07/22/09 5:42pm

How’d that Granddaddy of all aqua-toned beach houses in Lafitte’s Cove stand up to Hurricane Ike? Joni Webb — who after Verandah magazine is perhaps the home’s greatest fan — shows off some recent pics of the once-grand weekend showcase on her blog, Cote de Texas:

It is here, today, almost a year after Ike, still languishing empty and neglected – a sort of sad, upscale Grey Gardens of Galveston. I’m not sure why it hasn’t been repaired – it all seems like minor, superficial damage, certainly nothing on a par with the slaughter of the Live Oaks going on uptown. But, still, the house has been left to the elements – something that on the beach should always be avoided. Maintenance is a must in the salt air. A loyal Cote de Texas reader happened upon the Aqua House and took new pictures for me.

The home, decorated in all its much-copied aqua glory by Houston designer Babs Watkins, was sold by a later owner shortly before the hurricane hit last year. And then?

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07/09/09 6:51pm

Do we have a prizewinner for this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game? Who wouldn’t want to win a membership in the Rice Design Alliance?

Your guesses were almost all over the place: Pearland (3), Friendswood, Webster, League City (2), Kingwood, Richmond, Champion Forest (2), “along Briar Forest and Dairy Ashford,” Meyerland (2), Meyerland “near Westbury High School,” Braeswood (3), Bear Creek, Clear Lake (2), Deer Park (2), near MacGregor Way, Pasadena (2), “the ritzy part of Pasadena over around Fairmont Parkway and Young St.,” Lake Olympia, Missouri City, Sharpstown, Sugar Land, Alvin, Katy, Humble, Spring Branch north of Long Point (2), “East Side,” “some more rural area of Fort Bend County,” Baytown (2), LaPorte, Lake Jackson, Inwood Forest, near Jersey Village, “the Champions/Spring area” (2), Fondren Southwest, Alief, “the area around South Post Oak, way down past 610 south,” Sagemont, Atascocita, “between Hwy 6, 1464, and Bissonnet, . . . south of George Bush Park,” Stafford, “Kempwood and Gessner,” “near Knob Hill Park near Gessner and Hammerly,” southeast Tomball, Tanglewood, and Marilyn Estates.

Lots of great guesses . . . but none of them right. What made this one so difficult? Finness tried to put a . . . finger on it:

From the pink Texas door mat to the empty bathroom plant hooks and the ovewrwhelming scent of litter pan – I just look and look again and the mind boggles. I will forever be haunted by the kitty eyes on the toss pillows on the pink leather sofas. Even writing that gives me an out of body sensation. Senses overwhelmed.

Where is this place?

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06/26/09 12:09pm

Vacant home for sale, in need of staging. Antique dealer from out of town, needs showroom space. Idea?

Joni Webb reports on Cote de Texas that New Orleans antique dealer Mignon Favrot Topping has gone into the business of staging for-sale homes. But: She leaves the price tags on.

What better way to show off the brand-new 4-bedroom, 5,822-s.-ft. fantasy home designed by Robert Dame at 3015 Virginia, which has been listed for almost 3 months. The price was cut $100K in April, leaving an asking price of $1.875 million.

If that’s still too much, now you can walk away with a piece of it for maybe a little less.

The listing photos still show an empty house:

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06/18/09 6:33pm

Guess it didn’t really matter too much that there’s no prize to give out to the winner of this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game. None of you would have won it anyway.

