Appearing in the Daily Demolition Report a week ago, this house at 5822 Cartagena St. met its unmaker yesterday. Teevee reporter Erik Barajas reports that the 2,500-sq.-ft. Westbury home located between Hillcroft and Chimney Rock in Southwest Houston had allowed “drinkers and critters to roam free inside” and annoyed neighbors, who gathered to document the destruction with cell phones: “[I'm] really happy,” Becky Edmondson tells Barajas. “The home has been in disrepair for years. It was stalled in court with a tax sale. . . . [It had] rodents, it was open, it wasn’t secured, the roof was caving in. It was just really a bad eyesore.” Barajas adds that the property has sold and a new home is planned. [abc13; previously on Swamplot] Photo: abc13
“So I have a home in Westbury that I purchased in the $190 range. It’s ok shape but I am living in another home inside the loop. As I am interested in a larger home and can’t find an affordable lot inside the loop, I am considering demoing my Westbury home and rebuilding on that lot. Does anyone have an opinion on this? I am only aware of one other Westbury new build from 2006. I love the neighborhood, I just need more space. Another option I am considering is building a second story to the existing home. Thoughts?” [Westbury Owner, commenting on A Londoners’ Guide to the Westbury Land Rush]
The Fort Bend County Toll Road Association plans to start construction of a $20 million, 2.3-mile southern extension of the Fort Bend Parkway from Hwy. 6 to the Sienna Parkway later this year. (The Hwy. 6 underpass will cost an additional $20 million). Plans to to build a 3-mile-long northern extension the Fort Bend Parkway — from Rte. 90A through Westbury, so it connects to the southwest corner of the 610 Loop — have been on the books for more than a decade, but Harris County officials aren’t interested in building it. [Houston Chronicle] Map: HCTRA
The Westbury Christian School is buying the Westland Family YMCA at 10402 Fondren, south of South Braeswood, with plans to turn the building, its pool, and large playing field into a remote athletic campus. The 31-year-old Y is a little more than a mile west of the K-12 school’s main campus at 10402 Hillcroft. The property wasn’t up for sale, but “declining membership and increasing operating costs” convinced the organization to shut the facility. Members will be transferred automatically to the Y at 5801 W. Orem Dr. when the Westland location closes at the end of the month. [Hair Balls; previously on Swamplot] Photo: YMCA of Greater Houston
“The key to buying a home in Houston is to figure out the next up-and-coming neighbourhood before it arrives,” declares Sheila McNulty, the Houston and energy-business correspondent for London’s Financial Times. Then you can knock down a home there — or fix it up! And that next hot new neighborhood would be . . . ?
Momentum is building in Westbury, a 20-minute drive from downtown. Here the tree-lined streets sell suburbia: they are quiet, close to good schools (both public and private), the Medical Center – a key employer in Houston – and the Galleria shopping mall that anchors Houston. Yet they are set back from the highways and urban sprawl that characterise any big US city.
Before Westbury hit the radar of local estate agents it was Meyerland, which followed Bellaire, which followed West University, as the circle of sought-after areas around downtown Houston steadily widened.
McNulty tours a few listings in the neighborhood with Keller Williams agent Peggie Kohnert — including this “needs TLC” special at 5842 Dryad Dr., just 6 houses in from Hillcroft:
Now the proud caretaker of a new 96-gallon bin-on-wheels that will apparently welcome even glass, Richard Connelly spills the beans about the city’s soon-to-be announced one-year pilot recycling project: “About 10,000 homes in Meyerland, Old Sixth Ward, Pine Loch in Clear Lake and other areas will take part in the program. They will be serviced by the same kind of trash trucks with grappling arms that take the regular bins, as opposed to having workers jump off trucks, pick up the small bins and sort out plastic from paper.” [Hair Balls]
What delights await you in this Westbury Gardens condo? The video choreographs the entrance sequence beautifully.
Under the romantic entry arch, through the peaceful courtyard, past the double doors, up the stairs . . . what’s next?
Here’s where some of you thought this house might be: Boulevard Oaks, S. Post Oak/Westbury, Tanglewilde (or “near the Beltway and Richmond”), Bellaire, “around Pinemont,” Highway 6 and FM 1960, Willowbend, Garden Oaks, Afton Village, Spring Branch, Braeswood, the larger “Braeswood area” between Buffalo Speedway and 610, Maplewood South, “outside the Loop off Ella and east of 290,” Bellfort/Fondren, Ella Lee Forest, and the Museum District off Banks or Milford.
The pileups were in Oak Forest (4 guesses), Sharpstown (3 guesses), and Timbergrove (2). We also had two “ish” votes: a “Westburyish” and a “Meyerland-ish.”
The winner this week was That Girl, who was first to name Westbury — and wasn’t ishy-washy about it!
An honorable mention goes to MariaO, one of several participants who did a good job figuring the home’s approximate age and some likely locations. But Maria also ID’d the wall art:
Definitely built in the 1950s, and could feasibly be located in many near-loop neighborhoods of that era. . . .
fyi, the “stencil” in the front entry is actually wall stickers from http://www.whatisblik.com (Flock model)– so they’ll come off easily for the next owner.
More home details . . . after the jump!
Comment of the Day: Have I Got Trees for You
“One miserable tree in the entire 10,500 sq. ft. yard. I’ve heard that home buyers hate landscaping, but this is ridiculous. How ’bout a few bald cypress on the west side to cut down utility bills? A few live oaks in the front would be nice. A few water oaks in the back would be interesting, or go crazy and make it Shumard oaks. Even a mass planting of pink muhly could go somewhere; to hell with the neighbors put ‘em in the front! I’ll stop now.” [Chef, commenting on Houston Home Listing Photo of the Day: Glacier Bay]