04/02/14 12:30pm

9402-stonehouse-02

9402-stonehouse-01

Windows don’t appear to be a priority for the street facades of this 1966 townhome in Townhouse Manor, tucked into the South Loop’s swoop west of Stella Link. The curve of the recessed entry porch hugs the corner curb line of the property, which is located on the neighborhood’s remaining entry street extending from the westbound 610 feeder road a block away (a freeway sound wall has walled off the others). This low-slung home has a contemporary exterior, but neighboring 1- and 2-story townhomes feature the architectural flourishes of various neo-styles.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Side by Side by Side by Side
03/07/14 11:15am

THE MIDTOWN GARDEN PLOT THAT WENT FOR JUST SHORT OF A MILLION Midtown Community Garden, Baldwin and Drew St., Midtown, HoustonCraig Hlavaty’s writeup on the abrupt closing of the Midtown Community Garden has a few additional details about the fate of the 3-and-a-half-year-old garden space at the corner of Baldwin and Drew, in amongst his chronicling of the efforts of member gardeners to yank out their tubers before the property was shuttered: The 13,000-sq.-ft. vacant-but-for-vegetables lot that Swamplot reported on earlier in the week was sold to developer Urban Living for $975,000. (On MLS, the asking price was $799,000.) The company plans to build townhomes on the site. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Update, 11:30 am: According to this later version ($) of the story, 2 garden-friendly potential buyers of the property who submitted offers were outbid. Photo: Swamplot inbox

02/11/14 3:45pm

5735-indian-circle-06

Despite an assemblage of botanical print wallpapers reflecting (sometimes literally) another interior design era, a 1975 townhome in gated Indian Trails, west of Chimney Rock Rd., also has a few features ahead of their time: like extra high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, and double vanities in the bathrooms. A bit camera shy, the corner property has a $1.17 million price tag and keeps its elevation as under wraps as the perimeter windows in the listing photos. Here’s a possible hint why:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Garden Variety, or Deeply Closeted?
02/07/14 2:30pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: ONE OF THOSE THINGS KEEPING BUDGET-MINDED TOWNHOUSES FROM A FULL 4 STORIES Fire Sprinkler“City of Houston only requires fire sprinklers on homes 4 stories and higher. That’s why so many townhouses stop at 3 stories and have an unfinished room leading to a roof terrace on the 4th floor. Also, exterior finish materials over 40 feet high must be non-combustible.” [Spencer Howard, commenting on Comment of the Day: Everything New Is So Much Better] Illustration: Lulu

01/31/14 2:45pm

1211-sterrett-15

1211-sterrett-17

Glass brick and more glass brick — in the form of 4-square dots and tall shafts — let in the light in this warehouse district townhome built by Edgefield Developers in 2005 as part of a 3-pack. But it’s the ample deployment of recessed lighting that really amps up the interior. The towering property sits on the corner of a fenced, half-built half-block just west of McKee St. and north of a Metro bus barn near a bend in Buffalo Bayou and its bike trail. The home landed on the market earlier this month, asking $645,000.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Let There Be Mottled Light
01/30/14 3:00pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE FAR NORTH HEIGHTS TOWNHOUSE BOOM Housing Boom“A ride around the far north Heights (bordered roughly by Yale, Shepherd, 610 and, say, 23rd) reveals a staggering amount of residential construction activity. The Sullivan Brothers project on 23rd is finally nearing completion. A dozen new townhouses at 26th and Ashland. Eight single-family homes at the same corner, with 20 or so to follow between 26th and 27th. Eight single family houses at 26th and Rutland. Twenty townhouses about to go up at 24th and Lawrence. Plus a dozen or so 2-to-6-house developments. The numbers easily reach into the triple digits, and that’s without anything on the old National Flame & Forge site (the double block between Nicholson, Rutland, 25th and 26th), which could add another hundred.” [Angostura, commenting on Where a Couple Dozen Townhomes Are Going in the Far North Heights] Illustration: Lulu

01/29/14 1:30pm

Townhome Development at 241 W. 27th St. and Rutland, Houston Heights

A reader sends us this pic of the scene looking north from the corner of 27th St. and Rutland, just a block south of the North Loop, where a grid of townhomes is replacing the former site of the limestone-clad church and its parking lot at 251 W. 27th. The religious institution, known variously as the Houston Restoration Church, the Fulbright United Methodist Church, and the God’s Spirit of Faith Fellowship Church, was sold in August and torn down last month. An appraisal district map shows a new subdivision named Hannah Square with 12 townhome lots facing 27th St. on the old church site, and another one with another dozen lots facing 28th St., called Erin Park. The developer appears to be Colina Homes.

Photo: Swamplot inbox

There Was the Church
01/22/14 11:15am

Proposed Timbergrove Heights Townhome Development, W. 12th St. Between Seamist and Ella, Timbergrove Manor, Houston

Proposed Timbergrove Heights Townhome Development, W. 12th St. Between Seamist and Ella, Timbergrove Manor, HoustonSuburban-style retail and apartment complexes may have all but conquered the former industrial block southeast of the Heights Swamplotters have taken to calling Katyville, but there are still plenty of warehouse-y buildings to tear down — often of the more Mod variety — south and west of Timbergrove Manor. Here though, just inside the West Loop, isolated pods of townhome colonies would be the more likely result. A resident of the area tells Swamplot neighbors only found out about a 131-unit townhouse subdivision planned off of W. 12th St. between Ella and Seamist because developer InTown Homes is seeking a variance (in a hearing before the planning commission this Thursday). The variance is to gain approval for not including a north-south street through the 6.916-acre property.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Heights Townhomes, Now in Timbergrove!
12/27/13 2:45pm

1424-crocker-01

1424-crocker-04

Could the clipped and sculpted shrubbery outside this 1998 townhome (top) with fenced side yard have sent invasive shoots inside? A colony of photo-ready greenery appears to have taken root and taken over (above) within the otherwise cleared out corner unit, located in the Bakerdale subdivision of North Montrose, east of Montrose Blvd. near Wharton Elementary School on West Gray. The plantings aren’t the only signs of growth for the property. The asking price for the property, which earlier today was listed for a third time, is now $309,900. Back in its initial listing in September 2012, the price tag was $280K, which went down to $274,900 in October. A price reduction soon thereafter to $269,900 preceded the property being withdrawn from the market the following month.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Houseplant Heaven
12/20/13 1:00pm

177_hr3290855-4

177_hr3290855-12

Any foray into the Woodlake Forest community from South Gessner near Briar Forest Dr. likely passes by blocks of 1978-built townhomes that include this slightly recessed 2-bedroom unit peeking out from behind Orleansian iron grille barricades at the porch and balcony levels. Polished marble and parquet flooring give it a gloss finish downstairs. The spiffed-up property was listed Wednesday with a $298,500 asking price.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

Where’s the Lake in Woodlake Forest?
12/17/13 1:00pm

2009-allen-pkwy02-2

A slope, a staircase, and 3 floors of living space likely make an across-the-traffic bayou-view 1998 townhome on Allen Pkwy. east of Montrose Blvd. a bit of a workout as well as a place to rest. The end unit rising behind Buffalo Terrace is part of the 11-home Townes of Buffalo Bayou development, designed by Looney Ricks Kiss. It went up for sale Monday, with a $450,000 asking price.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

A Home You’ve Driven By