09/29/14 2:00pm

8402 Glenscott St., Meadowbrook Freeway, Houston

If you’re wondering why there are no photos of the foyer in this listing for the ranch home at 8402 Glenscott St. in the southeast Houston neighborhood of Meadowbrook Freeway, it’s likely out of respect. Because that’s the room where Sybil Berndt, the previous owner of this 3-bedroom, 2-bath home, fell, lay still face down on the floor for 3 days, passed away, and then slowly decomposed over the course of 3 months, all while her twin 48-year-old sons Edwin and Edward carried on with their lives, staying inside and watching TV and eating popcorn, potato chips, and candy.

There was a brief period after their mother fell, 2 days before her 89th birthday, when the twins considered getting her to a hospital, but they worried they might not be able to pay for her medical bills, according to investigators. Later, they worried how they might pay for her funeral. (It appears their mother had more than enough money to cover both.) Their mother, according to the twins’ account, never asked for help.

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Paint and Carpet Magic
08/15/14 4:00pm

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Was it the prevailing breeze, which comes from the southeast, that dictated the balcony placement in the 1982 garage apartment of a 1940 Garden Villas home (top) on nearly an acre of land bordering Sims Bayou? Instead of maximizing private views of the water and cleared watershed to its north (above), the higher-rise building (at far left in the top photo) peeks over the main home and toward the street, which is located west of Telephone Rd. 

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Close Encounters
06/06/14 11:00am

8008 Colgate St., Glenbrook Valley, Houston

8008 Colgate St., Glenbrook Valley, HoustonIt isn’t listed on MLS, but this 2-story mod from 1963 is now for sale. You can see it this weekend: The house at 8008 Colgate St. in Glenbrook Valley is one of 3 featured properties in this weekend’s “Mod of the Month” open house hosted by Houston Mod (along with 2 Meadowcreek Village homes that were featured on Swamplot recently). This one is the product of a to-the-studs renovation and expansion completed last year.

What a journey it’s been: “A long term owner had let the house go,” reports agent Robert Searcy, who’s representing the seller. “The flat roof had leaked, water and mold damage plus animals that had been allowed to defecate in the house, I think maybe even some that died in the house and were never removed. The owner’s cars had been sitting in the garage for decades, on flats, fake Christmas trees and junk piled on them, (a Rolls Royce and a Jaguar sedan, both had been bought new originally).”

Here are a few before-and-after views to give a picture:

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Double Decker Redo
10/16/13 2:20pm

Beneath the Victoriana add-ons (and other embellishments) lies a 1935 Garden Villas home caught here in the throes of lingering renovation by its current owners. The property’s dormer-laden lid and perky gazebo-shaped wings flank a wide front porch with a central entry that’s capped by a cupola. Just a touch of gingerbread trim on the columns and some latticework concealing the pier-and-beam foundation finish off the northwest-facing front elevation. Located on a corner lot 3 blocks south of Sims Bayou, the home has a $199,000 asking price. Some of the finishing touches, though, still need finishing:

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07/30/13 2:45pm

When showcased in the 1956 Parade of Homes, this Glenbrook Valley mod with desert-theme plantings (still in place) earned accolades for its forward-thinking children’s wing and U-shaped kitchen layout (intended as step-saving convenience for the chore-laden lady of the house). Those design details are among the features called out in the vintage promotional flyers included in the listing materials for the home, which popped up on the market earlier this month. The asking price today is $139,000, a few steps up from the $20,000 of its midcentury origins and the $52,250 it went for when it last sold, in 2008.

Since then, the compact-but-comfy home has had its internals updated; there’s new wiring, (underslab) plumbing, roofing, and appliances. Meanwhile, the carport (above right) has been wrapped in a snazzy new wooden-screen skin.

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07/03/13 12:00pm

This 3-bedroom mod and its carport on Cayton St. in Glenbrook Valley was designed by A. Carroll Brodnax and featured in the 1957 Parade of Homes. The few photos included in this new listing show the mid-century home in need of a bit of present-day attention — but the asking price is only $69,999.

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06/11/13 11:20am

Some $156 million is being spent by Southwest Airlines to do up the previously domesticated Hobby Airport into this shapely international hub. In February, city council approved a kind of build-to-suit agreement that would allow Southwest to add 5 gates to its terminal on the west side of the airport for international flights — Mayor Parker said at the time that she was even considering adding that adjective to ol’ Hobby’s name — as well as introduce a customs inspection hub, redo the roadways to and from, and add a 2,500-space parking garage.

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03/12/13 10:00am

Last week, owners Cheryl and David Bowman of 7919 Glenview Dr. were given a Good Brick Award from Preservation Houston for their renovation of this 1954 mod — one of the original 6, says Cheryl Bowman, built in Glenbrook Valley. Purchased in March 2011, the 2-bedroom, 1,834-sq.-ft. home, shown here from the backyard, wasn’t always such a pretty picture . . .

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02/14/13 2:00pm

Yesterday, city council approved an agreement that will allow Southwest Airlines to go ahead with plans to expand Hobby Airport for international flights. The short-pants airline will foot the $150 million bill to add up to 280,000 sq. ft. to the terminal, including a new concourse and ticket counter, six security lanes, five gates, and a customs inspection hub. The plan, pictured above, also includes restructured roadways and a new parking garage with 2,500 spaces, mutating one of the wings of an airport designed as though it might be itself ready for takeoff:

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01/23/13 4:45pm

In Southeast Houston, Glenbrook Valley sits between Telephone and Broadway near Hobby Airport. Developed during that same spate of post-war optimism that gave us the Jetsons, the neighborhood is home to many smaller mid-century mods, including this 1,375-sq.-ft. one at 7722 Glenalta. Designed by P. Herbert Caldwell, the home should be listed this Thursday or Friday at $110,000. Have a look around:

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07/25/12 1:38pm

Listed yesterday: This 1957 Mod in Glenbrook Valley long nicknamed the “Sputnik” house — after the custom-built light fixture its original owner hung on the front porch when he moved in. The light’s still there, but all the furniture’s been cleared out for sparkly photo shoot, so you can even imagine the place filled with Hummel-bedecked Ethan Allen if you like. The 11,694-sq.-ft. lot sits across the street from Sims Bayou, half a mile west of the Gulf Fwy., a couple miles north of Hobby Airport, so it’s got real southeast Houston street cred. The neighborhood, which includes a lot of homes of similar vintage, was designated a historic district not too long ago. Your guess on the home’s asking price?

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