Self-taught Houston designer, cabinet-maker, boat-builder, and entrepreneur Robert Cohen passed away last weekend at the age of 91, a couple of months after the death of his wife, Jean, and a little less than 2 years after his singular creation, Meyerland’s ultra-fab Carousel House, was demolished.
Spotting the first bloom of the season on the crape myrtle she and her husband planted way back when at their Meyerland home brings up fond memories for homeowner Annie Sitton:
When we planted this tree, it was about ten feet tall with a large root ball. We’ve all seen bad guys in movies digging graves. They make it look so easy. Well, let me tell you…digging even a small hole in the earth is difficult work. When it was my turn at the shovel, I couldn’t believe the energy it took. After about ten minutes into my digging career, my shovel hit something hard…clunk. I screamed, “Buried treasure!” I had always said there was something special about this piece of land.
Oh . . . there was!
Hey, what happened to Monday? Swamplot spent most of it fighting off a few tech demons. But hey, here’s some news!
Again with the fun pix from around town! First: What’s this little toy parking lot?
Houston architect Lars W. Bang passed away on Friday. He was 87. His firm, Lars Bang Associates, designed many now-classic Midcentury Modern homes in the Houston area, including several in Memorial Bend.
Bang also designed this home at 4815 Braesvalley Dr. in Meyerland. Bang’s poignant 2007 return visit to that address was featured in Swamplot earlier this year.
Memorial services are scheduled for 10 this morning at Forest Park Westheimer, 12800 Westheimer.
Photo of 4815 Braesvalley Dr.: Meg Zoller
A rising tide sinks all prices! “When Dr. Mahmoud Amin El-Gamal, chairman of the Rice economics department, is asked — as he has often been in recent days — ‘What’s is going on with our financial institutions?’ he likes to begin his answer with an analogy of local origin. ‘It’s a lot like in the 1980s when the flooding in Meyerland caused the price of all the houses in the area to go down,’ he said, ‘even those houses that did not flood.’ El-Gamal said the same can be said of mortgage securities, many of which were ‘perfectly fine,’ but had been grouped with debts that would likely continue to go unpaid.” [West University Examiner]
Fun pix from around town: Part of a convoy of about 40 tree trucks headed down the Eastex Freeway last weekend, looking for a little bit of work.
More photos:
This 4-bedroom, 2,800-plus-square-foot 1956 Modern home for sale on Braesvalley was designed by Houston architect Lars Bang.
Or was it? A few days after the home was featured as a Houston Mod “Mod of the Month” last October, Realtor Meg Zoller described her attempts to identify the designer in her blog:
A week or so ago we had Lars Bang come by the Braesvalley home in an attempt to authenticate the fact that he built it. Lars Bang must be in his 80’s or so. He had a friend of his drive him to see the home. He has a very outgoing personality and it was believed that he was excited about the possibility of it being one of his homes. My husband, Jim, helped him out of the car and invited him into the house, but Mr. Bang’s knees aren’t what they used to be . . .and he just wanted to stand out front and look at the house. After some time he decided that he could not confidently say whether the home was one of his designs or not.
The owner was so disappointed when she heard the news. She really wanted it to be one of his designs.
After the jump: the actual architect of this uh, memorable Meyerland home!
This time: Low-slung, low-lying, midpriced Midcentury Modern homes in Meyerland!
Location: 5015 Heatherglen Dr.
Details: 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths; 2,633 sq. ft.
Price: $448,750
The Scoop: Restored 1959 ranch-ish contemporary designed by architect William Wortham with terrazzo floors, walnut paneling, and unique brickwork. Decked out in retro furniture. Listed six weeks ago; price just chopped by $10K.
Open House: Sunday, 2-4 pm
The tour continues this way . . .
What’s that slow, steady thump booming from the corner of Moonlight Dr. and Braesheather in Meyerland?
Why, it’s the sound of a crudely improvised “wrecking ball” fashioned by a frustrated excavator operator, trying to smash the extremely strong foundation of the Carousel House! The foundation refused to break using more conventional techniques.
