04/04/08 11:57pm

Commune with nature in Clear Lake Forest, or hobnob with aging astronauts in Timber Cove! This weekend’s open-house roundup runs through both neighborhoods in the city of Taylor Lake Village.

4311 Parkmead Dr., Clear Lake Forest, Taylor Lake Village, Texas

Location: 4311 Parkmead Dr.
Details: 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths; 2,420 sq. ft.
Price: $174,900
The Scoop: Brick 2-story 1972 Clear Lake Forest home with tiny pond in front. Beamed ceiling and stone fireplace in Living Room. Some wood floors. Covered porch in back; overlooking second-story patio. On market since mid-March.
Open House: Sunday, 2-5 pm

The tour marches on . . .

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03/28/08 11:06pm

Whispering, Cripple, Shady, or Straight: In Meadowcreek, every street is its own creek! The neighborhood has lots of great old houses, preserved marvelously in the area’s specially formulated air. These four homes are all on the Houston side of the neighborhood, and they’re all open for inspection this weekend!

5238 Cripple Creek Ct., Meadowcreek, Houston

Location: 5238 Cripple Creek Ct.
Details: 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths; 2,470 sq. ft.
Price: $172,900
The Scoop: 1968 Storybook Ranch with lots of brickish accents inside. Big Kitchen opens to Family Room with cylindrical corner fireplace. Lot next door is also available. On the market since the beginning of the month.
Open House: Sunday, noon-3 pm

Click this way to see more!

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03/21/08 11:58pm

Living in Summerwood is like living in Nature! Plus it’s super close to Lake Houston, the city’s largest manmade lake! Ordinarily, there aren’t a lot of open houses on Easter weekend, but D.R. Horton’s trying to close out here so they can build other stuff.

14414 Brighton Trace Ln., Summerwood, HoustonLocation: 14414 Brighton Trace Ln.
Details: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths; 2,258 sq. ft.
Price: $230,773
The Scoop: New brick 1-story home with covered back porch and large Master Suite with its own sitting room. Motivated seller! — which is the builder, D.R. Horton. Plan #2258, which measures exactly 2,258 square feet. On the market since the beginning of February.
Open House: Saturday, noon-5 pm

More Summerwood homes this way . . .

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03/14/08 11:58pm

From the gratuitous celebrity references in the listings to the one-minute-before-the-hour open-house start times: Some agents know all the tricks! This weekend: four open houses in Pine Brook, tucked between Ellington Field and Armand Bayou.

3422 E. Pine Brook Way, Pine Brook, Clear Lake, Houston

Location: 3422 E. Pine Brook Way
Details: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths; 2,615 sq. ft.
Price: $335,000
The Scoop: “IF GEORGE CLOONEY LIVED IN PINE BROOK HE WOULD LIVE HERE” screams the listing for this 12-year-old brick home, which also includes six mentions of Tuscany or Italy. L-shaped pool with covered patio; open Kitchen. On the market since the end of February.
Open House: Sunday, 1:59-4 pm

The Clear Lake celebrity European home tour continues this way . . .

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03/07/08 11:55pm

What will you find in Oak Forest? Big lots with variously updated 1950s-era ranch homes, tall oaks and pines . . . and granite countertops! Below are five homes in the neighborhood open this weekend:

1411 Candlelight Ln., Oak Forest, Houston

Location: 1411 Candlelight Ln.
Details: 4 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths; 1,700 sq. ft.
Price: $237,000
The Scoop: 1955 ranch with kiddie playground, back patio, and carport. Bunk bed in 4th bedroom is available! New tile, granite countertops, stainless-steel appliances, fresh mulch, and much more. Listed just a week and a half ago.
Open House: Sunday, noon-4 pm

There’s more in our tour . . .

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02/29/08 11:48pm

This time: Low-slung, low-lying, midpriced Midcentury Modern homes in Meyerland!

5015 Heatherglen Dr., Meyerland, Houston

Location: 5015 Heatherglen Dr.
Details: 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths; 2,633 sq. ft.
Price: $448,750
The Scoop: Restored 1959 ranch-ish contemporary designed by architect William Wortham with terrazzo floors, walnut paneling, and unique brickwork. Decked out in retro furniture. Listed six weeks ago; price just chopped by $10K.
Open House: Sunday, 2-4 pm

The tour continues this way . . .

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02/15/08 11:01pm

What should replace the disappearing ranch moderns of Afton Oaks? Faux French chateaux? Towering Tuscan Villas? Martha Stewart Colonials? Storybook stucco townhouses? Tour this weekend’s open houses . . . then cast your vote!

