03/12/14 3:00pm

1117 Peden St., Hyde Park, Montrose, Houston

1117 Peden St., Hyde Park, Montrose, HoustonIf you didn’t get enough time to linger inside during one of the home tours — or if you’ve always been curious about the concrete-block construction at the corner of Peden and Van Buren in Hyde Park — now’s your chance: The “Zen like” home and garden that architect and UH professor John Zemanek built for and by himself in 2000 is now available for lease. Yes, every view and material and juxtaposition has been selected, crafted, and stuck together with care, but there’s only a single bedroom, and the kitchen isn’t exactly made for large baking projects. But at $3,000 per month, this 2,352-sq.-ft. Texas farmhouse–Japanese Teahouse hybrid could be a relaxing place to call home.

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At $3K a Month
02/10/14 3:45pm

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It only took 3 days for a 13th floor condo unit with 2 slate terraces in Inwood Manor to go under contract — after being listed last week with a $995,000 asking price. Those who missed out have a few smaller options to consider elsewhere in the 16-floor beehive building of 110 units (top). A cast concrete tower designed by architect Harwood Taylor, the property has loomed over River Oaks and its hinterlands since 1962. A neighboring 13th floor 1-bedroom unit, furnished, is up for grabs as a lease starting April 1. And a couple smaller units on lower floors are still lingering, including one fitted as an office (above) by Houston interior design legend Herbert Wells, who died in 2010.

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Unit Pricing
01/23/14 4:00pm

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Close-up photos take the lead in this listing of an updated 1946 Oak Forest home near Stevens Elementary School that appeared yesterday. Isn’t that all you need? They hint at the spaces present in the 1,000-ish-sq.-ft. floor plan . . .

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It’s the Little Things
12/11/13 12:00pm

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Sampling life in Tanglewood got a little less expensive yesterday when the $20,000 per month leasing rate of this 1986 Georgian-style property with lagoon-like pool and fancy finishes dropped $5K after 2 weeks on the rental market. Don’t expect to get too comfy for long, however: The listing still says the owner prefers a 6-to-12-month arrangement.

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25 Percent Off
05/29/13 11:30am

Since its beam-boosting renovation in 2009, a Briarcroft corner-lot property on an oxbow street off Chimney Rock has been listed a few times — and offered itself up as a rental property. A year-and-a-bit-long break from the market for the updated 1963 home ended earlier this month when the agent upped the asking price to $825,000 for its latest run. That’s just shy of $150K more than the previous 2 efforts, both of which gave $675,750 a shot back in 2011 and 2012. Back in 2009, though, the pre-reno property sold for $282,150. If you want to rent this home today, it’ll run you $5,850 a month.

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12/11/12 10:26am

If you triple the $54,000 purchase price of this 1978 pop-top property when it sold in April (and add some spare change), you get the initial asking price of its back-after-renovations listing: $164,840. Located on a cul-de-sac in Candlelight Oaks Village, the corner-lot home is also up for lease at $1,500 per month. It features a plethora of windows in a range of styles, proportions, and function. Several skylights, transoms, and tilt-top dormers, meanwhile, offset the bunkered-down brick facade and expansive roof.

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02/14/12 4:36pm

Only 5 interior walls are left in this 1,275-sq.-ft. house in Clark Pines, west of Shepherd from the Heights. The 2-bedroom, 1-bath property on a 8,093-sq.-ft. lot is listed for rent — for $2,100 a month. A Swamplot reader reworked the property over the course of 2 years. “This is my first remodel and I’m hoping for feedback,” writes the landlord. (Some feedback has already arrived, in the form of a “possible tenant.”)

What sort of work has been done to this place?

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05/27/10 11:40am

The orange Spanish Colonial-style house that famously fronts the I-10 west onramp from I-45 south is now available for lease. The address is 1215 Wrightwood, adjacent to Woodland Park. Reports our cameraphone-wielding correspondent:

Nonrestricted commercial. Comes complete with I-45 freeway frontage, double lot, two flagpoles, windmill, Adickes banana, colossal concrete rooster, and giant cross.

The “patriotic paint job” on the David Adickes banana sculpture “was created in honor of the Super Bowl here a few years back,” our correspondent notes.

Another view:

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10/30/08 2:25pm

Hannah Project Row House CDC Duplexes on Francis St. Under Construction, Third Ward, Houston

Division St. Duplexes Behind Project Row Houses, Third Ward, HoustonRow House CDC has completed a second group of 8 duplexes for low- to moderate-income residents — on Francis St. between Dowling and Live Oak. That’s just north of the growing Third Ward campus of Project Row Houses, the CDC’s sister organization. At least 6 units are still available, reports Robin Foster in the Chronicle:

The units range from 700 to 900 square feet; 10 are family-sized with three bedrooms and 1½ baths and six have two bedrooms and one bath.

[Row House CDC executive director Alain] Lee said funds for the project were stretched to allow the builder to frame-in back porches. If additional money can be found, the porches will be finished as part of a courtyard envisioned for both the new and original housing complexes, he said.

All 16 duplexes were based on designs by students in the Rice Building Workshop at Rice University.

Photo of Francis St. duplexes under construction: Flickr user b2tse; photo of original duplexes along Division St.: Row House CDC

05/29/08 10:03am

Tremont Tower, Montrose, Houston

We get mail . . . from a reader who’s considering renting one of the many available condos in Montrose’s famed Tremont Tower:

I am moving to Houston in June and when I was looking around for housing I found an ad for a rental at Tremont Towers. I went to look at the place and liked it but something seemed odd to me. If this place is as nice as it looks, it is in Montrose (apparently a desirable area to live) why is is so silent and why does one man own at least 5 separate units and even more odd, why are they so cheap when last year they were valued at >300K (odd even in this real estate market). So, I plugged them into Google and started following a trail. I read about Jordan Fogle and Heather Mickelson.

I talked to my possible future landlord and he told me a story that Jordan Fogle confused the builder of Tremont with the ones who built her home. In addition he offered a story that the Heather Mickelson had purchased the property and then not long after moving in decided to move out with her boyfriend. Since they would not purchase the property back from her she sabotaged the apartment by opening her windows through all weather which then lead to some horrible development of mold.

My issue is that since the coverage in 2005-2006 I haven’t been able to find much information and I cannot verify either side of this tale. I was wondering if any readers had passed on more information about the Towers or if anything had been done in this building that had nearly 100% foreclosure. I am concerned because I would prefer to avoid paying nearly a thousand a month just so I can get sick and not be able to work.

A little more below, plus: your chance to help!

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