Houston, Texas real estate development, home buying, landscape, and design

17 Comments

1. 1
   From finness:

   I find myself dismayed agains and again by what we crazy Americans consider a teardown house.

   July 29, 2009 at 10:44 am
2. 2
   From movocelot:

   Absolutely lovely home with everything goin’ on! new windows, subway tile, fresh, clear and not a sag anywhere!
   All those listing pics suggest the listing agent had no idea he was marketing a tear-down…

   July 29, 2009 at 10:58 am
3. 3
   From Bernard:

   Economically speaking, obsolete is obsolete. The overall quality of the improvements make very little difference in the teardown equaltion. The only thing that really matters is the relative value of the improvements when compared to the value of the land they occupy. If you plop a brand new 20,000 SF River Oaks mansion on some dirt in Manhattan, it becomes instantly obsolete.

   This house is only about 100 feet from Westheimer. The future of this land is commercial development. The prior owner must be feeling pretty silly for putting so much cash into an obsolete property.

   Out with the old. In with the new.

   July 29, 2009 at 11:31 am
4. 4
   From Hellsing:

   I think the people who built the brick house next door a few years ago might have something to say about that - they’re closer to Westheimer than this one.

   July 29, 2009 at 1:01 pm
5. 5
   From miss_msry:

   This looks like it is in Cherryhurst, in which case, they wouldn’t allow commercial building.

   July 29, 2009 at 2:11 pm
6. 6
   From IS:

   lovely house, feels like home, cozy - makes me homesick

   July 29, 2009 at 3:04 pm
7. 7
   From sarahc:

   What a great place. The windows, floors and kitchen are great. And a cedar lined closet! Sad to see it go.

   July 29, 2009 at 11:34 pm
8. 8
   From Ross:

   Probably going to be another townhouse going in there so the new owners can have 3500 sq ft instead of 1750. Heaven knows 1750 sq ft isn’t enough for two people these days. And just one full bath? How primitive. What would they think of our 2 bed 1 bath 1400 sq ft place?

   July 30, 2009 at 12:03 am
9. 9
   From Darby Mom:

   I though you could not tear down houses in Cherryhurst…

   July 30, 2009 at 8:40 am
10. 10
    From Ross:

    You can tear down a house anywhere. All you need is a permit from the City. You may not be able to build whatever you want after that, though.

    July 30, 2009 at 9:53 am
11. 11
    From finness:

    Being in an historic district in Houston means just this: if the Historic Commission does not approve your plans, you must wait 90 days to demo instead of being able to proceed immediately.

    Oh! And you do qualify for special street signs.

    July 30, 2009 at 10:58 am
12. 12
    From Bob Schamus:

    While I applaud Swamplot’s efforts at displaying homes facing an undeserved demise, in this case the house is just fine and will live another 70 years. The garage, however, will be demolished and re-built. I should know….I was the Realtor for the buyers last summer.

    Hey Editors! Fact-checking is a good thing.

    July 30, 2009 at 1:31 pm
13. 13
    From Gus:

    @Bob Schamus:
    Fact-checking is indeed a good thing, and on Swamplot it’s necessarily a communal exercise. We simply don’t have the resources to do it on our own. Thank you for your help!

    As stated in the report every Monday morning, the Daily Demolition Report is taken directly from the city’s permit data. In some instances we do additional research to nail down details, and we do regularly make a few assumptions (for example, when a homebuilder takes out a demo permit, we assume that that same company will be building new construction on the site).
    The permit for this property makes no reference to a garage. In retrospect, the inclusion of the phrase “other building(s)” should have been a clue that the entire residence is not being demolished; however, Swamplot never claims that that’s what we’re reporting. We’re just reporting what permits were taken out.

    Here’s the complete text of the permit info as released by the city:

    Project No: 09067159
    Date : 2009/07/28 00:00:00
    USE : DEMO BLD/NO SEWER DISC REQUIRED
    Owner/Occupant : *IAN BRYANT & LISA INESON
    Job Address : 2709 YUPON ST 77006
    Valuation : $ 0
    Permit Type : SD
    FCC Group : Demo; Other Building(s)
    Buyer : *WILLIAM SHAW ASSOCIATES
    Address : 4206 LAW ST 77005
    Phone : (713) 666-1931

    We’ve updated the post to include the information you’ve provided!

    July 30, 2009 at 2:01 pm
14. 14
    From movocelot:

    Oh fine then. Carry on. :-)

    July 30, 2009 at 2:07 pm
15. 15
    From Hellsing:

    The tormented cry of “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” I just heard must have been Bernard….

    July 30, 2009 at 2:13 pm
16. 16
    From L.Ineson / I. Bryant:

    We are the owners. Thanks for your friendly concerned comments on our home. As Bob Schamus - our realtor and friend- said, we are just rebuilding the 2 car garage. The house itself is in pristine condition and we hope to enjoy it for many years to come.

    July 31, 2009 at 8:27 am
17. 17
    From Phillip:

    Oh shame on you home owners for organizing a demo of this beautiful house! Shame, shame, shame!!!

    lol, yes, fact checking is a good thing. I am still upset that you won’t let me live in the garage.
    :-(

    Of course if you added some virtually transparent window tint, you would be much cooler in your home and save energy
    http://www.solarcontrolfilmsin.....lck70.html
    Insulation for your glass! Block that baking hot sun and save money!

    July 31, 2009 at 10:11 am