- 13518 Taylorcrest Rd. [HAR]
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Wilchester
The Memorial Conoco Car Care station at Memorial and Wycliffe drives is now fully back in the swing of things following the shootout and subsequent fire at the station over Memorial Day weekend, a reader notes. The station reopened its garage for repair and maintenance services within about a week of the May incident, during which police and a SWAT team faced off with a gunman who had begun to unload an AR-15 on passers by. The shooting spree resulted in 2 deaths (including the gunman), 6 injuries (including 2 officers and an armed guy mistaken for another gunman), and the gasoline fire that burned down the fuel pumps and canopy; the reader reports that the station is back to dispensing gasoline as of last week. That’s a new peaked canopy visible in the background over the sign shown above — here’s what the old one looked like:
Tanks Full on Wilchester
Do not mourn the Exxon station with the McDonald’s inside on the eastbound feeder road of the Katy Fwy. Yes, there’s a new fence around the property, and it’s about to be demolished. But the replacement is well worth waiting for: It’ll be a brand new Exxon station — with a brand new McDonald’s! Ah, but the more things stay the same, the more they change: A reader who contacted the burger chain’s regional office reports the new McDonald’s will sport McDonald’s “next generation” design, and will feature free wifi when it opens — around mid-October Election Day.
Photos: Swamplot inbox
Exxon and McDonald’s, Together Again
The Alamo-style flattened humps shown at left that once marked the entrances of the now-shuttered DiMassi’s Restaurant on the south side of I-10 just west of Yorkchester appear to have been removed in the course of ongoing renovations to the 8,000-sq.-ft. property. The latest view of the property is shown above. What’s prompting the lumpectomy? The space’s conversion into a new Twin Peaks “mountain lodge”-themed sports bar. But the tasteful removal of the high-mounted flashy rounded appendages appears not to have assuaged a group of nearby residents who have complained to the city about the arrival in their neighborhood of the Dallas-based chain that features breasted waitresses inside: “We feel very strongly that anybody exercising common sense will see that a Twin Peaks in this location so close to so many children, smack in the residential area doesn’t speak to any of his values, it just doesn’t make sense,” a mother who lives in the adjacent neighborhood tells KTRK reporter Miya Shay. The 80,000-sq.-ft. feeder road lot backs up to Britoak Ln. and sits directly across the street from Wilchester Elementary School.
- Parents fighting plan to open Twin Peaks off I-10 near Kirkwood, near Spring Branch ISD schools [abc13]
- Breastaurant shocks and outrages parents in a Houston suburb: Kids cannot be near boobs! [Culturemap]
Photos: abc13 (construction); LoopNet (DiMassi’s)
Strange but True
Now, that is a throne: A reader sends in this photo of the only thing left of the upstairs bathroom at the former 2-story condo at 306 Wilcrest Dr. in Wilchester. County records show that the former 1,740-sq.-ft. condo was built in 1983.
Photo: Shannon Otermat
Trammell Crow seems to be planning another of its Alexan-brand apartments here — at the southwest corner of the Katy Fwy. and Wilcrest Rd. This would be about 9 miles west of Trammell Crow’s so-called Alexan Silber at 7777 Katy Fwy. This photo from a reader shows what remains of the Phillips 66 station, one of the structures on the site bound on the south by Lasso Ln. that the reader says the Wilchester Homeowners Association has learned will be demolished; the station’s underground tanks are already being torn up.
Joining the style smorgasbord on a cul-de-sac in Wilchester, a 1966 home’s exterior nods to the Space Age in the city where orbits were controlled. Check out the entry portal. Wider versions of its elongated arch — would that be paraboloid or inverted catenary? — appear in the decorative pewter-toned brickwork. The elevation is one-part 1-story, one part 2-story. (The listing averages out the two sides and calls the home a 1 1/2-story.) The floor plan includes 3 or 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and 2 half-baths. The family room’s fireplace has an interesting configuration.
So much fun in this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game! We have a winner . . . but only barely. Plus: shenanigans!
Three of you guessed Meyerland, and one guessed “outer Meyerland,” including Marilyn Estates and Barclay Square South. Braeswood got two guesses and so did Champions. Shady River in LaPorte, Prestonwood Forest, “the subdivisions along Cypresswood between FM 1960 and Kuykendahl,” Briargrove Park, Nassau Bay, Westbury, Huntwick, Briar Forest, “close to the Energy Corridor,” Shepherd Park Plaza, Lazybrook, and Timbergrove each attracted one vote.
The top prize goes to Jeff, whose guess included the magic phrase “close to the Energy Corridor.” Our panel of judges has determined that to be good enough. Plus, his entry had a lot of imagery going for it:
OMG, this is complete cheddar. All thats missing here is a disco ball, an overweight swinger with a thick mustache and gold chain, and some Bee Gees pumping out of the 8 track set upon the shag carpet. Attention Swamplot: John Holmes called and wants his house back.
This week’s honorable mention for commentary goes to Marc, who got the date of the house about right and identified a few telling details, though sadly forgot to include an actual guess of the neighborhood:
So when will Colonial be all retro and hip? Ha! I guess late 60’s to early 70’s ….Recessed fluorescents in the baths, light fixtures. Who switched the breakfast nook light? Cool swag light in the family room. Let’s celebrate the bicentennial all over again.
But special honors go to Karen, who has the distinction of being the first to try the Neighborhood Guessing Game version of shooting the moon. She happened upon the actual listing after submitting her original guess and a follow-up comment, then doubled down on her Nassau Bay deception with this comment — clearly meant to throw her competitors off the heavily-vacuumed scent:
Jeff, this is definitely NOT in the energy corridor! I’m sticking with Nassau Bay – I know it’s a total WAG, but all that blue tells me they were inspired by the sparkling blue waters of Clear Lake. I definitely detect a nautical theme in the decor.
I can’t explain why a house so obviously near NASA is not vacuumed with more attention to directionality and linear patterning. That is just sad.
Was her obfuscation effective? Jeff won anyway, but hats off to Karen for stirring things up! (Note: Any of you interested in following in her footsteps, please take note of item 4 in the rules.)
After the jump: The house’s . . . yes, blueish exterior, and the actual name of that near-the-Energy-Corridor neighborhood!
