Swamplot Archives by Tag: Tours

Friday, May 2, 2008

Weekend Open House Tour: Westhaven Estates

Westhaven Estates is patio-home heaven! There are no wasted yards, and all homes are carefully protected from the streets. This weekend: Tour some freestanding homes for sale here!

2323 Potomac Dr., Westhaven Estates, Houston

Location: 2323 Potomac Dr.
Details: 3 bedrooms, 3 baths; 3,018 sq. ft.
Price: $584,900
The Scoop: 1999 Dollhouse Mediterranean in 8-building gated compound. Carport fronts 2-car garage. Master retreat has gas fireplace and bay window; adjacent Media Room with wet bar and balcony is next to separate Study. Hardwood floors on second-level living areas. Has been on market for 2 months already.
Open House: Sunday, 2-4 pm

More patio homes this way . . . !

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Thursday, May 1, 2008

A Walk Down Cheezy Street: Richmond Avenue, Past Its Prime

Corner of Richmond and Fountainview, Houston

Pedestrian scribe John Lomax and Marfa City Council candidate David Beebe have, by this time, earned the right to make a few sweeping statements about various Houston neighborhoods. And Lomax exercises that right in his chronicle of the pair’s latest adventure on foot, along Richmond Avenue from Mission Bend to Midtown:

. . . the epicenter of H-Town cheese is the corner of Fountainview and Richmond. A four-story, day-glo, red, white, turquoise, and tan building looms over the southeastern corner there, and it houses a Sprint shop, a little downstairs bar with the godawful name Identity, a scalper’s office, a massage therapist, and a huge Darque Tan outlet.

Sure, Westheimer’s got some cheese, and is a little tattered around the edges in spots, but there’s a veneer of gentility as expressed by old-line businesses like Christie’s Seafood. Richmond, by contrast, used to have that sub-Landry’s fried seafood emporium King Fish Market, which despite the incessant awful commercials that polluted local airwaves circa 1999, is now out of business and practically in ruins. The whole lot of it is a great vat of rancid Velveeta.

As is much of the Richmond Strip. That giant sax outside of Billy Blues is looking more and more like the torch sticking out of the sand at the end of Planet of the Apes.

After the jump: how’s the nightlife?

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Friday, April 25, 2008

Weekend Open House Tour: Southdale

In this episode: Bellaire east of Newcastle, aka Southdale. Close to parks, schools, pools, and trains! Our open-house tour features new homes, newer homes, and an actual Bellaire original.

4340 Valerie St., Southdale, Bellaire, Texas

Location: 4340 Valerie St.
Details: 4 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths; 4,048 sq. ft.
Price: $809,000
The Scoop: 2005 “great party house” on corner lot designed “to maximize liveable space.” More is . . . uh, more! Mudroom, Game Room, Sewing Room, wine bar; Pantry has second refrigerator. Master Bath has double doors. Listed since February; price just chopped $6K.
Open House: Sunday, 2-5 pm

On with the tour!

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Friday, April 18, 2008

Weekend Open House Tour: Lazybrook

Welcome to Lazybrook, a sleepy little northwest corner of the Loop that really only gets riled up when White Oak Bayou decides it wants some action! These four lazy homes will be open this weekend . . . if you feel at all like stopping by. Or not. Whatever.

1811 Tattenhall Dr., Lazybrook, Houston

Location: 1811 Tattenhall Dr.
Details: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths; 1,652 sq. ft.
Price: $288,000
The Scoop: 1957 ranch with selective updates, including Lone Star pattern in leaded-glass front door, ceiling fans, crown molding, and “marbleized look formica” countertops. Back yard has small wooden deck on top of pavers; sprinkler system. On market since mid-January; $7K price cut in March.
Open House: Sunday, 2-5 pm

Want more like this? This way . . .

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Friday, April 11, 2008

Weekend Open House Tour: Spring Creek Forest and Spring Creek Oaks

This week: Two neighborhoods off Louetta, just east of Stuebner-Airline, north of Cypress Creek. Zoned to the Klein School District. In Spring!

17607 Teal Forest Ln., Spring, Texas

Location: 17607 Teal Forest Ln.
Details: 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths; 2,922 sq. ft.
Price: $158,900
The Scoop: Quaint 1980 home on cul-de-sac in Spring Creek Forest. Master Bedroom downstairs; other bedrooms off upstairs Game Room. Painted woodwork inside; large yard. Covered walkway connects to garage in back. On the market at the same price for almost 6 months.
Open House: Saturday, 11 am-2 pm

Read on for more!

