03/25/13 3:09pm

A no-fuss shed dormer and its smaller companion perched on the back roof help make this updated home one of the largest on its block in Hilltop Acres. That’s the name given to a hill-free neighborhood west of the West Belt just south of  W. Little York; though the listing for the home names it Silver Meadows. Available since Friday, the home has an initial asking price of $119,900; its listing cites all sorts of updates, from paint and floors to kitchen fittings — and a little landscaping streetside. Perhaps of equal interest, however, are the not-updated features touted: EZ access to the tollway and an absence of deed restrictions.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

03/22/13 3:00pm

A tile-and-paver prone property in Briargrove Park deploys its preferred flooring on pathways, courtyards, patios — and interior rooms. Located on a quarter-acre corner lot in the middle of the neighborhood (north of Briar Forest Dr. near the West Belt), the home hit the market this week with an initial asking price of $719,900.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

03/21/13 11:30am

Pending status expired on this updated 1939 Idylwood bungalow, which hit the market a month ago and promptly went under contract. As of yesterday, it’s back as a re-listing at the same asking price: $283,900. The ivy-covered property sits atop a slight ridge on a street just up the block from Spurlock Park at Brays Bayou.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

03/20/13 11:40am

What’s a shed with barn doors doing in the yard of this modish house? Possibly standing in for a garage so detached that’s it’s flat-out gone. And so is half of the tall front hedge that once screened the walkway to this side-entry home on a cul-de-sac in Barkley Circle. The mid-month listing for this 1962 far-Meyerland-area property mentions that the garage was removed as a result of a fire. And that there’s still more to be removed: namely, the smell of smoke. (“Chemical cleaning is needed.”) The home is offered “as is” — for $185,000.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

03/18/13 3:00pm

Far away from the Amsterdam canal along which it was originally envisioned (though perhaps with slimmer proportions), this timber-frame structure has been a stand-out property on Dunlavy since the mid-aughts. It’s a mixed-use building; its barreled-with-a-flattish-top roof — with an outlined upper lip — adds higher stucco stylin’ to the neighborhood just north of Westheimer. The retail-residence has 3 levels — each with some distinctively hewn and preserved wooden ceilings.

The work of former owner (and gallerist) Albert Cherqui, in 2010 the venue became the focus of a lawsuit filed by Cherqui — by then its tenant — against the building’s current owners. (The suit was settled out of court last year.) It shares a mostly commercial street that’s lined by galleries, shops, warehouses, apartments, and repurposed postwar houses. Inside, the all-in-one main floor — described glowingly in the listing as “cavernous” — includes a wavy pair of Gaudi-inspired staircases (above). They lead to 2 upper floors of living quarters, each with its own kitchen and yet more timberland touches.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

03/14/13 1:00pm

Redo work on a 1920 cottage with a watching-the-world-pass porch spun off a mini-me houselet in back (above) and an airy, matching carport. The property, located a few blocks west of I-45 — between the Near Northside and the Heights — listed last Friday with an asking price of $399,000. The property had last changed hands in November 2012, for $119,500. But that was in its pink period (at right); it had first listed last March, for $150,000.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

03/13/13 5:00pm

Two years ago, a previous version of this 3-bedroom, 2-bath house dating back to 1940 was sold for $45,675. Near Lawndale and S. 75th St. in Mason Park, it’s within walking distance of a hike and bike on Brays Bayou — as well as a Family Dollar, a food truck that sells pupusas, and several payday and title loan stores. This new version of 1212 Smallwood went on the market earlier this year at $171,500.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY