Jersey01

I like this one! It really doesn't need a lot of work, and pretty good location. The comment about the garage being bricked in bothers me, though. Inside I think some terrazzo would look really great in the formals/foyer. What I love about this house is the original light fixtures and the kitchen cabinets with real wood counters are pretty cool. The quirky tree in the middle of the driveway is pretty unique!

Concerning the formica v. granite: It is all in what is important to a homeowner. For enthuisiasts of 50's ranch or MCM houses, original tile or formica is very desirable. Cork, concrete, formica, or retro tile certainly fits a house like this very well. It is the same thing as adding crown molding to a modernist room. The typical American likes the Home Depot updated look. This is especially true for most Houstonians. Everyone here wants the Tuscan, Spanish, or Georgian look. Whereas, in cities like Los Angeles the more original and retro the better. The Singleton house by Richard Neutra fetched almost $7 million. The buyer said the reason they chose the house over others was because it still had the original blue formica in the bathrooms, even with a few chips.

This is a nice place, not really my style but at least these people didn't try to make it all traditional looking. For any of you who watch Nip/Tuck, with the right furniture this house could sort of have the look of the Mcnamara's house. This place did need some work when they bought it. If they get the asking price I know what business I'm going to get into! That is a decent profit, considering this took less than 6 months to clean the place up.

Thanks, Jason. Yeah I was reluctant to believe this information because I assumed that I would have known this by now. It would be really cool if it were true, though.

I've been doing some heavy research on Paul Rudolph. In my research I discovered that he designed a house here in Houston in 1972 for John B. Rogers. Do any of you know whether or not this house is still standing, and if so, where? I sure hope it is still with us!

I actually really like this house, or should I say I could like it. I like mods that are rectilinear like this. I love all of the rear facing glass. However the garage addition is just bad, along with the red painted brick in the kitchen/ living. The master bath must be 80's. Reminds me of the movie "Ruthless People" sans bright colors and fake Warhols. Hopefully someone will see its potential, though that is a lot of work for $350.

The Riverside Terrace house is also featured in a book on ranch houses. I forgot the title...but I saw it at Borders in River Oaks.

I have a good friend that lives on Memorial in the Sherwood Forest area near 610 and the noise from Memorial isn't bad. Of course the yards are larger in that area, so the house is set back a little farther, but his house has large windows facing Memorial. This house that is for sale has a solid brick facade, no windows facing the street. I think that would be a huge sound block. Of course cities are going to have noise. I lived on Main St at Texas Ave for 4 years and let me tell you, that is much noisier. And it really didn't bother me, except for when light rail was being built but that is a huge topic in itself.

This house has some serious similarity to some of the works of Harwood Taylor. The curved brick wall and the courtyards with full length windows remind me very much of some houses that he designed which are now gone.

This house has a great Los Angeles vibe. Love the reeded glass off the foyer in the living, gives a slight Craig Ellwood vibe, though only slight. And I know some of the purists out there will cringe at the baths, but I think if you are going to remodel the bath of an MCM, then this is a great look. Is this how much this area is going for now? It's crazy, if this house were a few blocks north on Braeswood it would probably be in the $400's and if it were a few blocks south in Willowbend it would maybe be in the $200's. I'm no real estate expert, but it seems that this area has drastic cost difference from one street to the next. Then again maybe this is normal?

Seriously! BTW I heard Ben Koush's house is in it. Is that true? I'd like to see what that place looks like.

I would hope this house has some Miesian furniture. I have an architect friend that confirmed that this was the Todd house and that as far as he knows, Mrs. Todd still lives there. If that is the case it is highly possible that this house is maintained as original, which I love. This is a great house and I especially love the way it is situated on it's property. I also really love it when mods are located unassumingly in neighborhoods that are mostly traditional and historic.

I've repeatedly heard of a house that Anderson Todd built for himself. I'm told Philip Johnson called it "more Mies than Mies!" I'm familiar with the Todd designed house on Shadowlawn. Is this the one that he designed for himself? It mentions nothing of this being his own house in the Houston Arch Guide. The one thing that I with the guide also included is an index by architect. That would be nice.

I like Mark McKinnon's work. His solutions to our climate are great and his designs look nice with modern architecture. www.mckinnonassociates.com

Yes! this is such a cool house, or at least what I've seen. I've driven by during a driving tour of the RDA homes. I especially love the bright orange paint that he used on the doors. Hopefully I will bump into Ben Koush some day so I can talk him into letting me check this place out. I'm going to be doing something similar in a couple of years. Glad to see 002 recognizing houses like Ben's and Jason's in the past. This should be a regular contribution to the mag.

