01/07/16 12:00pm

1208 Aurora St., Sunset Heights, Houston

1208 Aurora St., Sunset Heights, Houston

Swamplot today is sponsored by the renovated 1920 bungalow for sale at 1208 Aurora St. in Sunset Heights. Thanks for the support, ’low!

The recent extensive redo of this 3-bedroom, 2-bath home is a project of Griffin Properties, and was designed by Ellie Busker. The renovation added 800 sq. ft. of living space and a 2-car garage, as well as new electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling systems, windows, roof, appliances, fixtures, fencing, and a bunch of other stuff. Most of the shiplap is still there, though.

Downtown is just 10 minutes away; Heights shopping, restaurants, and nightlife about a mile. You can view many more photos of the property and get more info about it on the listing website; find out more about Griffin Properties and its record of area redos on the company website.

There’s also an open house at 1208 Aurora this Sunday, January 10th, from 2 to 4 pm.

Looking for a great way to highlight a great property? Look no further than Swamplot’s Sponsor of the Day program. Or go ahead and look further, then come back to us.

Sponsor of the Day
01/07/16 11:30am

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE WAY OF ALL HOUSTON REAL ESTATE Illustration of a Houston Freeway“I agree that there’s no tangible need for the Grand Parkway out there. On the other hand, I’ve owned a few hundred acres by Dayton that now have doubled in price in the last 5 years because of the anticipation of GP — so who am I to argue?” [commonsense, commenting on The Grand Parkway Segments Planned Between 59 and I-10 Are Looking for Love (or Whatever Else You Might Be Feeling)] Illustration: Lulu

01/07/16 10:30am

What better character to hawk a house slathered in animal dung than a leather-jacketed agent from Rockstar Real Estate Group? Rhinestone-loving Paul Gomberg, who operates under the umbrella of Keller Williams Conroe/Lake Conroe, posted a video tour yesterday of a house featured on Swamplot on Monday (which, as commenters noted, included captions such as “Feces galore!”).

Gomberg seems eager to share his delight for the house at 5623 Willow Walk Ln., calling it “one of the best listings he’s had in the last 2 weeks” (even while warning his cameraman to hold his nose against what his HAR listing calls the “foul stench” permeating the interior). Gomberg posted the tour to YouTube last night — despite the fact that the property appears to have been under contract since December 20, after only 1 day on the market.

The house, currently listed at $125,000, originally sold for $280,000 in 2012, when it looked like this:

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Video Shitshow
01/07/16 8:30am

downtown-skyline

Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines
01/06/16 4:15pm

NATIONAL GUARD TO DEPLOY DISCARDED CHRISTMAS TREES TO RESTORE LOUISIANA WETLANDS Meanwhile, in New Orleans:  The US Fish and Wildlife Service, along with the Louisiana National Guard’s 1st Assault Helicopter Battalion, will conduct the city’s annual Christmas Tree Drop, in which thousands of fir trees collected this week will be deposited by Black Hawk into the 23,000-ac swamp that sits within the city limits. The dead trees placed in the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge allow sediment to collect and provide habitat, creating a base for recolonization of degraded wetland areas by native marsh grasses and birds; about 175 acres of wetlands have been restored in this way since the program began. [The Times-Picayune, Mother Nature Network]

01/06/16 3:15pm

The Raven hasn’t landed yet — but the metal-fabrication-shop-turned-icehouse’s website and Facebook page are touting a January 19th Grand Opening date, complete with the kickoff to the venue’s live music lineup. On the other side of the complex, associated White Oak Music Hall itself isn’t scheduled to open until May.

The ice house and its sky-high 70s-bachelor-pad lounge are tucked back off of N. Main along North St., separated from I-45 by only the Skylane Apartments. (The iconic den-on-a-stick can be spotted through the trees from I-45 north of Quitman, just before the freeway ducks under the North St. bridge.)

New renderings posted last month by the bar show the details of the rest of the Raven Tower’s indoor and outdoor spaces:

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Winging Over White Oak
01/06/16 1:15pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: REMEMBERING THE WONDERFUL LIFE IN THE HEIGHTS Heights Candy Bar, 833 Studewood, Heights, Houston, 77007“Back when it was a drugstore, I remember buying sodas from George Bailey when he worked there. His boss Mr. Gower ’bout ripped his damn ear off one time when he almost poisoned a kid. Old man Potter came in with his cheap housing, building all these stucco Mcmansions. Things haven’t been the same since.” [Violet, commenting on Oolala, Heights Candy Bar Calling It Quits on Studewood Storefronts] Photo: Heights Candy Bar

01/06/16 12:00pm

Sites in Architecture Center Houston's Third Ward Bicycle Tour, Houston

Today’s sponsor of the day is the program of neighborhood walking and bicycle tours brought to you by the Architecture Center Houston. Thanks for supporting Swamplot, ArCH!

Whether you’re looking to trim some fat, expand your mind, or make new friends, ArCH walking and bike tours can help you realize your 2016 New Year resolutions.

Architecture Center Houston promotes awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the ways in which architecture and urban design influence and enhance the quality of life in our community. Neighborhood walking and bicycle tours explore the architecture, design, and history of Houston’s urban landscape. Each 2-hour tour is led by an enthusiastic ArCH trained docent. Tours take place Saturday mornings at 10 am and select Thursday evenings at 6 pm, September through May.

Below is a complete list of ArCH’s Spring 2016 tours. Tour descriptions, locations, and registration are online at the Architecture Center Houston website. Custom and private group tours are also available. Call 713-520-0155 or email mat@aiahouston.org for more details.

Interested in your own private tour of Swamplot sponsorship opportunities? Contact us here.

Sponsor of the Day
01/06/16 11:30am

Invasion Ice House, 823 Dumble St., Eastwood, Houston, 77023

A little green man in a flying saucer heralds the looming takeover of the former Los Amigos space at 823 Dumble St. (at the corner with McKinney, a few blocks west of S. Lockwood Dr.). Los Amigos is prepping to be reborn as Invasion Ice House — a tipster tells Swamplot that the new owner wants to make the space into the “cool neighborhood hangout” that the area “desperately needs”. The 1,300-sq.-ft. building, formerly violet (and even-more-formerly lemon-yellow), has been repainted a dusty blue behind the sci-fi mural now adorning the front.

Invasion manager Monique Ramos applied for a TABC beer and wine license last month; a closer look at the signs posted on the space indicates that the interplanetary colonists will bring along Tex-Mex provender in the form of the Tako Box food truck.

Photo of 823 Dumble St.: Swamplot inbox

 

Cosmic Facelifts
01/06/16 9:45am

B-Cycle Station, Brazos St. at McGowen St., Midtown, Houston, 77006

Cyclists, get clicking: the bike-share nonprofit B-Cycle is looking for input on the locations of nearly 70 new stations via an online mapping tool. B-Cycle will more than triple its number of Houston bike docks over the next few years — growing from 29 last November to a cool 100 — thanks to a $3.5 million grant from the Houston-Galveston Area Council. Director Will Rub refers to the explosive growth as “almost a shotgun approach”.

The station proposal map includes the current stations and some already-proposed locales from the B-Cycle team, but you can add commentary and suggest your own by registering with an email address (mere voyeurs may remain anonymous).

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Bike Boom
01/06/16 8:30am

white-oak-music-hall

Photo of the Raven Tower, near the White Oak Music Hall complex in former Fitzgerald’s site at 2915 N. Main: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines