- 20326 Acapulco Cove Dr. [HAR]
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Taylor Lake is only part of the scene-setting found at this sprawling 1973 waterfront estate on a point of Seabrook’s El Lago Estates. While the lion’s share of the listing photos feature the tidy grounds and exterior’s grand-scaled impact, the interior delivers quite a cinematic cornucopia of thematic decor — and lighting, such as found in the fuchia glow of the Moulin Rouged bedroom pictured above. Scene it?
OMG Interiors
A pair of renderings are out showing the sorta-near-River-Oaks River Oaks SkyHouse, which has already broken ground, the developers declared yesterday. And — surprise! — it looks a whole lot like the SkyHouse Houston going up downtown (as well as the 9 other SkyHouses completed or under construction in other Southern cities). Two views — one more polished than the other — will allow map sleuths to pinpoint the tower’s spot within Cypress Realty Advisor’s redevelopment of the former Westcreek Apartments: It’s on the plot of the now-vacant apartment block at 2041 Westcreek Ln., directly adjacent to the, uh, “River Oaks” Target. It’s identified as Building D in the site map below. Ashley Furniture is the white box at the top left of the image above, on the other side of San Felipe.
Just Off Target
- Section of Downtown Tunnel Below Former Houston Club Building Closing for 2 Years Starting in May [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Two Shell Plaza To Get New Look, New Entrance and New Address; Will be Renamed 811 Louisiana [Houston Business Journal]
- Lack of ‘Class A’ Office Space Rentals Will Push Owners, Tenants To Invest in ‘Class B’ Properties, Say Experts [Houston Business Journal]
- What Townhouses Mean to Houston [Not of it]
- Walmart Closing Its Lone Más Club Store, at 8711 North Fwy., on February 7 [Houston Chronicle]
- Washington Ave Drinkery Transforming into the Heights Lodge Gastropub [Culturemap]
- Hearing-impaired Renters Face Discrimination in Apartment Searches, Finds Investigation [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of the Rosemont Bridge: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHEN BUILDERS RESPOND TO THE SQUARE-FOOTAGE PRICING INCENTIVE 
“. . . It is a shame that square footage is such a driver on sales in Houston. Everyone I know who lives in 3000+ sq ft only uses about 1500 of it at any one time and the rest is overkill. And then they complain about not having any green space on their property.” [Old School, commenting on Brand New and by the Bike Trail on a Heights Corner] Illustration: Lulu
- 11400 Memorial Dr. [HAR]
LANDS’ END ENDING FOR GARDEN OAKS, BUT NO SEARS’ END IN SIGHT 
Garden Oaks, Oak Forest, and Independence Heights–area customers who received a not-entirely-clear email this morning from Lands’ End calling attention to the “big savings on everything” in the Sears store at 4000 N. Shepherd Dr. in Houston, but noting that “Unfortunately, we’ll be closing that location on 1/31/14″: Here’s a little explication for you. Only the Lands’ End store within the Garden Oaks Sears will be closing at the end of the month. The Sears itself will remain open, for the time being. Photo: Louisiana and Texas Southern Malls and Retail
THE LONG ROADS BEHIND 
What’s changed in the last 5 or so years along stretches of Richmond Ave, Long Point, Washington Ave, Bissonnet, Telephone Rd., Clinton Dr., Harrisburg, Airline Dr., South Post Oak, Bellaire Blvd. and other unlikely pedestrian paths? It’s been a good half-decade since formerHouston Press writer John Nova Lomax and his Marfa-headed sidekick David Beebe dared to walk their lengths and chronicle their adventures along the way. [Houstonia] Photo of Smile Lounge, Telephone Rd.: John Nova Lomax
“Interesting to see,” writes a regular Swamplot reader, “what appears to be two identical models of house built a couple years apart and a couple miles apart for sale at the same time.” Though the the 3-story, 5-sided brick design they share is distinctive, there are a few differences between the models — most obviously the fact that one is listed for almost twice the price of the other. Over in Norhill, 935 Algregg St. (pictured at top) was built in 2001 on a 5,000-sq.-ft. lot. It’s listed for sale for $585,000. Two years later in Cottage Grove, 5018 Darling St. was built a 2,796-sq.-ft. lot. It’s now asking $300,000. But there appear to be some differences in the interiors as well.
Here are views of the living room and kitchen of the Norhill model:
Which One of These Is Not Like the Other?
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Let’s kick off the week by kicking down these:
- Why You Don’t See Any 7-Elevens in Houston, a  Year After the Chain’s Return Was Announced [Houston Chronicle]
- 577 Rittenhouse is Low-Income Housing That Doesn’t Look Like Low-Income Housing [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Longtime Oak Forest Homeowners Getting Multiple Solicitations a Week for Their Property [The Leader]
- Carrabba’s Newest Kirby Restaurant, Grace’s, Will Open Next Month [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
- 500 Weathered-Related Car Accidents Reported Friday; TxDOT Preparing for Another Storm on Its Way [abc13]
- Slideshow: When Houston Got .03 Inches of Snow [Culturemap]
- 3,500 Show Up to Baytown’s Running of the Bulls; 1 Man Hospitalized [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of High Meadows iceman: Jesus Jimenez via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Ready to ride? Or perhaps wave at the fit folks passing by? The wraparound porch and upper balcony of a newly constructed home overlook the Heights Hike and Bike Trail. Listed a week ago at $948,000, the property tempers its somewhat public side with a more private porch in back.
White and Wood
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHERE THE MODS ARE BETTER PRESERVED 
“It is disappointing that we lose so many interesting houses to the wrecking ball. Those of us who live in ‘crimeridden’ (*wink wink*) parts of town can take solace in the fact that at least our neighborhoods’ reputations keep the McMansions at bay. If you can cut through all the stories about crimes that happened ten or fifteen years ago, you can get a great, if dirty, Mod in Sharpstown, just waiting for you to fix it up and bring it back. And you really should look at those houses, because if you don’t, the ‘We Buy Ugly Houses’ people will. And they’ll make them worse.” [ZAW, commenting on Your Opportunity To Hack Away at Memorial Bend’s Former Sales Office Has Arrived] Illustration: Lulu
- 434 Sedgwick Dr. [HAR]
