11/14/07 4:04pm

9602 Moonlight Dr., Meyerland, Houston

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!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

11/09/07 1:27pm

Site Plan for Sawyer Brownstones by Terramark Homes at 2110 Shearn St., Houston

How do you pack so many condos into an old warehouse building in Houston’s First Ward? Easy! You knock the warehouse down, build a gate around the block, and pack ’em in!

Permit in hand, Terramark Homes begins construction on the Sawyer Brownstones at 2110 Shearn St. The forty-two units will take up the block surrounded by Shearn, Hemphill, Spring, and Henderson Streets, just south of I-10.

No images of the outside yet, so it’s hard to say if these brownstones will indeed have brown stone or just be brownstone-like. But continue after the jump and we’ll show you the secret to shoehorning so many townhome-style condos into a single block!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

07/17/07 10:14am

442 Heights Blvd by Harry James Building & Design

The movement to rid the Heights of dilapidated old houses and replace them with far more appropriate historic structures continues. The latest contribution: a demolition permit obtained for the Doyle Mansion at 945 Heights Blvd., which was built by William Wilson (who later founded neighboring Woodland Heights) in 1898, and which somehow managed to sneak onto the National Register of Historic Places about 100 years later.

Harry James has been buying properties all along Heights Boulevard, tearing down homes and replacing them with what he calls “Victorian Classics.”

And now it will happen to the Doyle Mansion too.

A “Preservation Alert” notice sent out by Historic Houston’s Lynn Edmundson reveals a meeting with James last week didn’t go so well:

Despite its deteriorated condition, it is architecturally and historically a very significant residence on Heights Boulevard that could and should be saved.

Unfortunately, the builder now appears unwilling to entertain any offers.

James features several Victorian Classics (the new kind) on his website, along with a childhood story that reveals something preservationists won’t want to hear: the homebuilder doesn’t mind getting his ass kicked if it means he gets to build what he wants:

Needless to say, my dad wasn’t very happy! I remember he gave me a gentle kick across my backside as I scurried back to the house with my head hung down. It seemed like he was mad at me for months. Years later, when I reflect, I realize that what my dad failed to see was the level of skill and craftsmanship that was used in the construction of this secret door into his garage.

Photo of 442 Heights Blvd.: Harry James Building & Design

06/13/07 11:28am

Lemon Lady Jordan Fogal Protesting Outside Tremont Tower, January 2005

The “Lemon Lady,” Houston grandmother Jordan Fogal, testifies colorfully against Texas homebuilder mandatory binding arbitration provisions to a congressional subcommittee this morning in Washington:

The first night in our new home, my husband decided to try out his new Jacuzzi tub on the third floor. When he pulled the plug, one hundred gallons of water crashed through our dining room ceiling. . . .

Well, this was not one overlooked plumbing connection, as my husband so desperately wanted to believe. It was a preview of coming attractions. Rainwater, from outside, sprayed us at the kitchen table. – The windows were installed upside down (our builder finally admitted this after three years). Our floors buckled and black spider-webs of mold crawled up our walls; the smell grew worse; then shower wall fell out and little puffballs grew out of the carpet. All the while, we had begged our builder to please fix our house.

We had the mold tested by an accredited laboratory, and they said they had never seen toxic readings that high in an inhabited dwelling.

The story of Fogal’s Hyde Park Crescent home was detailed in Mother Jones magazine two years ago; she also plays a part in this Houston Press report about the lucky owner of another Tremont Homes/Jorge Casimiro opus.

  • Written Testimony Submitted by Jordan Fogal To The Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law: “Mandatory Binding Arbitration Agreements: Are They Fair For Consumers?” [U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, via Bay Area Houston]
  • Home Sour Home [Mother Jones]
  • Ownership Wrongs [Houston Press]

Photo: Brewster McCloud, Houston Independent Media Center

04/18/07 9:18am

Regent Square Brownstones with Park

Residents of the new Regent Square Brownstones will “enjoy the sophistication of ‘in town living’” . . . in Kingwood.

Regent Square Brownstones in Kingwood TwilightThis is beginning to sound like a theme now, huh? Perhaps tired of bringing suburban-style homes and strip centers to the center parts of Houston, enterprising builders are now setting about to even the score, placing downtownish-looking buildings in park-like festival-village settings out in the burbs. As long as they don’t actually drag Central City teardowns to the Woodlands, it should be safe.

But why the urban flight? Homebuilder Robert Davis, whose firm is building Regent Square in Kings Harbor Village on prime Kingwood waterfront, spills the beans to the Chronicle:

Q: You are developing a lot of brownstone urban communities in the suburbs. Why not in Houston?

A: They can assemble and synergize the community with brownstones, whereas in Houston it’s very difficult to build townhome projects and say OK, here is your walk to the grocery store, because we have 5-foot sidewalks in Houston.

Suburb communities are building large promenades to connect things.

You would think that Houstonians have a more urban mind-set, but the people in the suburbs are actually going to get it.

In Houston, you cannot buy enough property to assemble that urban district.

We’re probably just not tearing down enough big, contiguous buildings in town.

Bonus: Davis reveals the secret sex code of successful homebuilders:

You’ve got to really design the home for the woman. Men are becoming more and more involved into the aesthetics, but you still need to make sure the woman is satisfied.

You’ve got to have the right kitchen, the right master bathroom. Natural light is extremely important. Men like the dark wood, caves. And women like the light and airy and bright, and if you miss that, you will miss big time.

Read more in the upcoming bestseller, Men are from the Enclosed Toilet Room, Women are from Lanai.