 39-acre feet in the 17-acre Meyer Storm Water Detention Basin (D500-08) for $3 million from the City of Houston through an inter local agreement dated March 20, 2007. The detention facility is on Brays Bayou and is located northeast of Loop 610 and south of North Braeswood Blvd. Construction was completed in September 2009.

The current city address for the Flood Control District project is 4502 South Loop if anyone wants to look it up.  Here's a few pictures.

In a 2018 Google Street View picture, you can still see the gate and brick entry way.

Present-Day 2022 the gate was removed but the brick remains.  Possibly the only remnants left of the Meyer property?

Google Earth Desktop view.

 

[Cap-N- Red]

On 3/5/2011 at 3:35 PM, readam said:

My dad worked for Hubert Lumber Co in town and they did a lot of work for Meyer. In fact I believe that Meyer and Krist Hubert and others began the MeyerLand subdivision. Since we had an open invitation, we went to the area often in the late 50s and early 60s to go fishing at the pond on the acreage (we called it "Meyer's Lake"). It was stocked with perch and other fish so for we small fry using cane poles it was a treat to catch "the whoppers". Meyer often held barbecues on the property for companies related to the construction business. Such a bucolic place before the urban sprawl.

Krist Hubert held many Stag Party’s at that location. They were mainly for the owners of businesses that did business with his lumber company. I watched some big pot poker games there after enjoying the Barbecue and beer. A couple of local politicians including Squaty Lyons played in those high stake games. This was in the early ‘60’s.