$9.2 mill for 8,000 sf at the corner of kirby @ Inwood in front of the red light. LOL
Benny Cargill
I mean 11,000 sf !
Spoonman.
HAR says it’s 2909.
But, wow. My eyes.
heyzeus
My head hurts. I need to lay down.
commonsense
Who would by this affront to the sight gifted? For about 1 mln you could buy around 1 acre lot in River Oaks, and for $8.2 remaining you could build something quite fabulous.
Jeff
I think a zebra exploded
Benny Cargill
Seriously guys, we all know for $150 per SF excluding lot you can build a helluva house. This market won’t be on solid ground until people get realistic about pricing. Zillow has this at 4.3 mill and HCAD 4.4 mill. I think they’d be lucky to actually get a bid of $5 mill for it. built in 1929 no less!!
htownproud
Where in River Oaks can you get a one acre lot for $1 million? Based on smaller quarter size lots in River Oaks, it’s more like $3.5 at a minimum and potentially much more because there are so few acre plus lots.
Colleen
What I found most interesting is that there is a maintenance feel in River Oaks.
miss_msry
Yeah, I thought I’d been run down by the River Oaks zebra herd.
commonsense
Along West Ln and Inverness on the west side of River Oaks are large lots. When they come on market, they’re usually 1 mln to 1.3 mln per acre.
Hanabi-chan
Most sybaritic bathroom in Houston? My, someone has been hitting the thesarus a bit too hard eh? Kitchen big enough for a horde of people? Hell, why not, because there apparently was a herd of zebras in the house. But seriously, the realtor of this house uploaded a description that makes the place sound like a party house, emphasis on “party.”
KT
Well, for this price, I could buy the Mall of the Mainland apparently.
KG
Commonsense – what are you talking about? An acre is 43,500 sqft; at $1.3mm that would be $30 a sqft for land. Those are Heights prices, maybe…
commonsense
3988 Inverness is right now listed at 2.9 mln for 4.2 acres. That’s actually cheaper than I’ve seen. You can’t compare everything in price per sq. ft., like they say “size does matter”.
Jon
Lots of very clueless people here. The house is one of John Staub’s best, and the gardens are one of Pat Fleming’s best; facts that matter to potential buyers, but are oblivious to those who can’t afford the house to begin with – except for design geeks. This house sold for nearly as much just a couple years ago; comparing it to some spec house is a joke. Likewise, buyers at this level don’t give a squat about the decor; they’ll change it all anyway. Those who think this location is somehow a negative are even more clueless.
Darby Mom
why are they selling so soon? purchased in 2010
Patrick
For RO this is reasonable,given the sq.ft,the acreage and the history/provenance of the house. The decor on the other hand,oh wow. That bedroom closet: makeover.The pavilion is nice,the backyard with the allee of oak trees,quite tranquil. Some of the other rooms I’d leave as is. Others, call the decorator. Overall, it’s priced a tad high. But it sold 2 years ago in the mid/high 8 figure range. Besides,real estate is: perception,what you’re getting relative to similar properties. To but a lot, do a tear down and build new is great.But these type of homes(especially with the added attraction of it being designed by well known architect/ landscape architect/designers,et al ,that adds to the overall asking price. IN the end someone WILL buy it. I’d pay around 8.5mil to have a 24 car front parking court. The valets would have a fit.But they’re very adept at jockeying cars into snug spaces.And the house overall looks refined,beautiful and stately. It’s RO,after all.
I’m a polite person and I rarely say unkind things. I would make an exception here, but I can’t think of anything polite enough to be Just unkind.
miss_msry
I think they sold the back yard,
jen
I would like to know where in the heights i can buy for $30 a square foot… I bought my house in 1996 @ Almost $100 a square foot.
commonsense
Not sure, why “designed by someone obscurely famous” deserves double the price. Looking at the pictures, it’s just a bunch of square rooms piles on top of each other, there are no dramatic spaces or incredibly functional areas. A new construction would be infinitely more useful and dramatic… not to mention finish work would be up to snuff.
