That Burlington St. mansion nestled in along the 527 Spur leading from Downtown to 59 is back on the market this week, though the listing implies that the interior redo and whitewashing is still in progress. The house, built between 1897 and 1908 depending on who you ask, went up for sale in the Westmoreland Historic District early last year for $1.8 million. The current owners bought the property that summer for $880,000 and quickly sent an application to the city’s history folks asking for approval to move some doors and windows around, as well as to add a deck out back and a balcony outside the existing second-story doors to nowhere in the master bedroom. (The bricks, already painted brown, appear to have been painted white instead, as has most of the interior.)
The property is now listed at a smidge under $2.4 million. Not pictured or mentioned in the new listing is the 3-post freeway billboard previously seen sunning itself by the pool on the northern end of the front yard, shown below as it appeared in the old listing:
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The new listing does, however, claim that many of the home’s original wood details, terrazzo floors, and stained glass touches are being preserved, and allows for a few before-and-not-quite-after comparisons of some of the rooms. (The house was renovated once before in the 1980s, per county records.)
The entryway appears to have lost its brown walls but retained its brown fireplace:
Same thing with the green one:
Some of the wood paneling looks to have been stained a darker shade, though it’s partially obscured in the new photos by the protective plastic sheeting:
Here’s the breakfast room, connected by a pass-through to a bar service area:
The kitchen island and counter have been consolidated:
The dining room has held onto at least a bit of its stained glass:
New fixtures headed for that upstairs bathroom:
The upstairs wood is being refinished as well:
- 3618 Burlington St. [HAR]
- Draft Application for Certificate of Appropriateness [Houston Archaeological & Historical Commission]
- Previously on Swamplot:Â This $1.8 Million Queen Anne Mansion on the Edge of Westmoreland and the Downtown Spur Comes with Its Own Pool and Billboard
Photos: HAR
The late Mr. Danielson, who owned the home for many years (and in which I attended many wonderful parties and fundraisers), said the sign company paid him something every month. He said it covered his electric bill!
Overall I don’t think the changes are terrible. Yeah, it’s a little blah, but in Houston its nice to see a house this size and age actually renovated instead of smashed to bits, so blah I can deal with. Also I don’t find white/neutral paint to be the scourge a lot of Swamplotters think it is, so I rather like the white walls.
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Though I do wish they’d have kept *some* of the color. Historic mansions were often full of color–usually just to show they could afford it.
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I also wish they hadn’t painted out so many of those gorgeous wood doors. I’m glad the wood trim in the blue room was spared, but I can’t tell what’s going on with those parquet and inlay wood floors–or the ones in the yellow and red rooms. I hope it’s just that they’re covered…Please tell me they’re just covered.
Augh! Clearly unfamiliar with Queen Anne interior colors. The before was accurate, the after reflects the styling of 100 years later. But at least it’s just paint and can be painted over.
http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-collection/historic-collection/interior-historic-colors/late-victorian/
or just google “queen anne interior paint colors” or “late victorian interior paint colors”
The best part about this house is the billboard. It apparently has a multi-year lease and looms over former Mayor Annise Parkers adjoining house. She tried t o politely ask the previous owner who passed away last year. He told her no. Then she apparently tried to get the City Legal Department to remove the billboard. She said it was a “quality of life ” issue. He told her you &/or the City can buy out the advertising revenue and the billboard can be removed. Obviously that didn’t happen. I’m so glad Annise ,for once, didn’t get her way. She & her cabal killed thousands of billboard related jobs in the area.
correction: Former Mayor Parker tried to ask the former owner to REMOVE the billboard. He told her no.
I used to walk by this house almost every day when I lived in Westmoreland. I’d cut across the ‘park’ across the street to get to W. Alabama.
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But then that lot was bought, and now after forever, they’re finally building their monster homes on it.
We sold this one last summer and still love it.I did a lot of research on the home while selling it and Russell Brown (built many in Montrose) was originally owner/builder. I hate that they took away from some of the Historic character but the reno was needed especially the basement,baths, and kitchen.
More History about the home http://www.texasrealtysales.com/2015/04/18/diamond-in-the-ruff-c-1898/