Weren’t there enough guesses? There were 2 of you who guessed Meyerland, 2 who guessed Willowbend, 2 for Bellaire, 2 for Clear Lake, and 2 for Oak Forest. Not to mention Wilchester, “somewhere between Wirt and Blalock,” “around Timmons Lane,” River Oaks, Garden Oaks, Southgate, Gulf Freeway Oaks, Pearland, Alief, Braeburn Valley West, “the Pasadena Arts & Crafts fair, booths 1-30,” “off Briar Forest, west of Beltway 8, east of Dairy Ashford,” “between Westheimer, Briar Forest, Dairy Ashford, and Kirkwood,” Glenbrook Valley, Linkwood, “Hunter’s Valley/Hunter’s Wood or Prestonwood or Lakewood or Heatherwood or something with the word wood in it,” “in smelling distance of Bellaire/Beltway 8 Chinatown,” on Fountainview, north of Memorial between Wilcrest and Kirkwood, Greenwood Forest, Hunter’s Creek Village, Timbergrove Manor, Lazybrook, “close to Traders Village or Old Towne Spring,” Spring, Maplewood, Oakbrook subdivision in Clear Lake, Briarmeadow, Copperfield, “the Kempwood/Gessner area,” Flower Mound, Garden Villas, Inwood Forest, “somewhere west of Oak Forest in the Antoine/Pinemont area,” Tanglewood, “that area below the old Rosewood Hospital,” Spring Branch, and “Augusta/Bering Drive area just north of San Felipe.”

Plenty of highly entertaining comments this week. But . . . no dice?

How about we roll with this one — since really, it’s the best we got:

i would guess this is actually an 80’s build somewhere in nw houston, maybe in hunter’s valley/hunter’s wood or preston wood or lakewood or heatherwood or something with the word wood in it.

Congratulations, brandy c, you’re this week’s winner!

But really, where is this place?

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06/02/09 3:49pm

One highlight of the decorating sampler provided by the listing for 403 Lombardy Dr.: the Monkey Bed.

What’s more to see in this fine home for sale in Venetian Estates?

There’s the multicolor cloud motif gracing the Media Room:

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05/27/09 4:10pm

What would Courtney Barton consider the oddest item in her old bungalow at the corner of Melwood and Julian?

Hands down, the horse leg! People are freaked by it. And when they find [out it’s] real, they really cringe. I couldn’t help but add fuel to the fire, so I hung a John Derian plate above the leg that has a picture of a horse’s head on it. That little area of the den makes me laugh.

Then there’s that guinea pig genetics poster. Those pieces and more are featured in the latest issue of online-ish magazine Refueled, an “alt-country style and design” journal. Photographer Cheryl Schulke shot the design blogger’s Norhill Historic District home back in February, not long before Barton and her husband held a notable garage sale, packed up just a few of their worldly possessions, and decamped to Kuala Lumpur.

A few more scenes from the Refueled shoot, including a few pics that didn’t make the mag:

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05/08/09 11:55am

COMMENT OF THE DAY: MEN ARE FROM MEMORIAL FOREST, WOMEN ARE FROM VINTAGE LAKES “There should be a special term for a home whose decor is so utterly commandeered by the lady of the house. A ‘Yes, Dear’ Domicile, or Hobby Lobby Home, or Craft Palace. And in fairness, one too for a stereotypical manly-man’s house, one loaded with hunting trophies, duck art, rock samples, and lots and lots of wood and dark paint.” [Miz Brooke Smith, commenting on Neighborhood Guessing Game Over: The So Big House]

04/27/09 7:42am

Vernon Caldera, proprietor of video-a-day website Keep Houston Rich, writes in to show off his friend Adam Gibson’s pad at Isabella Court in Midtown — and to round up votes for it in a “smallest, coolest home” contest hosted by design blog Apartment Therapy.

Gibson’s apartment, pictured above, has already advanced to the second round of competition in the “little” category (at 710 sq. ft., the apartment apparently doesn’t qualify as tiny, teeny-tiny, “international,” or small — each of which has its own separate contest). Today, it’s pitted against a “compact but . . . spacious and cozy” (and slightly smaller) apartment in Brooklyn.

What’s so special about this little home? Gibson tells the judges:

I love [the] wrought-iron window between the bedroom and the living room. I love the original sink in the kitchen from when the building was built in 1929. I love the beautiful non-working fireplace. But I would have to say my favorite element is the beautiful wrought iron staircase in the living room with the butterflies sculpted to match the lines of the stairs.

