HOW ABOUT A LITTLE SOMETHING IN TUSCAN? 
If the $7.4 million price tag on his 12,734-sq.-ft. Friar Tuck French-chateau-that-is-actually-from-France turns out to be too much of a stretch, maybe you’ll be interested in the upcoming auction of real-estate developer Jerry J. Moore’s tchotchkes: “Many of Moore’s belongings were 19th century French, to go along with the French chateau-styled home that he owned on the eastern edge of Hunters Creek Village. Auction items include marble statues, bronze statues, a 19th century billiards table and a Steinway grand piano. ‘All of the furnishings are the best of the best,’ says Ray Simpson, owner of Simpson Galleries. ‘Everything he did was over the top.’†Moore died last year. [Houston Business Journal] Photo: Simpson Galleries
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link is wrong?
@Crowner: No, it’s the right link. It’s later in the (multi-topic) article, which unfortunately is subscription-only for now. In the meantime, you can find out more about the auction from the Simpson Galleries website.
Hope he know where all the stuff came from since apparently he doesn’t know where the house all the stuff came from is and it is not even near the edge of Hunter’s Creek Village and instead is in the area known as Sherwood Forest. No comment about the Robin Hoods in Sherwood Forest although of course our modern versions steal from the poor and give to themselves.
The house by the way is probably worth more than the listing price although the 26 car garage really needs to go. It overwhelms the house itself. Although of course at some point, as pointed out elsewhere, you could turn it into a restaurant and at least cover the taxes. And yes, I know, there are deed restrictions. But it’s in Houston. And, well, as we all know, slip enough into the right pockets and you can do whatever you want in Houston.
As a car guy, I’d pay to see some pics inside that garage!
I hate to break it to you, Matt, but you can’t payoff a politician to get around deed restrictions. Deed restrictions are a civil matter. Violate them and you risk a civil lawsuit from your neighbors. I guess you could pay off your neighbors to not enforce the deed restrictions, but that would just be a case of letting the free market work as designed.
Separately, do you have any actual examples of property owners slipping money into the right person’s pocket to achieve some sort of land use that wouldn’t have otherwise been permisible?
Bernard you either just arrived in Houston or you have been wearing reeeeeeaaaaaaallly dark glasses all these years.