Back in April, Swamplot asked whether, for $8.1 million, this 1941 River Oaks estate by architect Hiram Salisbury with a later addition by John Staub might be torn down to allow the construction of 2 newer mansions on the same property. Today, we have our answer: No. But for $7.2 million, the answer appears to have been yes — for the tearing-down part, at least. Yesterday, the city approved a demolition permit for the property, which changed hands in July.
Named a Texas Historic Landmark in 2001, the central part of the home was designed by Salisbury for attorney Thomas D. Anderson and his wife, Helen Sharp Anderson. In 1950, the Andersons had Staub design the home’s east wing. Mrs. Anderson died last year, 7 years after her husband. The listing, which featured carefully staged photos of the home’s well-tended grounds and interiors as well as its won’t-ward-off-bulldozers medal from the Texas Historical Commission, also noted that the River Oaks Property Owners association had already given approval for the 67,458-sq.-ft. lot to be subdivided.
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The new owner behind the demolition is Christopher Van Riet, the Houston-native entrepreneur and chairman of Russian development and investment firm Radius Group, whose offices are in Moscow. Van Riet got his start in the Russian business world working for oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky‘s Menatep Group:
“When Mikhail Khodorkovsky went public with his ownership, [of the Yukos Oil Company, in the early 1990s],” Van Riet told the Moscow Times in 2011, “I said, ‘Putin and the Russian government have let them know that ownership will be honored.‘ I said, ‘That changes everything.’ . . . I got back here [Russia] immediately. I was basically on the next flight over. I started buying everything I could.” Van Riet himself later ascended to the board of Yukos, as well as serving as executive chairman of the board of directors of Dixy, a major Russian food retailer. (Khodorkovsky was later arrested by Putin; he was released from jail last year after almost 10 years of imprisonment.)
The house at 3925 Del Monte Dr., in the Tall Timbers section of River Oaks, is a good 2 miles west of the intersection of Kirby Dr. and Westheimer Rd., identified by displaced Kirby Court Apartments resident Anis Shivani, in a long article reprinted on Salon, as ground zero for Houston’s oligarch takeover. Van Riet, it appears, was already Shivani’s neighbor; on HCAD records, Van Riet lists his residence as the unit in the Huntingdon condo building (at 2121 Kirby Dr.) long owned by his father.
- 3925 Del Monte Dr. [HAR]
- Q&A: Investing Millions of Dollars With Texan Sense [The Moscow Times]
- Previously on Swamplot: For $8.1 Million, Would This River Oaks Hiram Salisbury and John Staub Estate Be Torn Down for 2 Newer Mansions?
If the owners of the house that got it the historic designation truly cared about the historic nature of the house they would have found a buyer who wasn’t going to demolish it.
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To me at least, it looks like the historic designation was sought solely for easing their taxable liability. I hate people who game the system like this.
That was my grandparent’s home.
Also? This sucks entire gallons of ass. They loved that house, and they treated it with respect.
I’m just waiting to see how our resident communists will turn this story of a successful businessman enjoying the fruits of his labor into a crime against humanity and how they should have been consulted.
@ commonsense:
I’ve been reading your comments on this website for a few years. And I am finally compelled to ask two questions:
1. When your compassion was surgically removed, did they use a local or general anesthesia?
2. How does it feel to be so lonely?
Just curious,
B.
I wouldn’t be gloating over the “successful businessman’ and the “fruit of his labors’. Post Soviet Russia wasn’t exactly the center of free enterprise.
My condolences to your family, Ribalding, on the loss of the home. It looked like a place that framed generations of memories.
Interesting to see the differences in decor between this one and the Carlton Woods swankienda of the Roemer lady. This one is more homey and comfortable. I suspect the previous owners furnished it for their own comfort, and not to try to show off to their friends or the local news media.
Wow, there goes one of the most recognizable & unique homes in River Oaks… how sad.
Does anyone really believe that any of these people have real money? We live in a world where Beyonce claims she grew up in Houston’s Riverside Terrace neighborhood even though her birth certificate lists an old apartment building that once stood closer to Sharpstown than any other neighborhood. In this dream world we watch celebrity magically earn people millions even if they have no talent, we watch people claim to have been the founders of 100 year old fortune 500 companies that are really barely older than the tacky homes they build. In my opinion it is time to bulldoze the entire River Oaks neighborhood as well as the Rice University area to build higher density housing. The new developments could keep the street trees and remake the whole inner-loop by getting rid of these monuments to faux wealth and fake charity patrons.
