“What a weird, cool house” says the reader who wrote in to clue us in on this 1960 Parade of Homes “townhouse” in Walnut Bend built by Robert Pine. The owner, who claimed to have rescued it in 2007 from the previous owner’s planned second floor addition and “tons of Home Depot upgrades,” put it up for sale last summer, after chatting it up a bit to Midcentury Mod fans on HAIF.
The $199,000 asking price only lasted a few months. Since last September, it’s been available for $159,900. Why hasn’t it sold?
***
A potential buyer posted comments on HAIF last week:
Well, it looks like the windows above the kitchen might be leaking. There is carpet in the bedrooms, and one of the rooms smells like a dog was living there (they didn’t have terrazzo under the carpet). Some parts of the rooms are just cement. All the cabinetry in the kitchen/bathrooms looks original and still looks really nice (for being 50 years old). Some new hinges and adjusting could help bring them back to life, imo. Looks like there was a work in progress renovation in the entryway trying to bring some light from the windows above the kitchen to the foyer. They put some tiles (I think large rectangular slate) in the master bedroom which is a shame because I love the terrazzo which does have some cracks throughout. The bathrooms look fairly untouched minus some fixtures in the master bath probably installed early 80s. I can’t recall the fixtures in the other bath at the moment. A couple of the bedroom doors needs replaced from scratching from the dog. I think the biggest things are checking the roof for leaking, and ensuring the foundation are in good shape. It appears like the owners were working on it, and then just stopped everything. Like I told my wife, a lot seems cosmetic with further research needed on the roof and foundation.
Oh, and the outside concrete needs [to be] replaced and a new coat of white paint.
Why hasn’t it sold?
Because Mayor White in his supreme wisdom plunked a massive amount of Katrina refugees into that area, and since then, most people are fleeing for their lives from what was once a fairly nice area.
Enough of the goddamn Katrina Refugee scapegoating.
Journal of Criminal Justice, V38 I1, pp 42-50
No statistical effect on crime figures was found in Houston following the influx of Katrina refugees. Just. Didn’t. Happen.
Jimbo: agreed, plus I don’t see many incidents in beat 20G20 in the crimestats. There are a few burglaries along Wilcrest / Briar Forest and Beltway 8, but not much in the center.
No garage though, and no fence… and if you tried to put one up, the HAIF lynch mob would come for ya… 8-)
I looked at this house when I was house hunting last summer … not many flat roofs around any longer.
I really dig the sculpture in the front yard, but I assume that doesn’t come with the house…
I always loved this style of architecture. I have a friend who owns a MOD on S. Braeswood just west of Buffalo Spdwy that looks very similar to this.
The garage solution was to place a small non-descript garage in the back yard with a driveway leading to that location. You can’t see it from the front.
http://tinyurl.com/ygfyto7
The covered area is just a drive through for the half circle driveway. It was probably meant to act as a car cover, but guests use it now. The interior is very much the same but remodeled. The remodel kept the original style very much intact which I love.
Perception is everything.
And it has nothing to do with crime. Just too many people without jobs hanging out on the street day and night.
Racist much “miss-msry”?
What an appropriate name for you…
Still- this house is for sale. Back up not the market at $199k. It had a contract 2 months ago at 120k. I wonder what went wrong.
My fiance and I have wanted to purchase this home for over a year. We’ve heard the banks won’t approve financing due to the foundation problems; we’d love to restore it to it’s original glory, it needs a MCM loving family–maybe you’re an investor who’d like to help us out? We don’t want this house to get into the wrong hands, it’ll break our hearts.
There are foundation companies that will perform the work and then get paid out of proceeds at closing. You might see if the bank is willing to go that route.
Thnk you for the suggestion, I’ll explore that option. Robyn, one of the owners didn’t want to sell it to anyone who was going to ruin the property at the time, but she was going through a divorce and needs to sell it to split their assets–our fingers are crossed, this home melts my heart.
When I was in the house it didn’t feel all that unlevel. Sometimes all it takes to get it past the appraiser is to make it look presentable, so long as it isn’t too off kilter. Call Allied foundation about both the foundation and under slab sewer lines.
fyi…believe it or not…we finally closed today. i’m sad…i’ll miss it very much.