When renovated by a previous owner in 2007, a 1936 Craftsman-like home in Eastwood modernized but also played up period details. A subtle color wash in pastel shades (above) adds to the pastoral mojo, though house and driveway sit behind an iron fence at the front lot line. Earlier this week, the property popped up on the market with a $345,000 asking price. Its location is 3 lots north of S. Lockwood Dr. and 3 blocks from the Eastwood/Lockwood stop on Metro’s coming East End line.
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The listing mentions new electrical and plumbing work completed under permit. In the living and dining rooms, mere hints of color provide contrast to the gleaming white trim and millwork. The fireplace and pair of stained-glass windows flanking it are original to the home. Meanwhile, the family room goes dark all over — or tries as well as it can to, despite the plethora of windows at the back of the floor plan:
The frothy finish resumes in the kitchen:
The master bedroom’s French doors open to a small deck, possibly the one slightly recessed from the main porch at the front of the 2,503-sq.-ft. home (and pictured at the top of this story):
One secondary bedroom is just that . . .
while the other has been turned into a study:
Subway tiles are mentioned in the description of the remodeled bathroom, but they aren’t shown (above). Or maybe they’re in the (not pictured) bathroom of the upstairs garage apartment?
The garage apartment, reached by a sturdy staircase with top deck entry (above), offers all-in-one living with a nook for the kitchen:
- 4529 Walker St. [HAR]
Bravo! Bravo! Beatiful house!
That’s about $200K cheaper than the same thing in general Heights area, although no garage is a bit of a bummer.
I guess the garage apartment is included in the square footage. The house doesn’t look like 2500 feet.
I like the house and I believe it is priced right. However, not having two bathrooms in the main house is or a garage is a killer (I wonder what they’ve done with the garage – from Google street view there are french doors instead of a garage door). Also this part of Walker is… let’s say… not so nice.
Very nicely done. Eastwood is becoming the new Heights, appropriate since they had the same developer.
No mention of where to park a vehicle. I personally would not want to park on the street. Otherwise, it is nicely done. And the single small bathroom? I think I’d sacrifice that study.
Not that it matters, but Eastwood was developed by the same guy who developed the Woodland Heights. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodland_Heights,_Houston
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastwood,_Houston,_Texas
@Progg–I agree that is part of Walker isn’t the best at this moment, but you have to feel that Eastwood is really coming on strong. I’d say it and Riverside Terrace are ground zero for major gentrification. I remember about 10 years ago I had a friend say he was buying a house in Eastwood, I was like, where the fuck is that? I subsequently visited him one time when I was home and was shocked at this cool little neighborhood of Craftman Bungalows, I had grown up in Houston not 5 or 6 miles away and had never even heard of Eastwood. Now I’m fully aware as is anyone with smart money. Go Eastwood!
There are two baths in the main house. There used to be a guy in Eastwood that redid a bunch of houses, this being one of them, but he is out of the picture, (long sordid story). He did a lot better job at redoing them than some others that have tried. I don’t think Walker is a bad street. That section of Eastwood is older, and has the more interesting houses. Many redone, some still disasters, but that is how it goes in transitional neighborhoods.
There are several transitional neighborhoods adjacent to Eastwood that are full of neat little 1920’s-40’s bungalows. Some are frame, others are brick veneer. Quite a few are currently being redone by owners and flippers.
These areas will continue to improve and go up in value if only because you have people priced out of Montrose/Heights that will settle for ‘very close to Montrose/heights’. Plus you’re so close to downtown/midtown/rice/med center/etc
Totally concur with the bathroom comment. I put my Montrose (Westmoreland) home on the market for rent and it’s 2k SF but only 1.5 baths. It was totally fine for my wife and I but for most people not having several baths (or a bath attached to a master) is a dealbreaker.
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They just didn’t do things the same way 100+ years ago….
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(and finally, it’s amazing how cheap some of these homes are. Your payment is literally about the same as a 1bed apartment in Montrose. I tell everyone that’ll listen to buy a home. If you buy right, in an improving area, you can often sell in a few years and the profit will have more than paid for all the mortgage payments you’ve made. If you can get a loan, there is no reason to rent.
I for one think the lack of a garage is refreshing. Garages are such space-wasters and are usually the ugliest part of a house. There is a long driveway on this property, street parking, and it will be walking distance from the light rail when it opens up… no need for a garage.
A bit overdone for my taste, but still a beautiful home and the price seems well everything is overpriced but it’s at least not ridiculously overpriced.