Caldera writes:

There is a short registration, if you are not already a member, but other than that voting is fairly easy. I believe Adam’s apartment is the only one selected from Houston. . . . The winner after each 24-hour elimination round moves onto the next round with the division elimination on Wednesday. Night-owls like myself start voting as soon as the contest opens at 2AM our time and continue to vote until the last hour.

You can find more pics of Gibson’s definitively little apartment — and vote for the winner in the current round — on the Apartment Therapy website.

Photos: dabfoto creative/David A. Brown

04/24/09 4:27pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: APARTMENT MESS SKEPTIC “. . . There should be grime around the light switch – there is not. There should be a big layer of filth on the blinds – there is not. The blind cord would be filthy – it is not. The walls are very very clean & white. They should be smudgy. In another set of these pictures, the kitchen cabinets are completely clean, no grime at the door knobs, no grime at the drawer pulls. Trust me – in this much filth, you would see that grime. ALSO – the big piles of cigarette butts were obviously dumped there. When you put out a cigarette, there is a smashing action. You don’t just throw a still burning cigarette on top of a giant pile of other cigarettes. MAYBE this person worked in a bar & collected a weeks worth of cigarettes & dumped them throughout the house……maybe….. But the whole thing looks staged to me – big time.” [KW, commenting on Inside the Messiest Apartment in Houston. Ever.]

04/23/09 11:26pm

No one guessed the actual neighborhood for this week’s guessing game. But . . . we do have a winner for that Hotel Sorella stay!

There were 2 guesses each for Riverside Terrace, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest, Sharpstown, and Woodside. The rest: “Off Broadway and Bellfort near Hobby Airport,” the Med Center, Sagemont near Beltway 8 and I-45 South, Brookesmith, “around 249 and I-45,” Spring, Glenbrook Valley, Timbergrove Manor, Westbury, Lindale Park, “the neighborhood south of Shaver in Pasadena from Rayburn High School,” Montrose, Webster, Katy, Greenspoint, Eastwood, Garden Villas, Santa Rosa, 77035, 77096, Willowbend, “Winkler/Almeda/South Houston,” Deer Park, Gulfgate, “Lawndale/Wayside,” Westwood, “the area north of 610 between Ella and Shepherd but south of Garden Oaks,” “in the vicinity of Hardy Toll Road and Aldine Mail Route,” Shady Acres, “east of Stella Link, south of the bayou, west of Main,” and Candlelight Oaks.

Alas, none of you mentioned Skyscraper Shadows, directly to the south of Hobby Airport. But Swamplot’s panel of judges — skilled in the art of extracting unintentional meanings from the words of others — was able to twist one of the entries into . . . a prize winner! Of the players who mentioned nearby communities, only one of them included the phrase “near Hobby Airport” in the guess . . . and that was deemed good enough.

Congratulations, Brad! You’ve won an overnight stay for two at the new Hotel Sorella in CityCentre (the new mixed-use development on the site of the former Town & Country Mall at I-10 and the Beltway). And you’ll have a couple of cocktails waiting for you at the hotel’s bar, monnalisa. Thanks to the hotel for sponsoring the prize!

Honorable mentions go to all the runners-up who hung out nearby: Chris, KimmerTX, Lauren, and Miz Brooke Smith.

Wanna take a closer look?

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04/20/09 2:55pm

Here’s the latest installment of Swamplot’s fun-pix-from-around-town feature!

Above: While visiting last weekend’s Gulf Coast Green symposium and expo at the Reliant Center, Sean Morrissey Carroll catches the Astrodome peeking in on the action.

A few more images loom:

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03/26/09 3:43pm

Today, a lucky smart Neighborhood Guessing Game player wins a Houston. It’s Worth It. gift box — containing a copy of the original Houston. It’s Worth It. photo book, a HIWI mug, a HIWI T-shirt, a HIWI baseball cap, several “afflictions” postcards, and of course HIWI bug repellent. Very appropriate prizes for this game, and all donated by . . . yes, Houston. It’s Worth It. (You can find more about the individual products at the HIWI store.)

