A 40 ft. glass wall and several skylights open up what otherwise appears to be a buttoned up 1950s home in Southampton Extension. It’s right up the street from the Hanover Rice Village apartments and upcoming retail mix. That development’s garage entrance is just off the end of the block, at Morningside Dr. The listing appeared on the market last Friday with a $925,000 asking price. Its photos feature a brief ride on a modern-mood magic carpet:
Might the distorted photos show how the square footage grew from HCAD’s record (576 sq. ft.) to what it says in this cozy cottage’s listing (653 sq. ft.)? Playful and a bit mind-bending, the panoramic views focus on the innards of the updated 1944-45 home on Art St., located in the Nitsch neighborhood near the Hardy Toll Road and W. Little York. Twist this way for a dizzying array of space-defying images:
It’s a square route through the entry of a modified 1960 Westbury mod, described in its listing on Tuesday as a giveaway prize from a bygone Parade of Homes. The interior plays up its remaining original elements, such as the tile mural found in the front-and-central entry (top) — which the listing claims was featured in the old Arts & Architecture magazine. Another exercise in symmetry comes from the 2 garages sandwiching the recessed front door (above).
A 1979 townhome amid Upper Kirby’s newer midrise apartment complexes comes with an atrium and roof deck, but only the patio entry off the development’s cul-de-sac has glimpses of greenery (at right). For more nature, just head over to Whole Foods. (It’s a block away.)
On a patch of prairie in Katy with large lots that keep their distance from the ever-closer, ever-denser development nearby, a re-relisted 1984 property is making another run at the market. The “close-in country retreat,” as the listing pegs it, comes with a main house, pool house, and guest quarters, plus a pool, pond, barn — and a gazebo (top) out back for taking it all in. No garage, though. The asking price for the 1-acre compound, $565,000, is down from a previous listing’s $599,000 back in March and $580,000 in May. The home et al., located just west of the Grand Parkway amid all the Falcon-named subdivisions, first hit the market in January 2011, asking $625,000.
A little subdividing might still be ahead for this biggest-in-the neighborhood property in Atascocita Shores. An older listing tried to sell off only the 2-lot portion containing the builder-owned 1990 home and fronting a secluded cul-de-sac near-but-not-on Lake Houston. The re-listing earlier this month, however, includes the entire acre-and-a-quarter, which also backs up to a stretch of the neighborhood’s namesake roadway. That 2-sided access might be handy since the 2 routes to the site from a fork in the road have similar names (Atascocita Point Dr. and Atascocita Place Dr.).
A one-of-a-kind Oak Forest home doubles up on many of its features. Two chimneys form a sassy kind of turret above the front porch. There’s a second formal entry. And both wings of the home have their own garage. Plus, the property occupies an oversized corner lot, so it’s got twice (or maybe even thrice) the yard of its neighbors. The 13-year-old custom home appeared on the market last weekend. Its asking price: $925,000.
A shadowy presence pervades most of the wide-angle listing photos for this 1965 ranch-style home on the western front of Oak Forest near the Northwest Fwy. The spotty behavior starts on the green carpet of the living room (top) . . .
Minimalism maxes out the use of maple in a contemporary Indian Trails property that went blonde in its wooden trim, panels and shelving (top). The home’s lobby-like living and dining space, capped by skylights, sits between a bridge-like balcony and book-filled shelving rising to the double-height ceiling. The 2002 home, entered from a courtyard to the left of the front-loading driveway (above and at right), has a $1.25 million price tag and a $6,750 annual maintenance fee.
In the earlier waves of West U’s great residential reboot, before the 21st Century stucco surge, ruddy brick finished out a fair amount of the city’s new housing. The townhomes of Rutgers Place, for example, worked bricks, bricks, and more bricks into the development’s exteriors, fencing, and patios. An oft-updated corner unit in that street-straddling enclave, which dates from 1981, popped up on the market last week. Asking price: $484,500 — plus a $120 monthly maintenance fee.