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Friday, April 4, 2008

Weekend Open House Tour: Taylor Lake Village

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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Thursday, April 3, 2008

Frostwood and Memorial Forest: Tiny Deviations from the Norm

House on Pine Rock, Houston

House on Beauregard, Houston

Having finished with the Memorial Villages, Robert Boyd’s latest bikeride documentary takes us through the neighborhoods lining Gessner, south of I-10:

The houses here were built mostly between 1959 and 1965. The lots tend to be small compared to those in the Villages (just east of these subdivisions). In fact, if you go immediately south or west, the lots and the houses tend to be larger. This is where Memorial starts to become the more familiar kind of Houston suburb–similar houses on same-sized lots, with developers reusing floor-plans and exterior designs.

As usual, Boyd is on the lookout for anything unusual:

I had a Steve Reich album on my IPod as I rode (Sextet, Piano Phase, and Eight Lines played by the London Steve Reich Ensemble–I recommend it highly), and it occurred to me that a neighborhood like this is like a Steve Reich piece, where there is a comfortable, rhythmic sameness with tiny changes as you go along. The tiny changes wouldn’t have even caught my eye while riding through the much more heterogeneous Memorial Villages, but here they stand out.

After the jump: A few more pix of Boyd’s West Memorial picks!

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Monday, March 31, 2008

North Montrose and Memorial Heights: Look at Us Now

Alley Behind Townhomes Between Clay and W. Dallas, Houston

If you’re curious what the upper reaches of Montrose Blvd. look like from the viewpoint of an actual pedestrian, you’ll want to see blogger Charles Kuffner’s recent annotated photo walking tour of the area. Kuffner, who lived on Van Buren St. in the nineties, describes more recent developments on and around Montrose and Studemontfrom West Gray north to Washington:

I did this partly to document what it looks like now - if you used to live there but haven’t seen it in awhile, you’ll be amazed - and partly to point out what I think can be done to make the eventual finished product better. . . .

My thesis is simple. This is already an incredibly densely developed corridor, and it’s going to get more so as the new high rise is built [see Swamplot's story here] and several parcels of now-empty land get sold and turned into something else. It’s already fairly pedestrian-friendly, but that needs to be improved. And for all the housing in that mile-long stretch of road, there’s not enough to do.

Kuffner’s guide is a Flickr photo set. You’ll get the most out of it if you view it as a slideshow with the captions turned on (on the link, click on Options in the lower right corner, then make sure Always Show Title and Description is checked).

After the jump: A few more photos from Kuffner’s tour, plus an ID on those new condos behind Pronto!

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Friday, March 28, 2008

Weekend Open House Tour: Meadowcreek

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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Friday, March 21, 2008

Weekend Open House Tour: Summerwood

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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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Staub Ranchsion Tries Everything: Lecture, Tour, Big Price Cut

3740 Willowick Dr. in River Oaks by Architect John Staub

This time, the folks selling the home at 3740 Willowick in River Oaks are really going all out.

Maybe last November they hoped that the release of Stephen Fox’s The Country Houses of John F. Staub would unleash a new era of interest in the Houston architect — and result in a recordbreaking price for the 1955 Staub-designed ranch-like mansion backing up to Buffalo Bayou, across from Memorial Park.

The book did fine, but Staubmania never really took off. Now, almost five months later, the sellers can’t harbor any illusions.

This time, the John Staub marketing machine kicks into full gear:

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Friday, March 14, 2008

Weekend Open House Tour: Pine Brook

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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Wednesday, March 12, 2008

A Brief Tour of Slightly Odd Spaces in Spring Valley

House with Stockade Fence, Campbell Place, Spring Valley, Houston

Robert Boyd ends his series of bicycle tours through the Memorial Villages with a ride through the west end of Spring Valley, and concludes:

Perhaps this is a good way to characterize the Memorial Villages. They will tolerate eccentricity, but only a very small amount of it.

These are wealthy folks, and I bet many of them consider themselves to be individualists. Let your freak flags fly! You live in the Villages–you’ve made it. So do something wild and unique with your house and yard that proclaims your uniqueness.

After the jump, a few more photo gems from Boyd’s Spring Valley travelogue.

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Friday, March 7, 2008

Weekend Open House Tour: Oak Forest

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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Friday, February 29, 2008

Weekend Open House Tour: Meyerland Mods

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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