Eastside mod chaser (and Swamplot advertiser) Robert Searcy reports on a peculiar property he toured last week on Allendale Rd., not too far from Meadowcreek Village Park:
“. . . it is an odd mix style & architecture wise. The exterior looks like some suburban office building while the interior has a semi-commercial utilitarian feel with a heavy dose of Boogie Nights decor. The rooms are all ridiculously large with huge vaulted ceilings and lots of glass. Giant room dividers, not unlike what you see to partition off hotel ball room spaces, divide the giant open kitchen from . . . large U shaped front living areas. Could be a living room and a den, or a conference room and a reception area. Walking through the cavernous space, which appears much larger than HCAD records, you find yourself describing the rooms with sentences that all start with “well it could be either….”
Seems to fit right in with another hint in the listing: If you like that cute little white home you see next door [see bottom photo], it’s . . . available too!
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There are two more rooms in the front that could be either bedrooms or offices, and two more plus the master behind the kitchen.
There is a pool that could be either indoors, or remove the walls and it is regular outdoor. (Damn it I can’t even escape using “either” even with the pool!)
The Master has a fireplace and a giant bath with a whirlpool tub that would fit half a dozen people, if you were so inclined. I did say Boogie Nights interior didn’t I?
There are two staircases and quarters. It is the oddest thing I have seen in a long time.
HCAD reports the property has 5,379 sq. ft. of mixed residential-commercial space, but the listing counts 8,083 sq. ft. The lot measures a little less than an acre.
Oh, but . . . wouldn’t you know it: This place has been around the market for a very very long time. Say, 2007? And who knows what kind of offers it flirted with, back when it was listed for . . . $1 million?
Now, though: we’re down to $399,000.
- 5225 Allendale Rd. [HAR]
I think this was once an attorney’s office and home. There’s even a monument sign out front.
Nice house, in a bad neighborhood.
You’re kidding about the $1 Million. Right?
Meadowcreek is fine. It isn’t bad.
Isn’t it interesting that anything on the SE side gets stereotyped by television reporting from 20 miles away. Most of Meadowcreek is very up-and-coming with many new residents. It’s overall quiet and well-maintained. But it isn’t Memorial, and is priced accordingly. The house in this article is a bit strange in design and decor, but the setting is idyllic with large lawn and trees.
Robert, sounds to me like you are trying to sell houses in that neighborhood and have a vested interest. I grew up near there and graduated from Milby high school. It IS a bad neighborhood.
Milby High School is about 5 miles from Meadowcreek Village. Students that attend Milby do not live in Meadowcreek. You obviously don’t live in the neighborhood, so how can you be the expert?
I never claimed to “be the expert” on Meadowcreek. And Meadowcreek WAS zoned to Milby before Chavez high school was built. (At the risk of sounding like Landed Gent) I am sooo over this argument.
I am sooo over people that declare an entire neighborhood bad based on experiences from 10 years ago or what they see on “reporting live from Southeast Houston”.
This house is tacky. Meadowcreek is not. We can’t all afford to live with the corporate crooks in River Oaks, the “second generation” family wealth in Tanglewood, they move to River Oaks when they turn 50 so as not to look too pretentious, unlike some, or with the Justice Department-funded Mafia types in Memorial who have to maintain their pre-snitch lifestyles including owning titty bars. Maintained by the law abiding tax paying citizens that is.
Most of whom live in neighborhoods just like Meadowcreek. And love it.
Meadow Creek has a great history. My parents moved there right after WW2. When I was born in the late 50’s we moved to Glenbrook Valley. Meadow Creek has great houses and a lot of charm. Amazing old trees and shady streets. I hear people are buying some cool old places. I’ll pass on this house though, my boogie night’s have come and went.
OK. Why does the HAR listing call it the “House of Atreus?” That is a famous family from Greek mythology known for being cursed through several generations. That is strange.
^ Never mind. The owner was longtime Houston and Brenham attorney Atreus M. Clay, who died in November, 2009.
But does it have an atrium?
I have a much more positive opinion of Meadowcreek. Yes, I have sold homes over there before. One a block away from this one to the Executive chef of Benjy’s
http://www.culturemap.com/newsdetail/04-16-10-saturday-morning-chefs-highland-village-farmer-markert-free-lessons-houston-celebrity-chefs/
Another one by renowned Architects Mackie & Kamrath. A cash buyer from Braeswood beating out a competitor from the Willowick high rise.
http://swamplot.com/new-listings-where-the-mid-century-moderns-are/2007-05-22/#more-143
Another to well-known Columnist and Chronicle Editorial Board member Lisa Gray. She did an article about her home there.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl//6147532.html
I also sold one to UH Architecture Professor Susan Rogers. She has served on different panels for UH and the Rice Design Alliance regularly contributes to Cite magazine.
Apparently my experiences in Meadowcreek have been a bit different from what you experienced from several miles away and ten years ago. Thank you for sharing your opinion with us.
@iLackTact: No kidding. The records we can see indicate that the original asking price was $1 million.
Matt Mystery: I am not understanding your comment “the “second generation†family wealth in Tanglewood, they move to River Oaks when they turn 50 so as not to look too pretentious” Is that “second generation” RO or Tanglewood money? Is living in Tanglewood more pretentious than RO? I thought RO would be the place to live to show that you have money.
Regarding the home: The big rooms does give it a conference/ballroom look. Though it looks well maintained, lots of room and a big lot. Great for someone with a large family. Do most of the properties in Meadowcreek have big lots? What is the history of Meadowcreek? Inquiring minds would like to know.
1 mile from a large chemical plant. Sorry, this is never going to be an “OK” neighborhood. Even if you can’t afford to live in Memorial or River Oaks there are better places that aren’t expensive. I’ve worked in and designed plants like the one near here all my life, I know better than to live next to one.
@Norhill Joe: Meadowcreek Village’s larger houses attracted physicians, attorneys, judges, ship pilots, and managers from nearby Pasadena during the 60’s and 70’s. It was a popular place to build a house for doctors that practiced at Pasadena General and Bayshore. Several sections of the neighborhood are all custom-built houses. Many of these families and retirees continue to live in the neighborhood. I can think of one Harvard-educated retired physician that lives in a large white brick ranch and raves about the neighborhood’s quiet seclusion.
Didn’t they just murder a nearby business owner on Winkler near Old Galveston?
I have been researching the history of the large, white brick house. Anything anyone can tell me about the owners of previous owners? @Marc, you mentioned a physician lived/live there? Hmmmm…