09/11/12 3:11pm

On a few maps, this false-shutter-and-keystone-bedecked Arlington Court home appears to occupy a lot at the corner of E. Terrace Dr. and E. Terrace Dr. One of those streets, however, is just a stub serving 4 driveways within the enclave development just east of Memorial Park. The property is one lot in from the Memorial Dr. entry of the ungated-but-guarded neighborhood. That puts it on the block-long main drag — the only straight shot in the community of mostly front-loading, 2-story homes lining winding roads, a cul-de-sac, and one loopdeloop. (One interior street discreetly ties into Crestwood Dr. and its by-the-bayou estates.) Listed last week at $1,295,000, this property with a side-loading double driveway previously changed hands in April 2009 for $1 million and change.

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09/10/12 1:11pm

All rooms within this Briargrove custom home by Rudolph Colby “open to atrium and fountain areas.” Earlier this week, the corner lot property lowered its asking price once more, to $1,329,000, for its re-listing by the same agent. Back in February, the home debuted at $1,595,000, with reductions to $1,469,000 in April and $1,380,000 in June for the summer months.

Built in 1994, the 4,929-sq.-ft. home is not the largest of the newer homes infiltrating the tight-knit neighborhood. On its stretch of street, however, the house stands taller, bigger, and distinct. Landscaping between its two gabled wings helps conceal a brick wall that appears to match the height of neighboring fifties ranch homes. An entryway streetside leads into a brick-paved courtyard-with-fountain surrounded by window walls and glass-paneled doors:

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09/05/12 1:18pm

Columns accent the front porch — and are left to define rooms in the opened up floor plan of this $323,900 listing that popped up over the weekend in Candlelight Woods, south of Pinemont Dr. The shady northern approach to the 1964 ranch-style home is a contrast to its brighter pool-view side at the back of the home. Meanwhile, just beyond the back fence, there’s a patch of veggie garden — and a path along a ravine off nearby White Oak Bayou. CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

09/04/12 2:44pm

A bit like icing, the stucco smoothed over the exterior of this renovated-to-the-studs 1930 brick home in Riverside Terrace was a finishing touch. Interior work reconfigured some of the space and added “engineered wood” flooring, fresh paint, and carpet, plus new wiring, plumbing, and HVAC. In mid-April 2012, the property changed hands at $67,000 after 3 months on the market — it was initially priced at $110,500, with $10K-or-so reductions coming every few weeks. The completed project appeared a week and a half ago as a new listing — for $249,900, though for an extra $20K prior to closing, the seller will add a 2-car garage to go with that new driveway:

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08/30/12 1:27pm

Just over the water from First Colony’s Lake Pointe development, you’ll find this waterfront property with 110-ft. of frontage on Oyster Creek. It faces the Greater Houston Rowing Club‘s Oyster Creek boathouse; behind the home is a cul-de-sac, connecting to Sugar Lakes, an eighties-era neighborhood of mostly brick homes with a tree canopy on its winding streets — plus a neighborhood pool, playground, playing fields, and sports courts. This 1990 home was posted as a new listing earlier this month, for $545,000.

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08/29/12 4:14pm

Step proudly through the front door, then take it down a notch into the slightly sunken living room of this new listing in the Northbrook part of Fondren Southwest. A 1976-minted contemporary — updated in the interim — the home has an initial asking price of $179,000.

The home’s driveway curves off the cul-de-sac of a 10-home street. Behind the property, there’s a narrow easement beyond which lies the 4-pronged classroom wing of Eleanor Tinsley Elementary School, north of W. Bellfort Ave. near Bob White Dr.

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08/28/12 1:36pm

As Federal-style homes go, this ivy-clad example on North Blvd. in Edgemont has a pedigree that earned it a place on the National Register of Historic Places. An understated bronze plaque displayed discreetly beneath a demilune portico says so, but doesn’t elaborate. The 1925 home’s design is reportedly the work of C.B. Schoeppl & Co., whose efforts can also be found in a NRHP pair on Westmoreland Ave., as well as in a few other older Houston neighborhoods. Listed a couple of weeks ago for $1.9 million, this green-roofed home at the eastern end of the Boulevard Oaks Historic District sits back from — and a bit above — the tree-lined esplanade along North Blvd. But its corner-lot address is a tad shy of the double-allees of live oaks found a half-block to the east, in Broadacres.

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08/27/12 10:27am

Pick a path. Each leads to this duplex-turned-single-family residence in Southmore, but only the left fork heads to its front entry. The 1930 home is on a street of octogenarian 2-unit houses and newer 3-story townhomes just north of Southmore Blvd. in the Museum District’s transforming hinterlands. This newly listed two-for-one is asking $395,000.

Since the reworked interior retains much of the original floor plan and features, the home’s next owner might want to undo the conversion. Or not:

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08/24/12 4:17pm

Rehab complete, this cleaned-up 1975 Forest West home is back on the market, a full year after its last sales effort. Two weeks ago, the property re-listed with a new agency at $189,000. A previous listing would have sold for $109,500 in May 2011 but dropped the price to $95,000 before ending its summer run in August.

The Colonial-style entry, a nod to the nation’s Bicentennial run-up, maintains its broken-pediment tailoring. But renovations in the interim changed a bunch of other things: adding granite in the kitchen and bathrooms, swapping out tile and carpet throughout the home, removing wallpaper and painting over paneling, repainting inside and out, and replacing the hot water heater, kitchen cabinets, exterior French doors, and all the sinks, tubs, and toilets.

And, in lieu of furniture, adding a few discreetly placed potted plants for the photo shoot.

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08/23/12 4:50pm

Yep. It’s pink, and a sun-baked shade at that. The adobe abode has Sante Fe styling in an age and area more prone to “Texas Tuscan.” Located in Bellaire’s Westmoreland Farms section, this 2000 home was a late work of designer Roger Rasbach, considered a pioneer of energy-conscious home design. The hacienda itself measures 5,454 sq. ft., but its footprint includes another 850 sq. ft. of covered outdoor space containing courtyards, pavilions, a pergola, a pool, and a spa. On its eastern border, the near-acre lot backs up to a utility easement, with railroad tracks beyond. The almost-an-acre lot was up for sale for a spell last year. Re-listed in April by the same agent after 5-month breather — and a price drop of nearly a quarter-million dollars — the home’s asking price has remained steady since, at $2,199,500.

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08/23/12 10:16am

In Highland Village (the subdivision), this single-story 1950 home with single-slot garage is 2 sidewalk-free blocks south of Highland Village (the shopping center). A somewhat-reconfigured painted-brick home remodeled in 2000, the property listed 2 weeks ago at $429,000. Its interior has an open living-dining area overlooking a patio and pool, and the entry-with-bar shares that view. Beyond the back fence runs an easement for power lines and train tracks in a no-horn zone.

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08/22/12 10:16am

Last fall, the restoration-minded owner of this stretched-out 1956 Mod by architect Lucian Hood in Braeburn Valley told Swamplot he was fixing to sell his property. Now, having finished reviving the redwood exterior from beneath the paint that covered it up and sprucing up the brick and ledge stone walls, Jason Jones reports his 5-year project is ready for its closeup, just listed, and now asking $365,000. The home is located on a big corner lot across from Braeburn Country Club greens — and next to Maison DeVille, a Mansard-roofed apartment complex from 1962, later converted to condos.

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