KG
Jen – thats for the land, not the structure.
.
Commonsense – there are two lots on West Lane that are about an acre and they are going for $3.6mm to $4.0mm. The 4 acre lot for $2.9mm is very interesting though… wonder what’s wrong with it. On Locke Lane in RO there are three (smaller) lots for sale each about $100/sqft.
.
So if you add everything up, this whole package may seemed overpriced given you could build a top of the line new house for $300 a sqft – so $2.4mm to $3.0mm for the (main) house (but not counting the 3200 sqft pavilion) and another $3.0mm to $4.0mm for the land.
.
But, what you are getting here is (1) not having to build a new house, which is a process; (2) a house by John Staub, who is as close as you get to an historical starchitect in Houston (“obscurely famous” LOL); (3) a Curtis & Windham pavilion; (4) an absolutely central and prominent location in RO, which is well set back from that intersection; and (5) a scarcity premium on all of the above.
.
I don’t have $9mm, nor will I ever, nor am I sure I would ever spend that much on a house even if I did. And I don’t know how many buyers there are in that category here, so it may take forever to sell. But the pricing makes sense.
jen
Nope. 900 Square feet time $90 = $81,000. Not that this is part of the discussion.. just saying.
jen
Delete comment. I see what you are attempting to say. I am just confused about peoples perceived value which is much more important than market value.
Benny Cargill
you can build a top of the line new house for $150 per SF. Im talking the best of everything. this $9 mill listing is worth $4 to $5 mill. lot is along Kirby drive so the giant brick fence does help from traffic noise but that is one busy intersection. The 4 acre lot of west lane is only a small part buildable. a big part of it is wooded in flood area sloping to the bayou
KG
Benny – You are right that you can build a very nice house for $150/sqft, but when you are in this stratospheric range, $150 is your starting point and you jump off from there….
.
Your roof will be slate and not composition. Goodness knows how much that costs, and how it impacts your structural engineering.
.
Your floors will be stone and/or wide plank salvaged wood and not 2 1/2″ plain sawn oak.
.
Your facade will be brick, not hardi plank, and bricks will cost $2-$3 each and not 50c. And on an 8,000 sqft structure you may get 50,000, 100,000 bricks. Then you pay the mason.
.
Your trim and doors will be custom manufactured and not stock.
.
Your window package will be custom manufactured and not stock. Saw one house where custom fabricated metal windows cost $250,000. For the windows.
.
Your light cans will cost 10x the cost of the cans you get in a builder spec house. You will have paid a lighting designer a fortune to tell you how to position those lights.
.
Your HVAC, security, A/V systems will be state of the art, each of which will run tens and tens of thousands, if not more. You will insulate your house to an extreme level.
.
And so on and so on. It all adds up… But yes, you can build a nice house for $150/sqft, but if you are building on a 50,000 sqft lot on the corner of Kirby and Inwood, you just won’t.
Benny Cargill
@ KG, point taken. It will be interesting to see what price or if this puppy sells
asprout
With an asking price of $9M, seems like they could have sprung for professional photography. Yeesh.
doofus
KG knows his stuff. This house is overpriced, but only slightly. And the uber high end folks who build custom homes wouldn’t dream of only paying $150 per square foot.
Native Houstonian 74
This was the home of Christopher & Courtney Sarofim from 2000 to 2009 when they moved “across the street & HUGE upgrade” to Ravenna, 2995 Lazy Lane, the Stephen Power Farish home. The Sarofim’s had their wedding reception at the home in December 2000, Tony’s, At Home catered and the heaters in the party tent stopped working during the party.
miss_msry
Courtney and her mother both married well.
Jon
This house is not overpriced. New listing for a 2 acre LOT in RO for $10M. It’s a different world folks, this ain’t Cinco Ranch.
That one backs to the golf course, totally different ballgame. Some of those homes are 15-30 mln.
Native Houstonian 74
commonsense, the lot you referenced was the home for Diane Lokey Farb and the late Harold Farb, who passed away 6 years ago this month. She had the home, although partially built, demolished. She is selling the lot.
$9.2 mill for 8,000 sf at the corner of kirby @ Inwood in front of the red light. LOL
I mean 11,000 sf !
HAR says it’s 2909.
But, wow. My eyes.
My head hurts. I need to lay down.
Who would by this affront to the sight gifted? For about 1 mln you could buy around 1 acre lot in River Oaks, and for $8.2 remaining you could build something quite fabulous.
I think a zebra exploded
Seriously guys, we all know for $150 per SF excluding lot you can build a helluva house. This market won’t be on solid ground until people get realistic about pricing. Zillow has this at 4.3 mill and HCAD 4.4 mill. I think they’d be lucky to actually get a bid of $5 mill for it. built in 1929 no less!!
Where in River Oaks can you get a one acre lot for $1 million? Based on smaller quarter size lots in River Oaks, it’s more like $3.5 at a minimum and potentially much more because there are so few acre plus lots.
What I found most interesting is that there is a maintenance feel in River Oaks.
Yeah, I thought I’d been run down by the River Oaks zebra herd.
Along West Ln and Inverness on the west side of River Oaks are large lots. When they come on market, they’re usually 1 mln to 1.3 mln per acre.
Most sybaritic bathroom in Houston? My, someone has been hitting the thesarus a bit too hard eh? Kitchen big enough for a horde of people? Hell, why not, because there apparently was a herd of zebras in the house. But seriously, the realtor of this house uploaded a description that makes the place sound like a party house, emphasis on “party.”
Well, for this price, I could buy the Mall of the Mainland apparently.
Commonsense – what are you talking about? An acre is 43,500 sqft; at $1.3mm that would be $30 a sqft for land. Those are Heights prices, maybe…
3988 Inverness is right now listed at 2.9 mln for 4.2 acres. That’s actually cheaper than I’ve seen. You can’t compare everything in price per sq. ft., like they say “size does matter”.
Lots of very clueless people here. The house is one of John Staub’s best, and the gardens are one of Pat Fleming’s best; facts that matter to potential buyers, but are oblivious to those who can’t afford the house to begin with – except for design geeks. This house sold for nearly as much just a couple years ago; comparing it to some spec house is a joke. Likewise, buyers at this level don’t give a squat about the decor; they’ll change it all anyway. Those who think this location is somehow a negative are even more clueless.
why are they selling so soon? purchased in 2010
For RO this is reasonable,given the sq.ft,the acreage and the history/provenance of the house. The decor on the other hand,oh wow. That bedroom closet: makeover.The pavilion is nice,the backyard with the allee of oak trees,quite tranquil. Some of the other rooms I’d leave as is. Others, call the decorator. Overall, it’s priced a tad high. But it sold 2 years ago in the mid/high 8 figure range. Besides,real estate is: perception,what you’re getting relative to similar properties. To but a lot, do a tear down and build new is great.But these type of homes(especially with the added attraction of it being designed by well known architect/ landscape architect/designers,et al ,that adds to the overall asking price. IN the end someone WILL buy it. I’d pay around 8.5mil to have a 24 car front parking court. The valets would have a fit.But they’re very adept at jockeying cars into snug spaces.And the house overall looks refined,beautiful and stately. It’s RO,after all.
Interesting. This house is shown as having been sold in the Houston Business Journal some time ago http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/print-edition/2011/12/16/high-end-homes-sold.html?page=all
That deal must have fallen through.
I’m a polite person and I rarely say unkind things. I would make an exception here, but I can’t think of anything polite enough to be Just unkind.
I think they sold the back yard,
I would like to know where in the heights i can buy for $30 a square foot… I bought my house in 1996 @ Almost $100 a square foot.
Not sure, why “designed by someone obscurely famous” deserves double the price. Looking at the pictures, it’s just a bunch of square rooms piles on top of each other, there are no dramatic spaces or incredibly functional areas. A new construction would be infinitely more useful and dramatic… not to mention finish work would be up to snuff.
Jen – thats for the land, not the structure.
.
