The Parkwood Park-side home owned by former Varnett School administrators Marian Cluff and Alsie Cluff, Sr., hit the market early this week. The couple was indicted 10 months ago on federal charges including tax evasion, conspiracy, and embezzlement of more than $2 million in funds meant for students of the charter school’s 3 outside-the-Loop campuses. Incidentally, the current $3.5 million asking price for the house is more than $2 million above what the pair originally paid for the place (the 1941 mansion was sold to the Cluffs in 2011 for $1.3 million), but about 1,200 sq. ft. of space was added to the house during renovations in 2013, according to county records.
And now, your chance to investigate the 2-acre, 6-bedroom property a little further:
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The restored grand staircase in the entryway wraps around an original chandelier:Â
A formal living room sits near the entrance:
The library currently holds a collection of figurines:
Add-ons to the house include an oval-shaped entertainment room:Â
Wooden cabinetry camouflages the fridge and freezer in the kitchen:
Here’s the adjacent butler’s pantry:
And the nearby laundry room:
The upstairs master suite opens out to an upstairs patio terrace:
The master bath includes a lion-headed spout in the jetted tub:
The master suite’s closet offers a view of the estate out back, as well as both a separate fur closet . . .Â
. . . and a storage island:
A door in the kitchen opens out to a covered patio:Â
Another patio space opens out toward a saltwater pool and an outdoor kitchen pavilion:
- 3430 S. Parkwood Dr. [HAR]
- Couple plead not guilty to embezzling $2.6 million from charter school [Houston Chronicle]
Photos: HAR
They aren’t Bernie Madoff but stealing from field trip fund raisers for the kids? WTF? By the way, those side by side washers in the laundry are way too close to the sink.
Whatever original charm this place had is all gone. It looks like anyplace in The Woodlands or Cinco Ranch on the inside.
I demand a fur storage closet and a tub filled by way of a lions mouth, now! I must overcompensate for all of my shortcomings.
You start needing a fur closet in your crib, you know your shit’s gone wrong.
This home was built by my great great uncle and aunt, Louis and Jewel Pulaski.
It might have been done with stolen money, but that was a nice renovation. Parkwood Drive holds an interesting cluster of tucked-away mansions. The neatest thing about the area is the topography, though. Lots of ravines and little hills.
I could do without the tub and would change out furnishings, but embezzlement does buy a beautiful property.
a lot better than most renovation jobs. the outdoor areas are great.
@Superdav.e. The area south of South MacGregor Way is my favorite section of Riverside Terrace. A friend had the opportunity to buy a brick Olde English style home on S. MacGregror and passed. Later he regretted that decision. I used to live @ 5320 Calhoun Rd..77021, in the early 1980’s. Big 1+ acre lot. After Hurricane Alicia the hood was wrecked: fallen trees, snakes everywhere,the streets were rivers, water was on the lawns. I had to drive my motorcycle through people’s yards. It was a mess. Fortunately my house had gas and water. We had candles everywhere and 2 days later electricity. The problem with Riverside Terrace is the deed restrictions are not strongly enforced. See butt ugly ,heinous Vue on MacGregor apartment complex on S. MacGregor Way west of Calhoun.
Low life scumbags. STEALING /EMBEZZLING charter school from lower income kids. Prison for these d-bags. !!! They’ll get out and get hired by HISD !!!
TACKY !!! They had that “nouveau riche” taste or lack thereof !!!
This is a great home…. and it’s for SALE!
@adamsmith this is great information. I also heard he built the home next door for his daughter. Do you know if that is true?
Demand that the time machine chair in the upstairs master is included in the sale. And that the awful round “Persian” in the entry must be destroyed.
Riverside4life, the daughter, son in law, and children did live in Riverside Terrace but not next door.
The HAR listing is inaccurate, the house was built in 1936 and Louis Pulaski was not a colonel. Louis Pulaski was in the pipe and steel business, oil and gas too. He was the one who gave George Mitchell his big break in the oil business in the 1940’s, after WW2.
Parkwood story: Over 15 years ago, I was measuring for new cabinets in a reno there. This 1930s pier-on-beam house was a 4-square with a central air-shaft above a cistern. The stairs were built around this core with windows: There was a cool convection emanating from every one. What a *cool* technology!
@Adamsmith I spoke with Louis Pulanski’s granddaughter and what a story! He was nicknamed “The General”, a title that stuck with him his entire life.
Stolen money = tacky, bougie taste…