Before we announce the prizewinner, there’s a long list of neighborhoods to call off — your guesses! Ready? Meyerland off South Post Oak near 610, “between Westwood CC and Beechnut,” the Heights, La Porte, Jersey Village, Willow Meadows, “near the bayou off Braeswood in a flood zone,” “between 610 and the beltway, near the Ship Channel,” Jacinto City, Denver Harbor, Pasadena (2 guesses), Galena Park, North Shore, Clover Leaf, Channelview (2 guesses), “near Antoine, south of Tidwell,” off Griggs or Scott, the East End (2 guesses), the Energy Corridor, “off Dairy Ashford close to Stratford High School,” “somewhere along the 225/Allen Genoa/Allendale area,” “north of Braes Bayou, west of Buffalo Speedway, east of Weslayan/Stella Link,” Forest West, Oak Forest, “south along the I-45 corridor,” South Houston, Harrisburg, Magnolia, Baytown, “around Irvington [or] continuing north to the Airline area,” Sagemont, “the Westbury/Willowbend area,” Briarmeadow, Sharpstown (2 guesses), “Sharpstown near Gessner/Bellaire,” the “Sharpstown/Chinatown area” (2 of you), “south of Braeswood near Buffalo Speedway,” near UH, “damn close to Southmore,” Lazybrook, Pearland, “off Navigation,” Meyerland, lower Westbury, the “southern part of Greater Westbury,” south of the Med Center, Southwest Houston, Alief (2 guesses), Bellaire between Wilcrest and Dairy Ashford, around Friendswood, “over by the Georgia addition in Eastwood (sort of near Evergreen Cemetery maybe),” “Larkwood, near Bissonnet and Fondren,” Spring Branch, Windsor Village, the Hiram Clarke area along Sims Bayou, Riviera East, along Normandy north of I-10 by Greens Bayou, near “perennial Channelview area flooder Sterling Green by Carpenters Bayou,” Maplewood between Braeswood and Beechnut, Glenbrook Valley, and Meadowcreek Village.

Phew! That’s quite a tour! And there are some great guesses in there.

Picking the winner was a little tough this week because nobody guessed the exact name of the subdivision — and because a few players came mighty close. The winner of the photo finish — and the prize — is subprimelandguy, who managed to name a couple of flanking neighborhoods and a nearby bayou . . . among others:

I agree that there is definitely some flooding bayou love going on here. But due to the decor and burglar bars, I’m not thinking Braes Bayou or White Oak, but instead prolly Sims or Greens. Maybe somewheres in Windsor Village or elsewhere in the Hiram Clarke area along Sims, or maybe out east in Riviera East or elsewhere along Normandy north of I-10 by Greens. Or, maybe even perennial Channelview area flooder Sterling Green by Carpenters Bayou. All feature 1960’s or 1970’s General Homes type tract specials.

Congratulations! And shouts-out to runners-up flake (for “lower Westbury”) and JT (for “the southern part of Greater Westbury”). A whole bunch more of you were pretty darn close, too.

This was your target:

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02/12/09 1:30pm

More than a dozen photos of the pristine interior, front-porch swing, and side-yard lap pool may not, in fact, be sufficient for you to get a complete picture of the lifestyle afforded by the renovated bungalow at 617 Byrne St. in Woodland Heights. So former neighbor Kelley fills in the details for you:

Oh how I miss the carefree days of living across the street from Pete & Fernando … so many memories of them and their awesome house…like the time I popped over to their porch for a quick glass of wine while waiting for my husband to get home from work … and then stumbled home at 4 the next morning…oh, the stories the lap pool in the side yard could tell…the beautiful Easter brunches in the dining room

…the time I saw Pete naked in the bathroom

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02/05/09 8:37am

“SPACIOUS LIVINGROOM WITH SKYLIGHT & FLOWERBED,” shouts the listing for this 1970s-era home on a cul-de-sac near White Oak Bayou in Candlelight Forest. And it’s no exaggeration. The Swamplot reader who alerted us to the property also expressed appreciation for its mauve carpet and mirrored Dining Room wall:

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