Does this tell us what all the hub-bub about the dome getting the same seal is actually worth? Not very effective if you goal is to have it torn down.
*if you goal is to have it not torn down.
Are there tax benefits for historical designation in our fair city? I am not aware of any.
Toasty, I think the “people who got the historical designation” are now passed on (see the part about the matriarch dying last year, seven years after her husband). They were already getting a nice tax break because of their age, probably. Sorry for your loss, Ribalding.
I don’t know why Van Riet couldn’t renovate this gorgeous building to suit his needs. I’m suspect it was built for the ages, but I am not privy to the engineering details or inspection reports. I suppose it all comes down to being able to subdivide the property and take cash out of the deal.
Will all of River Oaks ultimately end up densified by deal like this?
I wouldn’t be gloating over the “successful businessman’ and the “fruit of his labors’. Post Soviet Russia wasn’t exactly the center of free enterprise.
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No kidding. I was about the write the same thing :)
Oh pooh pooh Commonsense. Nobody’s objecting to anyone’s success. All we’re saying is, if you want to build a new mansion, why tear down an historic mansion? There are plenty of lots along Palm Royale Blvd in Sugar Land, among other places, that would be fine for whatever 10,000sf Mediterranean hulk you want to put in.
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Sheesh.
Karen,
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Houston does not, no, but our national government does: http://www.nps.gov/tps/tax-incentives.htm
I wouldn’t be gloating over the “successful businessman’ and the “fruit of his labors’. Post Soviet Russia wasn’t exactly the center of free enterprise.
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Anderson traced his family history to 1736, when his ancestor, William Anderson, settled in Maryland. would anyone seriously try and claim that 18th century america was such a shining example of free enterprise as well? wish my family had come over sooner and had a pile of land to fall back on during the hard times.
Matt, Beyonce did grown up in Riverside Terrace, maybe her parents did not live therewhen she was born, but she grew up there.
This was as predictable as wind and rain during a Hurricane. I don’t even want to see the monstrosity that will be thrown up (and I do mean thrown up, literally) on this soon to be empty lots. So many of the new builds in RO are just awful, you can tell by looking at them that all the carvings are pre fab and there is zero craftsmanship. All the stone masons are gone as are the real artists that used to create the exteriors.
It’s a pretty and delightful home, and my nostalgia is probably due to wishing I had grown up there.
It’s wild to think of this place standing in the ‘suburbs,’ kids running down the street to play in the bayou…
How will the family dispose of all that beautiful Federal and Chippendale furniture? Wish someone would let us know.
So what exactly was the historical designation for? It means absolutely nothing.
A lot of people sell their house to someone who says they just love the place. They are soooooo looking forward to putting their family there. They might just update the kitchen….
Certainly is an attractive human scaled home in a beautiful setting and it a shame to lose another nice traditional RO home to the unknown but, honestly, in regard to this particular home other than the pedigree of the architect, what is so distinctive about the interior of this home? The 1950 add on has no real discernible “craftsmanship” that is so different from a comparable aged home in Afton Oaks or Braes Heights. From the photos we can see here and on HAR, the only thing “architectural” about this house is the ceiling in the family room and the dentil moulding in the living and dining rooms. Otherwise if all the furnishings were removed, it would look like any other larger home of its era. No pics shown of the baths or kitchen so they must have been in need of refurbishment. And let’s get real, the exterior looks like it was done by brick layers not stone masons.
Houston does have a tax credit for restoring homes that are listed as city landmarks. This one may or may not have been. The state historical marker doesn’t offer any protection as far as demolition — and it’s not the same thing that has been proposed for the Astrodome. (The Astrodome’s proposed designation is as a State Antiquities Landmark, which is a different animal than the Recorded Texas Historic Landmark designation that this house has.)
Following up on Jim’s comment, it looks to me that the house did not have the City of Houston Historical Landmark designation which gives a credit on the COH tax rate. The only exemption that shows up is the Over-65 Surviving Spouse. One other interesting thing to note from the HCAD account: It’s listed as an original (never remodeled) 1941 home in Excellent condition. That tells me that someone took very, very good care of it.