As a checkerboard of townhome development builds out the Rosewood neighborhood south of Midtown, this sunny yellow house with poppy red shutters rather emphatically states its enduring presence on a corner lot it has occupied since before the Southwest Fwy.’s south-of-downtown bypass cut a slice through the block 3 lots away. Today, the orderly 1930 property presents itself as an urban compound, though one softened by its back-in-the-day side porch, pergola, and garden.

***

S

Beyond the off-to-the-side front door and foyer, most of the crisply-trimmed rooms are 11 ft. wide. The living room (below) runs across the western front of the 1,514-sq.-ft. home. Only one side of the mock fireplace has a built-in bookcase — access to the dining room is just beyond the mantel:

The in-town house spent most of 2012 listed at $350,000, after first hitting the market in October 2011 at $419,000. Last month, a relisting with a new agency brought the property out of its 4-month market hiatus. It kept the same asking price for mere days before hopping up to $365,000. HCAD shows there was a 1985 remodeling but further updates appear to have come later, such as in the granite-tweaked kitchen:

Screened by a bunch of blinds, a porch off the living room hugs the side street side of the 5,000-sq.-ft. lot:

Bedrooms on the second floor feature window pairs, hardwood floors, and more window pairs.

This full bathroom, meanwhile, has crossword-pattern tile. There is a half-bath as well, though it isn’t pictured in the listing:

As brick pavers, gates, decking, lattice, railings, and plantings unfold across the side elevation (and in a plethora of listing photos), the medley of materials, textures, and build-outs connect the main home to the apartment, formerly a 2-car garage.

More brick pavers lead to the workshop/shed behind the quarters:

These double doors in the apartment open to the driveway stub’s 2-car parking area that falls beyond the yard’s fenceline:

A mix of older properties across the front and side streets includes a funeral home, an apartment-complex-turned-church, and a couple new-build modern-style townhomes. MetroRail’s Wheeler Transit Center is a westward hike of 4 or 5 blocks; Fiesta Mart and Sears lie beyond the nearby overpass. Further east, at least for now, there’s a post office at  Almeda Rd., beyond which is the Contemporary Learning High School and Peggy Park.

• 4211 La Branch St. [HAR]