Will This Castle in the Thick of Riverside Terrace Fetch $1.5 Million?

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Known to passersby as much for its solid (though decorative) brick-and-stone wall as for the neoclassical and French-ish features that peek over it, this baronial 1930 home in Riverside Terrace arrived on the market a week ago. What wonders await beyond its fortifications? Well, for starters there’s the $1.5 million asking price for a property a couple blocks north of Brays Bayou and a couple blocks east of Hwy. 288. Have a peek at a few more:

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No moat stands guard behind the curbside fortifications, but there is an arched front entry guarding the base of the turret. The recessed door’s accent shields repeat on the flip side, where they’re framed by a set of angled windows, blocked from the approach by buttresses:

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Details and more details embellish the foyer. The staircase, for example, spreads into the room and features stylized trim and balustrades (above). In the adjacent step-down living room, accent trim breaks down the plaster walls into a series of panels awaiting ancestral accumulations:

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Ditto in the dining room:

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Built-in cabinets form and finish the angled corners of this eating area:

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Original hardwood flooring and tile can be found throughout the home, though the flooring switches up its runs between hallway and rooms:

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County tax records refer to a 1994 renovation of the 4,638-sq.-ft-home, which has a solarium, a third floor, and an actual basement. The kitchen’s update appears to have left in place some of the room’s original flourishes, such as the half-height tile walls and tray-panel cabinetry and doors:

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All 3 bedrooms have views of the pool in the back yard. The listing, however, includes photos of none of them. The home’s 3 bathrooms and 1 half-bath stay off-camera as well. The grounds include this sturdy 2-story garage with a wood-paneled suite upstairs:

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From behind the wall, portions of the former LaDet Motel, a next-door neighbor, are visible:

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A small apartment complex lies across the street from the 13,025 sq. ft. lot.

Behind the Brick Wall

7 Comment

  • I went to an estate sale there 2 weeks ago. The inside is amazing, intact and in beautiful condition. It appeared to be move in ready!!

  • Nice home in a nice area that needs to be saved and remodeled. Way overpriced it needs like $125k to $250k worth of updating it is only worth $550k to $700k in the current condition

  • Definitely over priced. Cool house but it’s worth about half that, on a good day.

  • The nabe was once full of grand houses like this, but too many have been demolished or gone to pot. Also, 288 cut the area in half, and then too many shitty apartments were built (70’s) and town homes (00’s) have popped up in their places. The hood is destined to look like Montrose – a mishmash of everything crammed together.

  • Riverside Retreat for Persons of Disordered and Non-compliant Aesthetic; a River Oaks Society for Elders Institution

  • I’d have to agree the price is a stretch in this condition. I hope some doctor falls in love with it – quick commute to Med Center, that’s for sure. It is a beautiful home with great potential. Sans the lick-n-stick rocks on the front, of course… Is this the first ever archeological evidence of lick-n-stick?

  • This house strikes me as being prime real estate for an older confirmed batchelor type. I could totally see my uncle living here, he’d love that balastrade.