I guess Eastwood is the new Heights.
I would definitely pick this one over the one on Airline featured the other day!
Hands down!
@Shannon
I agree. I bought a house and have been living in Eastwood for a couple years. Still, some stretches of some streets don’t really appear as if they are on the verge of being turned around this being a good example.
@East Ender
If there are two bathrooms in main house it’s not shown on the har listing as I have to assume one of the two bathrooms is in the garage.
We toured the home the first day on the market, and it’s a gem. The write-up is poor because there are two full (nice!) baths in the main house and one in the garage apartment., though the square footage quoted includes both the house and apartment. The garage apartment is one of the nicest I’ve seen, with a little granite kitchen as well. The garage I think could be turned back into a garage, but it’s some sort of studio space now. At least there is a nice long driveway for parking.
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Multiple offers already…hopefully this gets some of the other Eastwood property owners who are thinking about selling into the market because these houses are in demand.
No need for a garage? Where do you keep all the stuff that won’t fit in a small house with minimal closets? Plus the lawn equipment, camping gear, fishing gear, the Xmas tree, etc.
@Christian–“street parking”, really? The fact that the owners have seen fit to install such a nice fence suggests to me that they would not park on the street themselves.
Yes, lack of a garage is a deal breaker for many people, especially those with many interests and hobbies.
It appears there is a converted garage, with a studio above it. If you want a garage, replace the French doors with garage doors and voila. Of course a lot of people HAVE to have a garage, but then keep it so full of junk, you can’t put a car in it. If you need space for Hobbies or interest, or just storage, what difference does the French doors vs garage doors make for those uses?
@East Ender–go back up a little and read what JD said about the garage. The upstairs is an apartment, the downstairs is “studio space”. I’m thinking that means that the downstairs has been finished out to probably include appointments that would not be in a normal “garage”.
JD did say that the studio space could be reconverted to a garage space, but at what cost?
My wife and I went to view this house last week. The pictures make the house look a lot better than it really is. Looks like a cat-lover lives there currently. We saw at least 20 cats running around the property. You could see where the cats had scratched up some of the woodwork. Overall, it was pretty nice, but definitely needs some fixing up.
Yes, owner is definitely a cat lover. Add to that the feral cats that are a fact of life in the East End, and you have the makings of some allergy attacks!
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The main level of the garage is a studio space, but easily converted back to a garage. Nice built-ins along the back, big industrial sink on one side, etc., but really nothing in the way to flip it back (which is what we would have done, we like space for the cars). Would make a great hobby or workshop space.
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We didn’t see this house before its to-the-studs renovation. I would love to know more about its history.
Very wise of them to have left the studio space where it can easily be converted back into a garage. Tons of feral cats are just a fact of life in old neighborhoods like this, you just go with it. Now if they had more then a few (declawed) inside; it’s a problem. I don’t mind a cat or two, but 20?!—yikes.
JD: It was one of Bill England’s last renovations. Here is a Chronicle story with a photo of it after it sold in 2007 and set a price record for the neighborhood: http://www.chron.com/business/real-estate/article/Housing-buzz-fuels-move-to-Houston-s-East-End-1648159.php . . . The photo shows the 2-car garage door that was enclosed by a future owner. The house had several additions and alterations over the years, some Bill kept and the rest were demolished. Most people thought the house was too far gone to save. After gutting to the studs, moving walls, and replacing all the doors and hardware, he added the stained glass and matched the new porch columns to the interior ones that were original.
This neighborhood is getting too expensive too fast.
My partner just met one of the owners earlier this morning while she was out walking her dogs. (we live on Walker also). As expected, they had multiple number of offers within just hours of the listing going live, and ended up selling to a guy who had approached them quite a while ago and was interested if they were ever going sell or move. As for the comments about this stretch of Walker being skeevy, not even. You should drive by the corner of Eddington and Bell behind the fire station to see the 2 specs homes (on a single lot) going up, that are listed at 425 and 475. I think the buyer of this Walker property is getting a great home for the price.
On a side note, with one of the nicer houses in the hood we’re increasingly being solicited. A whole new swarm of vermin agents and speculators have descended on Eastwood in the past 6-8 months or so. Plus lots more weekend drive-bys. Perhaps it’s finally begun….in a way almost kinda sad Bill E couldn’t keep his schemes going long enough to see the full payoff. Despite it all he really was a pioneer in the neighborhood and did great work, especially compared to the new spec construction going up.