Pardon us, one at a time, while we slip — slowly — into a slightly higher elevation.
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Interiors
Beneath all the pine trees of this Spring Oaks property there’s a redwood-sided garage big enough for a RV, or so says the listing. Although the single-story 1955 home has been updated a few times, most of the remodeling appears to be a decade — or two — old. Still, the $790,000 metal-roofed home comes with nearly a half-acre of land, a pool, some patios, plus that extra-large, multi-purpose car barn.
- 2150 Colquitt St. [HAR]
This property in Briargrove Park has had more MLS lives than Henry VIII had wives. The current listing is the fourth round for the same agent and seventh for the address since November 2010. In the interim, the price has bounced around, landing at an even $500,000 10 days ago after runs at $529,000, $499,000, $495,000, $499,000 (again), $575,000 in April, and reductions to $549,000 and $525,000.
Stylized photos of the 1998 brick-and-stucco home in Briar Court show its little-of-this, little-of-that exterior, decked out with builder-deco keystones, quoins, gas lamps, and an entry arch. A Medici-worthy Italianate balustrade suggests a balcony, but it’s not to be: A window sits close behind it helping light the atrium entry hall within. Beyond the double-wide leaded-glass front door, a stripped-down entry unfolds, complete with curving, pincher-like double staircases and a marble floor:
Instead of razing this ranch-style home, the new owner raised the roof, adding a heap of space on the second floor and reworking the original floor plan downstairs. Located in Woodside, near Longfellow Elementary School, the 1957 home morphed via a to-the-studs renovation and addition following its purchase in 2009 for $315,000. Now weighing in at 3,621 sq. ft., the new listing’s asking price is a much heftier $675,000.
Some might know this Milam at W. Main property as the former home of Milam House, a social services agency that operated within until 2007. Some might recognize it as a building they view peripherally and from above while zipping out of downtown on Spur 527. Behind the automated gate, however, the mansion-turned-commercial space holds a doctor’s practice downstairs and unrelated professional offices upstairs.
The building combines the presence and proportions of a 1950 home with the more modern upgrades of a 2007 renovation, which also subdivided — only temporarily, the listing agent says — several first floor rooms. Described as an historic property in the Bute section of the Montrose area, this new listing fronting an access road is asking $1,350,000 — regardless of whether its future use remains commercial, resumes residential status, or blends a bit of each. Its neighbors include 2-story apartments next door and 3-story offices-over-parking across the street.
- 4308 Clay St. [HAR]
This expanded-since-1938 home in West U has a 2-story front facade, but 3 stories of living space. Its last redo was in 2000. Listed in mid-June at $1,091,000, the home is located west of Buffalo Speedway in a section of the small city where lots run 50 ft. by 150 ft. Unlike many newer properties, this 5-bedroom home has no brick or stucco and doesn’t fill the lot. Behind the house there’s a deck with an outdoor kitchen and a bit of a yard — or is that a garden?
Is that an arrow or an anchor above the dining-room bay window of this well-gabled home a little more than a mile northeast of the Willowbrook Mall? Either way, the decorative timbering acts as a harbinger of the many accents, patterns, and imagery within:Â Â CONTINUE READING THIS STORY
The last time this 1920 Houston Heights home was on the market, it was a tiny bungalow and sold for $235,000. That was way back in 2009, before Arnold Builders remodeled and spiffed it up as the builder’s own home. Earlier this month, the renovated property hit the market — at a much heftier $750,000.
As part of the overhaul, a driveway-covering 1,600-sq.-ft. addition more than doubled the now 2,708-sq.-ft. house. Its revised elevation sports a third gable and a new front room so the porch, formerly off-center, now sits squarely between old and new construction. The redo pumped up many of the home’s Craftsman-y design details, inside and out.
- 9126 Grape St. [HAR]
These twin townhomes look a bit steely-eyed beneath heavy-lidded, cantilevered roofs. They share skyline views of downtown from their double-decker balconies and storefront windows laced with Mondrian-style tracery. However, only 1 of these by-the-bayou units designed by MC2 Architects is for sale. It’s the one just a tad closer to downtown (above, at right). Last month, the asking price on this April listing dropped $30K to $549,000.
Poke along Polk St. in the Woodleigh area of “Greater Eastwood” to find this vintage brick bungalow. Since it’s next to an auto repair service, the home acts as a bookend shoring up one end of a mostly residential block. A convenience store caps the other end; a shopping center is in the next block.
The listing’s location close to Cullen Blvd. means both current and future public transportation options. Metro buses, for example, stop nearby and Polk St. itself has a bike lane. Meanwhile, Metro Rail has 3 stations pending in the area, though each might turn out to be a bit of a hike from the home. It’s about three quarters of a mile to the future Green Line’s York and Lockwood/Eastwood stations. The Purple Line’s Leeland/Third Ward stop is going up just over a half-mile away.
The house boasts classic features of 1929 domicile design: porches, wooden trim, interior archways. Listed earlier this month at $124,900, the property is offered “as is.” Here’s what — at least as the photos show it — that means:
In 2009, the now-10-year-old Betz Art Gallery housed in a 1947 cottage-scale venue on West Gray gained a 3-story appendage to expand its exhibition space. Now the gallery towers over itself. Listed in January at $599,000, the property’s asking price dropped to $549,000 at the end of March. That’s around the time artist Lori Betz opened the Betz Art Foundry at the Summer Street Studios, up in the artsy warehouse district off Houston Ave. Although the Montrose-area gallery remains open, it’s moving later this year, a gallery staff member says.
A mashup of modern and vintage structures, the bi-level gallery-home is listed as ADA compliant and reported to be “very energy efficient.” Maybe it’s the dearth of windows. Glass panes that remain post-redo have light-diffusing panels.