Commonsense – there are two lots on West Lane that are about an acre and they are going for $3.6mm to $4.0mm. The 4 acre lot for $2.9mm is very interesting though… wonder what’s wrong with it. On Locke Lane in RO there are three (smaller) lots for sale each about $100/sqft.
.
So if you add everything up, this whole package may seemed overpriced given you could build a top of the line new house for $300 a sqft – so $2.4mm to $3.0mm for the (main) house (but not counting the 3200 sqft pavilion) and another $3.0mm to $4.0mm for the land.
.
But, what you are getting here is (1) not having to build a new house, which is a process; (2) a house by John Staub, who is as close as you get to an historical starchitect in Houston (“obscurely famous” LOL); (3) a Curtis & Windham pavilion; (4) an absolutely central and prominent location in RO, which is well set back from that intersection; and (5) a scarcity premium on all of the above.
.
I don’t have $9mm, nor will I ever, nor am I sure I would ever spend that much on a house even if I did. And I don’t know how many buyers there are in that category here, so it may take forever to sell. But the pricing makes sense.
Nope. 900 Square feet time $90 = $81,000. Not that this is part of the discussion.. just saying.
Delete comment. I see what you are attempting to say. I am just confused about peoples perceived value which is much more important than market value.
you can build a top of the line new house for $150 per SF. Im talking the best of everything. this $9 mill listing is worth $4 to $5 mill. lot is along Kirby drive so the giant brick fence does help from traffic noise but that is one busy intersection. The 4 acre lot of west lane is only a small part buildable. a big part of it is wooded in flood area sloping to the bayou
Benny – You are right that you can build a very nice house for $150/sqft, but when you are in this stratospheric range, $150 is your starting point and you jump off from there….
.
Your roof will be slate and not composition. Goodness knows how much that costs, and how it impacts your structural engineering.
.
Your floors will be stone and/or wide plank salvaged wood and not 2 1/2″ plain sawn oak.
.
Your facade will be brick, not hardi plank, and bricks will cost $2-$3 each and not 50c. And on an 8,000 sqft structure you may get 50,000, 100,000 bricks. Then you pay the mason.
.
Your trim and doors will be custom manufactured and not stock.
.
Your window package will be custom manufactured and not stock. Saw one house where custom fabricated metal windows cost $250,000. For the windows.
.
Your light cans will cost 10x the cost of the cans you get in a builder spec house. You will have paid a lighting designer a fortune to tell you how to position those lights.
.
Your HVAC, security, A/V systems will be state of the art, each of which will run tens and tens of thousands, if not more. You will insulate your house to an extreme level.
.
And so on and so on. It all adds up… But yes, you can build a nice house for $150/sqft, but if you are building on a 50,000 sqft lot on the corner of Kirby and Inwood, you just won’t.
@ KG, point taken. It will be interesting to see what price or if this puppy sells
With an asking price of $9M, seems like they could have sprung for professional photography. Yeesh.
KG knows his stuff. This house is overpriced, but only slightly. And the uber high end folks who build custom homes wouldn’t dream of only paying $150 per square foot.
This was the home of Christopher & Courtney Sarofim from 2000 to 2009 when they moved “across the street & HUGE upgrade” to Ravenna, 2995 Lazy Lane, the Stephen Power Farish home. The Sarofim’s had their wedding reception at the home in December 2000, Tony’s, At Home catered and the heaters in the party tent stopped working during the party.
Courtney and her mother both married well.
This house is not overpriced. New listing for a 2 acre LOT in RO for $10M. It’s a different world folks, this ain’t Cinco Ranch.
http://search.har.com/engine/3482-Inwood-Dr-Houston-TX-77019_HAR34251942.htm
That one backs to the golf course, totally different ballgame. Some of those homes are 15-30 mln.
commonsense, the lot you referenced was the home for Diane Lokey Farb and the late Harold Farb, who passed away 6 years ago this month. She had the home, although partially built, demolished. She is selling the lot.
The décor doesn’t match even in the same room. They might as well have taken cues from the William List School of Home Décor.