The Swamplot reader who sent in the video above, taken yesterday, calls it Robert Cohen’s revenge. Cohen designed and built the house for his family in 1964. There are more than 100 piers under that slab. The reader reports that the demolition equipment has apparently broken several times and had to be welded on site or replaced more than once. And so the shovel picks up the “ball,” drops it, then scoops it up again. Demolition is proceeding, uh . . . slowly.
Midcentury Modern Meyerland home with a distinctively shaped Living Room. In uncertain condition, on a large corner lot.
Sound familiar?
With the Carousel House reduced to rubble, Mod fans on HAIF have turned their attention to this 3,352-square-foot home from 1964 on a third-of-an-acre site at the corner of South Braeswood and S. Rice. It’s a foreclosure, and went on the market earlier this week:
I went and saw this house yesterday, and it has some amazing features. I think it’s likely that it is the House of Formica, for every surface–walls, cabinets, bars, etc.–is covered in Formica. I don’t think there’s is a drop of paint anywhere.
But . . .
the house is also really odd. I like strange, and this one is strange without being cool. Some of the design features just aren’t right. Therefore, it’s possible that we’re heading for another Moonlight. I hope not, but I doubt the house will go for anything above lot value.
After the jump, photos of some of those just-not-right design features — available free with land purchase! Plus special bonus: it’s really close to the bayou.
As if on cue, the Carousel House received a demolition permit Friday. (See 9602 Moonlight Dr. in today’s Daily Demolition Report, below.) As of this morning, the Meyerland mod is still intact — well, at least you’ll be able to see its silhouette through the fog.
Who wants to keep all those mold spores cooped up in a dingy old home, anyway — when really, they could be doing so much more for this city? Set them free!
Photo: Ben Hill
One detail glossed over delicately in Lisa Gray’s colorful tale of the decline of Meyerland’s Carousel House, featured in today’s Chronicle: The abandoned home’s apparent awful stench. From a few would-be visitors, posting on HAIF:
The owner told me that everyone he’s taken in there has gotten sick soon after coming out. Apparently it is REALLY nasty in there. I may swing by and get some new filters for my mask.
and
i could smell “the smell” just standing in the driveway
But hey, the interior shots from just a few short years ago make the house look super fab! Built in 1964 by owner Robert Cohen, the Modern gem merited a Texas magazine feature story in 2003. Just four years, one ultra-rich attorney, one shady personal assistant, countless hookers, umpteen heroin hazes, and a couple of dozen missing exotic cars later, the house on the corner of Moonlight Dr. and Braesheather appears headed for an almost-certain but certainly difficult demolition. (15,000 pounds of steel, anyone?)
After the jump, highlights of the home from its heyday, excerpts from the sordid and fetid tale of its fall from Modern grace, and a photo of the far more up-to-date carousel that just might be built in its place!
From photine (Laurie/laanba): @swamplot Work will be much less consuming after tomorrow so I should be able to participate. And I could always use a new handbag. :-)
From HAAonline (Houston Apt Assn HAA): Apartments on the list of demos RT @swamplot Daily Demolition Report: Breaking the Glass House http://twurl.nl/1t2os8
From baldheretic (Jay Lee): @swamplot not that old
From Team_HIWI (Houston.It'sWorthIt.): thanks @swamplot for the extra advertising mention on your site.
From brittanieshey (Brittanie): Woot! My story on the "newery" for @Houstonist gets a shout-out on @swamplot!
From isthishouston (isthishouston): @swamplot on the Southeast corner of Henderson and Union behind Alice's CafeFrom isthishouston (isthishouston): Demo on Henderson - http://bit.ly/2Pf0CW @swamplot #houston #tx #demoltionFrom HAAonline (Houston Apt Assn HAA): RT @swamplot Surprise! Wilshire Village Facing Foreclosure http://twurl.nl/tgi04e