Interiors

Homes for Sale
03/01/13 11:00am

Homesteading Amid the Oaks and Elms of Pecan Estates

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Interiors, Pecan Estates, Richmond
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Country living appears to have been easy on the curtain budget within a stone-and-wood hideaway in Richmond. The 3.6-acre property in Pecan Estates, shaded by water oaks and elms as well as at least one pecan tree out front, unfolds beyond the home’s many, many types of windows; some are double-displayed in a split-screen photo of the timber-vaulted living room (above). Last month, the 1977 home showed up in the for-sale listings again, seeking $325,000 — or $10K more than the asking price floated for 3 months last summer.

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Afton Oaks
02/28/13 12:00pm

Inside Afton Oaks’ House of Drapery

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Home Decor, Homes for Sale, Interiors
12 Comments

Just shy of a Norman castle, this 2007 chateau with Scheherazade-swagged interior occupies a corner lot of, fittingly, Newcastle Dr., on a spit of Afton Oaks lying south of Richmond Ave. The 2-plus story property rises regally (top) above the rooftops of neighboring one-story fifties-era ranch-style homes. The fairy-tale festooning (above) found within several rooms provides a voluminous, unifying motif — and also helps screen the presence of the Southwest Fwy. sound barrier located just beyond a live oak canopy and cross street. Re-listed mid-month after a brief breather early in the year, the home has otherwise been on the market since the end of 2010, with an asking price stuck at $1,190,000.

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Homes for Sale
02/27/13 11:00am

A Red Renovated Residence Now Ready in North Norhill

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Interiors, North Norhill, Renovations
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What’s a brick bungalow like this doing in a neighborhood of homes dressed mostly in T117 siding? Renovating, apparently. This 1920 property in North Norhill recently buffed itself up for a brand-new listing, with an initial asking price of $382,500. Refurbishments include new stuff in the kitchen, refinished original floors, and fresh paint inside and out. The corner-lot home, east of Studewood St. at W. Temple, backs up to one of the homes facing one of the Norhill esplanades.

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Charnwood
02/26/13 4:30pm

Off a Ravine by Buffalo Bayou, a Renovated Charnwood Contemporary

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Home Design, Homes for Sale, Interiors
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This remodded 1966 Mod in Charnwood was once featured in Southern Living magazine, its listing declares. The furnishings from that photo shoot are long gone, but a boatload of built-ins and some ravine views remain. Appearing in the market mid-month, the 4,077-sq.-ft. home has staked out an initial asking price of $939,000.

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Interiors
02/22/13 12:00pm

No, Says Hotel ZaZa, Room 322 Isn’t an Expensive Bondage Dungeon for Creeps, It’s Just Different

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Museum District, Photography
23 Comments

The old Warwick — now Hotel ZaZa — provided one of the most beautiful views in the world, as far as Bob Hope was concerned, but that was long before photos of the Main St. hotel’s Room 322 showed up on Reddit. User joelikesmusic started a thread on Monday in which the room — booked for a colleague by mistake, apparently — is described as a “goth dungeon closet.” And the photos do reveal the room’s peculiar decor:

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East Downtown
02/21/13 12:15pm

A Doggie Espresso Bar Opens in East Downtown

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Interiors, Openings and Closings, Renovations, Retail
12 Comments

Sharing a wall with Chinatown Printing, The Green Bone threw a grand opening last Saturday, debuting its hemp doggie treats and recycled-wood doggie daycare digs in the East Downtown Art Deco building shown here. Located at 2104 Leeland St. near the corner of St. Emanuel, the shop also has a lounge for masters with wireless Internet and an espresso bar. It’s not up and pouring yet, but a store employee tells Swamplot that it’ll sell homemade snacks meant to be eaten by either species.

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Comments
02/19/13 3:15pm

Comment of the Day Runner-Up: That Word Has Always Bugged Me, Though

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Interiors, Quicklink
7 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: THAT WORD HAS ALWAYS BUGGED ME, THOUGH “Fur-down comes from furring which is a construction term adopted from clothing. I think. But I’m not an entomologist.” [Jeromy Murphy, commenting on Comment of the Day: How They Covered Up the Garage Door Mechanism in the Exercise and Taxidermy Room]

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Clear Lake
02/19/13 11:00am

Hakeem Olajuwon’s Moon Shot, A Long Way from the Galleria

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Interiors, Quicklink, Renovations, Retail, Shopping
4 Comments

HAKEEM OLAJUWON’S MOON SHOT, A LONG WAY FROM THE GALLERIA The two-time NBA champ opened DR34M in December to showcase his line of luxury men’s sportswear, leather goods, and body lotions — but the 3300 East Nasa Pkwy. location struck some as unlikely: The Jim West Mansion? In Clear Lake? Where NASA used to study the moon? Houston Chronicle‘s Joy Sewing drops by to see what the baller has done to the old place: “[Olajuwon] took great care to maintain the integrity of the mansion . . . . The great room is likely one of the most impressive entry ways of any luxury store from Louis Vuitton to Hermès. . . . He commissioned an artist to add gold-leaf accents throughout the mansion. . . . In the west wing, the DR34M sportswear collection is prominently displayed in a room that features flooring from the Rockets’ 1995 NBA championship game.” And it’s only about 40 minutes south on I-45, far from Uptown: “It would not make the same impact (at the Galleria),” Olajuwon tells Sewing. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Candace Garcia

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Home Design
02/15/13 4:30pm

Spotlighting an Old School Shadyside Spread

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Homes for Sale, Houston Architects, Houston History, Houston Landmarks, Interiors, Shadyside
8 Comments

Before this pedigreed property in Shadyside had air conditioning, the breeze sometimes carried the sound of lions roaring at Houston Zoo. And when some monkeys escaped from there decades ago, they apparently found temporary amusement in some of the trees on this 1926 estate. Or so goes some of the lore shared (and overheard) by those touring the home’s brief transformation into the Villa de Luxe designer showcase, a 17-day fundraising event benefiting Preservation Houston — and ending this weekend. For those who miss that rare opportunity to get behind the gates of the just-north-of-Rice gracious-living neighborhood, this mansion’s re-listing today extends its appearance in the limelight. Access to it, though, jumps from the tour’s $30 entry ticket, which includes lectures and presentations, to the far loftier asking price: $8,390,000.

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