Longtime Ferndale resident Carol Barden (yes, that Carol Barden) clues us into the recent appearance on MLS — at $549K apiece — of 2 out of the 3 wood-frame residences that now make up Jas Gurney Antiques. “It’s such a great little street,” she writes. “All the neighbors are so afraid that some awful developer will demo the houses and build junk. Jas has maintained gardens, old-growth trees, he plants flowers for every season.” Gurney reportedly would prefer to sell his entire inventory of “museum-quality” antiques along with his houses, but hasn’t been able to find a buyer. Also on that mixed-residential stretch of Ferndale, between Westheimer and Alabama: townhouses, plain ol’ houses, 4 more antique stores, Jill Brown’s lighting store, plus several more businesses.
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- 2908 and 2910 Ferndale St. [HAR]
- About Jas Gundry [Gundry Antiques]
- Design Diagrams: Brown Bags the Charts and Big Lanterns [Swamplot]
“old growth trees”? Really? There are 150-500 year old trees on Ferndale? Oh, and Carol’s fear that “that some awful developer will demo the houses and build junk,” uh, doesn’t she demo houses and build…?
If he was really wanting to find a non-developer buyer, he might at least try listing them as something other than “Residential Lots” with “No Restrictions.”
In Houston, I think a tree over 20 years is considered “old growth”. ;)
For the record, Carol Barden demos houses that need to be condemned and buys them for lot value. She takes great lengths to preserve trees and and any natural greenery that bring her costs up. She is also considerate to neighbors. She brings in blue chip architects who design beautiful homes to the scale of the neighborhood. She plants additional trees and adds landscaping that add to the beauty and appeal of the neighborhood. Carol has fine taste and class. She is a developer who should be applauded. Other builders who demo lots and pop up cheap stucco Mediterrean, French, Traditional spec houses with a home depot finish are the ones that Carol is referring to and who are the most common or Bellaire would not exist😜