08/20/13 10:00am

On a patch of prairie in Katy with large lots that keep their distance from the ever-closer, ever-denser development nearby, a re-relisted 1984 property is making another run at the market. The “close-in country retreat,” as the listing pegs it, comes with a main house, pool house, and guest quarters, plus a pool, pond, barn — and a gazebo (top) out back for taking it all in. No garage, though. The asking price for the 1-acre compound, $565,000, is down from a previous listing’s $599,000 back in March and $580,000 in May. The home et al., located just west of the Grand Parkway amid all the Falcon-named subdivisions, first hit the market in January 2011, asking $625,000.

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08/16/13 3:30pm

A little subdividing might still be ahead for this biggest-in-the neighborhood property in Atascocita Shores. An older listing tried to sell off only the 2-lot portion containing the builder-owned 1990 home and fronting a secluded cul-de-sac near-but-not-on Lake Houston. The re-listing earlier this month, however, includes the entire acre-and-a-quarter, which also backs up to a stretch of the neighborhood’s namesake roadway. That 2-sided access might be handy since the 2 routes to the site from a fork in the road have similar names (Atascocita Point Dr. and Atascocita Place Dr.).

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08/16/13 1:30pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: A RIVER OAKS HOME’S HIDDEN HOLLYWOOD HISTORY “Believe it or not, somewhere in there are the bones of a 1950′s flat-roofed modern house designed for the Fondren family by Eugene Werlin. It was used in the movie The Thief Who Came To Dinner.” [BenH, commenting on Headlines: A Big New TV in Reliant Stadium; The River Oaks Mansion with the Biggest Pool in Houston] Illustration: Lulu

08/15/13 4:30pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: TRYING TO GROK THE BIG HOUSE “The $14.5 million house only has three bedrooms in 11K square feet of house — does that mean the rest of it is the 8 bathrooms and 4 half baths? A million-gallon pool would be what kind of water bill? Their current taxes are $98K with homeowners and over-65 exemptions on an HCAD valuation of $5 million, so what would taxes be for an under 65 if they end up selling it for $10-ish million?” [Heidi, commenting on Headlines: A Big New TV in Reliant Stadium; The River Oaks Mansion with the Biggest Pool in Houston]

08/15/13 3:00pm

A one-of-a-kind Oak Forest home doubles up on many of its features. Two chimneys form a sassy kind of turret above the front porch. There’s a second formal entry. And both wings of the home have their own garage. Plus, the property occupies an oversized corner lot, so it’s got twice (or maybe even thrice) the yard of its neighbors. The 13-year-old custom home appeared on the market last weekend. Its asking price: $925,000.

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08/13/13 2:15pm

Minimalism maxes out the use of maple in a contemporary Indian Trails property that went blonde in its wooden trim, panels and shelving (top). The home’s lobby-like living and dining space, capped by skylights, sits between a bridge-like balcony and book-filled shelving rising to the double-height ceiling. The 2002 home, entered from a courtyard to the left of the front-loading driveway (above and at right), has a $1.25 million price tag and a $6,750 annual maintenance fee.

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08/12/13 1:05pm

In the earlier waves of West U’s great residential reboot, before the 21st Century stucco surge, ruddy brick finished out a fair amount of the city’s new housing. The townhomes of Rutgers Place, for example, worked bricks, bricks, and more bricks into the development’s exteriors, fencing, and patios. An oft-updated corner unit in that street-straddling enclave, which dates from 1981, popped up on the market last week. Asking price: $484,500 — plus a $120 monthly maintenance fee.

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08/08/13 4:00pm

This 1955 1-story home was first listed in July at $379,900. Just south of Beechnut and west of S. Rice Ave. in Meyerland, the 2,359-sq.-ft., 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1-garage mod was priced down this month to $350,000. This exterior shot shows the home sitting back on a relatively expansive 11,067-sq.-ft. lot, but the listing also reveals something else, described as an “extra room” that’s downright subterranean.

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08/08/13 2:00pm

Once a duplex, a box-on-box 1965 home two blocks from Baldwin Park in Midtown endures as newer townhomes sprout around it. The fenced-in side lot provides some yardage otherwise missing at the back of the property, which is light on windows (at right), but big on built-in storage cubes (top). Last weekend, the freshly painted, previously updated residence appeared on the market with a $760,000 price tag.

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