3121 Newcastle St., Afton Oaks, Houston

Location: 3121 Newcastle St.
Details: 4-5 bedrooms, 4 full & 2 half baths; 6,500 sq. ft.
Price: $2,692,500
The Scoop: Preston Wood home won’t be complete for at least two months, but already “beautifully reminiscent of Loire Valley chateaux.” Lots of old-European-house parts tacked on.
Open House: Sunday, 2-4 pm

Like this one? Well, there’s more!

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02/08/08 8:33pm

Modern, Mediterranean, or Watchamacallit: Cottage Grove‘s got a townhouse to vaguely approximate your sense of style. Tour these this weekend!

2601 Detering St., Cottage Grove, Houston

Location: 2601 & 2603 Detering St.
Details: 3 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths; 2,494 sq. ft.
Price: $319,000
The Scoop: Just-almost-completed mostly stucco mirrored-twin townhomes with indeterminate “traditional” look. Hanging drystack stone columns, head-in parking.
Open House: Sunday, 1-5 pm

After the jump: more Cottage Grove townhome treasures!

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02/01/08 10:39am

Each year, Copperfield moves closer to town. And soon it’ll be even closer to outlet shopping! Here’s the Swamplot scoop on some Copperfield open houses you can catch if you visit this weekend:

8627 Pool Creek Dr., Copperfield

Location: 8627 Pool Creek Dr.
Details: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 925 sq. ft.
Price: $94,500
The Scoop: Teensy patio home from the 1980s with vaulted ceilings and a huge yard. 90 days on the market and three price drops already — began at $104K.
Open House: Sunday, 2-5 pm

After the jump, the homes get bigger!

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01/29/08 11:15am

Family Room of 403 Westminster Dr., Houston

A reader reports that the Frame House, a fifties-Modern classic tucked off Memorial Dr., is up for sale for a cool $3 million. Designed by Houston architect Harwood Taylor in 1960, this is about as close to a Case Study House as Houston ever got — and it perches just about as close to Buffalo Bayou as you’d ever want a home to get. Its recent restoration from a mid-eighties whitewashing earned the current owner, his architects, and builder a local preservation award.

If you’re a fan of this kind of Modness, the best news of all is that you don’t have to pay to play: An open house is scheduled for the afternoon of Sunday, February 17th. If you’re not a fan, you can visit and imagine how it would all look with crown moulding and a nice, traditional pitched roof.

After the jump, a few more details about the home, plus a demonstration of the real value real estate agents can bring to a fine listing like this.

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01/25/08 7:42pm

Fall Creek is only 15 minutes from Downtown Houston!!! . . . Unless you believe those silly Google Maps, which show it around 25 minutes away. But Google’s probably figuring how long it would take if you drove while sending text messages with your iPhone — that can slow you down. Whether you believe the real-estate developers or the software developers, you might want to add in some sort of factor for traffic.

There likely won’t be so much traffic along I-59 this weekend, so you can explore the open houses on this tour and test the drive times yourself!

8510 Mineral Springs Ln., Fall Creek, Humble, TX

Location: 8510 Mineral Springs Ln.
Details: 5 bedrooms, 4 full and 2 half baths, 4,857 sq. ft.
Price: $424,900
The Scoop: Ginormous 2005 home “has hidden room in gameroom wired for internet.” Could that be the secret World of Warcraft bunker you’ve been looking for? On market since late October; marked down twice from $449,900.
Open House: Sunday, 1-4 pm

You’ll find three more Fall Creek open houses for this weekend . . . below the fold.

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01/18/08 8:11pm

Time for a stroll through lovely Woodland Heights, where the bungalows are small but keep growing. This week’s open-house tour starts simple but gets fancier fast:

706 Teetshorn St., Woodland Terrace, Houston

Location: 706 Teetshorn St.
Details: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1,292 sq. ft.
Price: $279,500
The Scoop: 1920 bungalow with enclosed porch and large 1-car garage. Listed in October, price dropped $10K in November; still here in January.
Open House: Sunday, 2-4 pm

The tour continues . . . after the jump!

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01/11/08 11:28pm

Got some extra energy to spend househunting? Join us for a quick look at six homes for sale in West Memorial, in subdivisions huddled at the T-shaped Energy Corridor’s left armpit (between Highway 6 and Eldridge Parkway that is, south of I-10 and north of Buffalo Bayou).

You can visit them all this weekend — or just gawk as we drive by:

727 Last Arrow Dr., Houston

Location: 727 Last Arrow Dr.
Details: 3-4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, 3,051 sq. ft.
Price: $329,900
The Scoop: Lots of 1980s-era wood paneling in a gated community. Three months on the market; one price drop.
Open House: Saturday & Sunday, 2-5 pm

There’s more below the fold!

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