Just what is it about the layout of this seemingly restful seventies Rancher, waiting quietly on the market on Tannehill Dr. in Lazybrook, that might foster such dastardly schemes?
Sure, we all want to know how well the condos at the newly completed 30-story 2727 Kirby tower have been selling. But a couple of dedicated readers decided to investigate on their own:
[We] have been musing that 2727 Kirby looks awfully dark for a building for which the Chronicle proffers “all but 18 units have been sold”
Well, we put on our trench coats and went parking garage climbing to find out exactly how many souls live in that wraithlike monument to a bygone era.
These scary night pictures were taken on a Tuesday evening at around 8 pm. This was a prime time for at least a sampling of residents to be at home among their new Imported Stone Flooring and European Cabinetry. The night photos were taken from atop the parking garage on West Alabama that is the home of Fleming’s and from the Parking lot on Westheimer that serves Taco Milagro/Downing Street.
And they show . . . ?
“I do always seem to be showing you houses that few of us can really afford,” Houston interior-design blogger Joni Webb admits to her readers:
But the secret truth is, nothing gets me more excited than seeing a house which is NOT expensive yet looks like it was designed by a professional! Nothing is better because it affirms what I fully believe, style is not about money.
So Webb sets out to find a few inside-the-Loop homes dressed to meet her style standards — and priced between $300K and $500K. How long does it take her? Two days, poring through “hundreds, if not thousands” of HAR listings.
What does she find?
Vacant home for sale, in need of staging. Antique dealer from out of town, needs showroom space. Idea?
Joni Webb reports on Cote de Texas that New Orleans antique dealer Mignon Favrot Topping has gone into the business of staging for-sale homes. But: She leaves the price tags on.
What better way to show off the brand-new 4-bedroom, 5,822-s.-ft. fantasy home designed by Robert Dame at 3015 Virginia, which has been listed for almost 3 months. The price was cut $100K in April, leaving an asking price of $1.875 million.
If that’s still too much, now you can walk away with a piece of it for maybe a little less.
The listing photos still show an empty house:
The best thing about real estate’s Christmas season? The Easter Bunny gets to take a break.
A few more animal mascots are hiding in the listing photos for this 4 bedroom, 2 1/2-bath home in Sageglen. How many can you find?
Each bedroom of this home at 19502 Gamble Oak Dr. in the Pines of Atascocita has its own distinctive personality!
So . . . what color is the Breakfast Room?
In exile now from artist Gloria Becker’s home now for almost 9 months, her sock monkeys are likely getting a tad restless. But still: no sale!
In October, Becker dropped the price on her scrubbed and staged Old Braeswood stuffed-animal planet another $45.5K.
This dramatically hung mobile above the entry and stairwell of the house for sale at 503 Fargo St. in Montrose certainly captures your attention!
But that’s not why reader Kelley Owen alerted Swamplot to the listing. She noticed some artwork hung much lower on the wall in the Master Bedroom . . . and calls it “possibly NSFW.”
And here’s a view of the spacious 16×12 . . . uh, Master Bedroom in the home at 14543 Misty Meadow Ln. in Memorial Club. Plenty of room for . . . anyone!
The 2-story townhouse has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. It’s been waiting patiently for you — on the market — since early May.
After the jump: There’s Bugs in the Den, too!
Lou Minatti finds a very lush garden in back of the house at 6023 Rose St. in Glen Cove, featured in this past weekend’s open house tour:
This house built in 1948 features a koi pond. I am not impressed with the interior staging, but I will say the outdoor landscaping is beautiful. In fact, the landscaping is the best part of of property. What the current owner has done outside is gorgeous. Go look at the gallery.
But what about the Dining Room?
Update: It just occurred to me. Do these people eat flowers for dinner?
A reader reports that artist Gloria Becker is selling her home at 7309 Greenbriar, just south of the Med Center. That’s the big brick house with the the 8-foot-tall topiary bears out front. Plus . . .
She has a wildcat in her dining room, deer on her sofa, fish in her bathroom, squirrels in her entryway, a caribou at the top of her stairwell and a prairie dog in her den.
From the foyer, where a stuffed bear in a sundress and rhinestone-studded sunglasses stands at the foot of the stairs covered in imitation tiger fur, to the farthest corner of the second-floor spare room, which is adorned with a giant cloth cow in a sun hat, a wreath of monkeys and a Virgin Mary hubcap, the house is a cacophony of contented clutter.
“Empty spaces make me nervous,” [Becker] Rasmussen says.
Becker, who makes a living selling her incredibly detailed Santa Claus sculptures and handcrafted sock monkeys, calls herself an “an upscale, sophisticated recycler.”
Her Braeswood home has 3 or 4 bedrooms, 3 full and 2 half baths, and sits on a 12,563-sq.-ft. lot near the corner of S. Main. Asking price: $848,000.
After the jump: Some interior pics from the listing, plus: Where did all the sock monkeys go?
About one minute and 28 seconds into this video advertising a home that’s been on the market since late September of last year, we get a little . . . surprise.
Here’s a great idea: Let’s deck out a 1980s two-bedroom, two-story Tanglewilde condo. It’ll look really sophisticated and sell fast, too! First, add the sleek blond leather furniture. Then build a dramatically lit aquarium into the dining area, so you can see the back of it . . . from the kitchen! That’s gotta help this baby sell for big bucks.
Except sixteen months later, it’s still on the market. The asking price has dropped from $129,900 to $109,900, but it’s been sitting at that last number for more than 10 months. And more reductions seem inevitable: Just a few doors down, an unstaged version popped up for sale 8 days ago, and has already reduced its price to $99,000.
After the jump, more pics of the Tanglewilde leather-and-aquarium bachelor pad!
Does this look like the home of a rock star? Okay, how about a ’70s rock star with a long beard and hearing problems?
Yes, this is the custom-built San Leon enclave of ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill: a 19,560-sf trio of homes on a three-and-a-half-acre lot facing the crystal-clear waters of Galveston Bay.
Features include recreational, media & entertaining areas. 2 story entry w/dbl staircase, gourmet kitchen, mahogany library. Coffered ceilings, travertine marble floors. Circular motor court w/fountain & Crestron lighting. Pool. Exterior lighting, rollac shutter & storm doors. Above ground gas tanks. Two 3-car garages. Designer appointments & much more!
Yours, for just under $7 million. Including the gas tanks. After the jump, the ZZzzzzzzzzzzz interiors!
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