07/02/12 11:40am

This property in Briargrove Park has had more MLS lives than Henry VIII had wives. The current listing is the fourth round for the same agent and seventh for the address since November 2010. In the interim, the price has bounced around, landing at an even $500,000 10 days ago after runs at $529,000, $499,000, $495,000, $499,000 (again), $575,000 in April, and reductions to $549,000 and $525,000.

Stylized photos of the 1998 brick-and-stucco home in Briar Court show its little-of-this, little-of-that exterior, decked out with builder-deco keystones, quoins, gas lamps, and an entry arch. A Medici-worthy Italianate balustrade suggests a balcony, but it’s not to be: A window sits close behind it helping light the atrium entry hall within. Beyond the double-wide leaded-glass front door, a stripped-down entry unfolds, complete with curving, pincher-like double staircases and a marble floor:

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06/21/12 2:51pm

Is that an arrow or an anchor above the dining-room bay window of this well-gabled home a little more than a mile northeast of the Willowbrook Mall? Either way, the decorative timbering acts as a harbinger of the many accents, patterns, and imagery within:   CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

06/12/12 11:59pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOME IS WHERE YOU PUT YOUR EXTRA CARSEAT “I have the exact same thing in my music room, except it’s a removable bench seat from the minivan instead of two captain’s chairs. I’ll bet this is more common than you think in houses with a pre-2008 Dodge/Chrysler minivan parked out front, or almost any three-row SUV.” [marmer, commenting on Houston Home Listing Photo of the Day: The Commute from Home]

05/23/12 10:07am

If this West U mansion on Buffalo Speedway brings to mind a game of Clue, chalk it up to its interior layout — and its inadvertent role in a jewelry pilfering attempt by a house-hunting poseur earlier this year.

As with the classic board game, the listing identifies each room by its function. There’s a Music Room. A Loggia. Even a Billiards Room. It was in a Bedroom back in January, however, that an unassuming early guest at an open house allegedly rummaged through a jewelry drawer. He left quickly and empty-handed, but first  “body-slammed” the sales agent who had interrupted him. An account of the incident that appeared in the Village News at the time (no longer online, unfortunately) said the perp, believed to have been working high-end open houses in 2 cities, was quickly ID’d, due in part to a fast-and-furious word-of-mouth campaign among Houston-area Realtors to name him and flush-out his whereabouts — and to remind fellow agents to be careful when showing properties.

The upshot? Don’t be surprised one of these days if you’re asked to show an ID and pose for a cell phone photo at a slightly less open open house. No ID required for this tour, though:

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05/08/12 3:05pm

Even without a thatched roof, this Spring home makes a tidy example of suburban Tudor Revival, early seventies-style. The dormers, half-timbers, herringbone accents, and diamond-paned windows associated with that style only face the street. The back elevation has a simpler, lighter, more modern design, focused on a tall exposed chimney. Listed earlier this month at $175,000, the 2,652-sq.-ft. home occupies a third-of-an-acre lot just south of the Willowcreek Golf Club — and less than 8 miles west of the new ExxonMobil campus.

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05/02/12 12:46pm

A Timbergrove Manor home that changed hands in November 2011 is back on the market and asking $440,000 following an overhaul. Gone is the brown exterior, repainted in a spicy mustard tone, perhaps in homage to Harvest Gold. Other changes to the home built in 1964 include a new roof, new windows, and an automatic driveway gate. Inside, the 3-bedroom, 2-bath home gained stone, tile, granite, carpet, and lighting. Plus fresh paint in shades of pale yellow.

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05/01/12 11:53am

Joining the style smorgasbord on a cul-de-sac in Wilchester, a 1966 home’s exterior nods to the Space Age in the city where orbits were controlled. Check out the entry portal. Wider versions of its elongated arch — would that be paraboloid or inverted catenary? — appear in the decorative pewter-toned brickwork. The elevation is one-part 1-story, one part 2-story. (The listing averages out the two sides and calls the home a 1 1/2-story.) The floor plan includes 3 or 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and 2 half-baths. The family room’s fireplace has an interesting configuration.

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