The Book of John Staub

THE BOOK OF JOHN STAUB Maybe literature does have an impact in the real world — or the world of real estate, at least: “After the 2007 publication of The Country Houses of John F. Staub, by [architectural historian] Stephen Fox,” reports Nancy Keates from The Wall Street Journal, “momentum gained to save Staub homes that were being torn down, particularly in the affluent River Oaks neighborhood.” And this retroactive interest is happening all over the country, writes Keates: Homebuyers are looking back, when they’re looking to buy, for “an original source of traditional architecture — as opposed to the newer ‘McMansion’ variety.” Houstonian Calvin Schlenker and his wife paid $6.3 million for their John Staub, a “neo-Georgian” that dates to 1930: ”There’s a very limited inventory, they don’t come on the market very often and there’s great demand,” [Schlenker] says. . . . Houston real-estate agent Janie Miller says Staub homes have more of a premium than ever. ‘You pay so much more it isn’t funny. It’s like buying a diamond from Tiffany’s.'” [Wall Street Journal; previously on Swamplot] Photo of 2110 River Oaks Blvd.: HAR

8 Comment

  • Before 2007, the market demanded that these be torn down and replaced with something new. A book gets published, and now the market demands that they be saved. It’s interesting how the market changes when we become a little more conscious of history.

  • This is as it should be.

  • Is there a master list of Staub homes? I’m particularly interested in those outside of River Oaks.

  • Weren’t those the McMansions of their day?

  • P.S. I know of 2 in Riverside Terrace – 3302 South MacGregor Way and 3904 South MacGregor Way

  • Not McMansions. If they were McMansions, they would have been the same size, only crammed onto quarter-acre lots in West U.

  • ahhh just a way for Mr Schlenker to get the asking 8.2 million for a house thet he paid 6.3 million for…very clever ..but not that clever!!!…that property is the old Jane Marchal house before Chris Sarofims wife got a hold of it and ruined it..its way over priced!!!!

  • These are “mansions”, not McMansions. A John Staub house just sold in Galveston for about $549,000, I think on Ave. R.