Swamplot Archives by Tag:
January 11, 2008 – 8:33 am
A reader writes in to report that a house discussed recently on Swamplot had also been featured in Architectural Digest last October. And so it had! But really, they called it “Trapezoidal Transcendence”?? Whatever. Swamplot had the guts to call it what it really was: A River Oaks teardown.
Oh, well — there’s no accounting for taste. Unless, of course, you consider demolition a form of judgment:
By the way, that amazing modern house in the Tall Timbers section of River Oaks is definitely toast.
In this case, apparently, the decision of that judge was final.
Read more about: 77019, Buying and Selling, Demolitions, Home Design, Land Sales, Modern Design, River Oaks
December 13, 2007 – 11:59 am
How’s that River Oaks “you loved the book, now try the home” marketing tie-in going?
Well, Stephen Fox’s volume on The Country Houses of John F. Staub is currently ranked #10,535 on Amazon.com, which probably isn’t so bad for a book about a dead architect. It is heavily discounted, but it’s collected several favorable reviews online.
The reviews aren’t looking quite as good for the Staub ranch-mansion at 3740 Willowick: The asking price was dropped earlier this month from $7,495,000 to $6,950,000. For a 2.3-acre River Oaks lot with Buffalo Bayou frontage, that’s a healthy step closer to . . . yes, land value. And looky at all the excitement just down the street!
Read more about: 77019, Books, Buffalo Bayou, Buying and Selling, Homes for Sale, John Staub, Land Prices, Ranch-Houses, Real Estate Marketing, River Oaks
December 13, 2007 – 10:10 am
Here’s the problem with these sleek houses on full-acre lots in River Oaks: They’re selling for too damn cheap! The gorgeous land at the southern boundary of Memorial Park fronting Buffalo Bayou at 3840 Willowick — hogged by this eighties-modern home designed by New York architects Stonehill and Taylor — got swept up for between $45 and $57 a square foot at the end of August.
At that price, wouldn’t your head be spinning with the themed-towering-mansion possibilities? Bring on the demo and stucco crews!
Well, the stucco and foam cornice pieces will probably take a while, but the big machines with the giant claws are on their way, according to this morning’s demolition report.
Photos, plans, and details of the house-that-got-in-the-way — including some fine examples of how to distract from a River Oaks land sale — after the jump:
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Read more about: 77019, Buffalo Bayou, Buying and Selling, Demolitions, Development Strategy, Home Design, Land Prices, Land Sales, Memorial-Park, Modern Design, River Oaks
November 7, 2007 – 5:31 pm
A 1955 River Oaks “country house” designed by John Staub appears on MLS just days before architectural historian Stephen Fox’s book on the Houston architect appears in bookstores. Mere coincidence? Or brilliant upper-end home-marketing technique?
There’s a slight price difference between the two: The Country Houses of John F. Staub lists for $75, though Amazon.com whacks 37 percent off of that. No telling if the sellers will accept a similar discount off the $7.495 million asking price of 3740 Willowick.
The house overlooks Buffalo Bayou and features four fireplaces, three bedrooms, and six full and one half baths — all in a single story. Yes, it looks like some ranch-house flavor got mixed in here. There’s a garden loggia and lots of trees, plus a three-car attached garage. It’s a 5,532-square-foot home on a quarter-acre lot.
The book is 408 pages long and comes in hardcover. It features photographs by Richard Cheek, and will take up just three-quarters of a square foot on your coffee table.
After the jump: the not-so-ranchy interiors.
Of the house.
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Read more about: 77019, Books, Buffalo Bayou, Buying and Selling, Home Design, Homes for Sale, Houston Architects, Interiors, John Staub, Ranch-Houses, Real Estate Marketing, River Oaks
October 1, 2007 – 8:57 am
Charles Kuffner shows us a few photos from the Allen House demolition last week. Going up in its place: Regent Square.
Read more about: 77019, Demolitions, Proposed Developments
September 25, 2007 – 10:37 am
Note: Story updated below.
A house in Houston can’t earn much more of a modern Texas pedigree than this: Designed in 1970 for Oveta Culp Hobby by quintessential Texas architect O’Neil Ford. Built by Brown & Root. Later, the home—until his death earlier this summer—of former Texas secretary of state, attorney general, chief justice, and 1978 Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Hill.
It’s just been listed with Greenwood-King agent Colleen Sherlock: three stories, five to seven bedrooms, five full and two half-baths, 8275 square feet on a quarter-acre lot in River Oaks. Asking only $2,395,000.
From O’Neil Ford, you’d expect a classic Texas modern design: clean brick lines with a sense of history, an easy flow between indoors and out. Until you get inside, where—it appears—an early-1960s interpretation of a New England colonial interior has somehow been grafted in.
Sound like a jarring contrast? Continue after the jump, and see for yourself.
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Read more about: 77019, Architects, Homes for Sale, Houston History, Interiors, Modern Design, ONeil-Ford, River Oaks
September 21, 2007 – 6:01 am
Yet another warehouse on Studemont goes down. Plus more homes in and around town. Our daily address list of demolition sites is after the jump.
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Read more about: 77004, 77005, 77007, 77009, 77019, 77057, 77096, Daily Demolition Report, Demolitions
September 18, 2007 – 7:06 am
More structures approved for demolition at the Allen House. Plus a trio of houses around town. Where? See our demo address list, after the jump.
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Read more about: 77006, 77019, 77027, 77091, Daily Demolition Report, Demolitions
September 17, 2007 – 7:36 am
Demolition begins at the Allen House Apartments, plus a few other structures around town. See our daily list of Houston destruction sites after the jump.
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Read more about: 77008, 77019, 77024, 77026, 77030, 77090, Daily Demolition Report, Demolitions
September 12, 2007 – 7:22 am
One of the last 1950s-era motels on South Main checks out. Plus: The Salon de Bouté gets cut. Our address list of daily demos begins after the jump.
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Read more about: 77008, 77019, 77020, 77025, Daily Demolition Report, Demolitions
September 7, 2007 – 8:24 am
Houston’s demolition pace picks up, with new destruction sites at Westheimer and the Beltway. Read all the addresses in our daily report, after the jump.
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Read more about: 77007, 77008, 77019, 77024, 77042, 77055, 77056, 77063, Daily Demolition Report, Demolitions
A lovely and diverse group of demolitions in today’s edition. See them after the jump.
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Read more about: 77004, 77007, 77018, 77019, 77042, 77054, 77055, 77056, 77057, 77072, 77081, 77088, 77091, 77098, Daily Demolition Report, Demolitions
A doctor’s office with a wacky backyard goes down to make room for a new residential tower. Three lost homes too, in today’s report.
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Read more about: 77019, 77030, 77057, Daily Demolition Report, Demolitions
More homes around the city turn to dust. Plus a baker’s dozen demolitions in Greenview Manor—all after the jump.
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Read more about: 77005, 77006, 77008, 77019, 77025, 77032, 77055, 77075, Daily Demolition Report, Demolitions
One of the biggest office landlords in Texas has announced that he wants to build a very tall tower in either Chicago, Los Angeles, or Houston. Zaya Younan, who’s been in the real-estate business for five years, wants to show the world how tall a building he can erect. How tall is that?
. . . he doesn’t want a building that will barely rate a mention in the history books, a delicate titleholder surpassed in some Asian capital before its paint dries. “I want it to be the tallest for as long as I am alive,” Younan told the Sun-Times. . . .
The chairman of Younan Properties Inc. said that to build something with a lengthy hold on the record, he’ll need about 500 feet of cushion between his building’s height and any probable competitors.
By today’s standards, that means going up about 3,000 feet. It’s Sears Tower times two. It could cost $4 billion.
The Chicago Sun-Times article declares that the wealthy and powerful L.A. developer “is not crazy.” Younan Properties owns and manages the Norfolk “Tower” (it looks maybe ten stories tall; see the photo above) at Greenbriar and 59 in Houston. The company is the top office landlord in Dallas and the third-largest owner of Class A office space in Texas.
Houston airspace height restrictions blah blah blah downtown blocks too small a base blah blah blah free publicity in three cities blah blah blah.
Read more about: 77019, Development Strategy, Highrises, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, River Oaks, Skyscrapers
Nine houses fail to please. Read today’s list of unappreciated structures—after the jump.
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Read more about: 77007, 77019, 77025, 77027, 77032, Daily Demolition Report, Demolitions