I actually considered living there last year. I had lived at Post Rice for 3 years and was exploring my options. It is pretty nice for a lease property. I like that the building is preserved so well and that there are conveniences with the hotel next door. It also has a safe garage which is important. The building and units are tastefully done, but very "safe" as in tans, cremes, whites, etc. Humble Tower definately has a New York feel vs. many other downtown apartments.

I live in a loft, and my favorit part is that I have a 6'x26' gallery with 28' ceilings and retro lights in my entry. My father is a photographer so it is a great space to show giant b&w photos that he has done over the years, and I am very proud of his talent.

I found this article from a post on another forum, but thought that it was relevant to what many Houstonians who own mods and ranch houses are guilty of doing. Many great phrases are coined in this article. http://www.latimes.com/classified/realesta...lass-realestate

Stern and Bucek are probably one of my favorite locals. They are great at new construction as well as renovation projects. They did the Menil renovation. Anyone qualified to work on a Philip Johnson structure is good in my book. Karen Lantz (of Enter) does a great job too. If you've ever seen the TV show Nip/Tuck, I would say that her style reminds me of that show. She has a great sense of modern style, if that is what you are looking for.

rps: Isn't that the '54 Parade of Homes place? If so is it still for sale? I also have a question that may be answered by those of you who bear the guide (I still haven't gotten a copy, ridiculously enough!) Does anyone have any info on 2252 Troon in River Oaks? I've always loved this house, it's one of my favorites in this city. It looks like it may be Bolton & Barnstone, very pavillion-like.

What a shame! I wish I could have seen this place before this happened

I just got back from driving over on Macgregor. There are som cool places, mod and traditional. I noticed a couple that had the Mackie/Kamrath look, and Willowisp has confirmed my assumptions. I was also interested to see that there were several houses about a block off of N. Macgregor that resemble one of my favorite houses in Houston, a white MCM on the 3000-4000 block of N. Braeswood and the corner of Glen Arbor (near the Mod of the month.) They must be by the same architect, not sure who that is though. I would love to see some activity over on Macgregor to bring it up to it's potential.

It is interesting how so many people refer to the de Menil house with terms such as "masterpiece", myself included. Yet, by the time it was finished, Johnson supposedly wasn't too thrilled with the results. Elements such as the dining room being in the foyer, rather than like the original plans which would have placed the dining where the playroom was located, bothered him. Another element that dissappointed Johnson was the window in the kitchen. The otherwise windowless street facade seemed broken, but due to de Menil's insistence the windows were placed. I've read somewhere, probably in one of my books on Johnson, that this project made Johnson dislike doing most residential architecture. I personally love the house but if I lived there I would have to relocate the dining area back to the originally designated area. I am also not a fan of the rather large greenhouse roof over the courtyard garden. I am, however, thrilled with the preservation of this house, being one of Houston's greatest examples of modernist architecture.

I can't undertand how this house could even possibly be considered a tear down. Frankly I am INSULTED. There are no mechanical problems, no structural problems, etc... I find it amazing that the only thing in this house that does not work are the jets in the master jacuzzi tub. And this place is architecturally significant. The architect who designed the place was involved with several other VERY (as in Nationally--Hello Bruce Goff!!) recognized architects. This house is not being listed as a tear-down. I had an in-depth conversation with the listing agent about the tragedy of people tearing down classic modern architecture, especially in Houston. It isn't cheap. I'll give you that. But this is a really cool 3,200 sf house on a 14,000 sf lot that is well maintained and convenient to nearly everything. None of the improvements that I listed were anything more than personal tastes and aesthetics. If I see a red brick McMansion on this location EVER, who knows what I would have to say to the owner if I ever crossed their path. Save that for some golf community! Some people just do not understand.

I just visited the open house and now I want this place even more! As soon as you enter you fell like you are in L.A. or Palm Springs. It is quite informal, as Willowisp said. I particularly love the contrast of dark and light spaces. This house was clearly designed to be open but with total privacy in mind, which is greatly acheived. Clever design in the study which can be totally open or closed from the other living areas. The courtyard off of the master bath is really cool, and the master bedroom has great windows and its own terrace access. The living area is large and open, with an interesting fireplace and an illuminated soffit bordering the front. There are glass built ins which are about 3/4" thick--nice touch. The guest bedrooms have a neat layout. On walls facing out they have privacy windows and in the center of the ceiling are large square skylights. Each bedroom has double pocket doors which open into a hall with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the pool. Another nice touch, as noted by Willowisp is the design of the exterior wood siding. I would of course make a few changes. The exterior color is not quite my preference, but does look nice. Dark brown, grey, or a crisp white would look really great. Inside, I would love to see either concrete or terrazzo floor. In some MCMs saltillo tile looks nice but I don't feel that it suits this house. The kitchen counters could maybe work better with a different color cabinet, but are another choice I would not have made. All in all, this house is surprisingly untouched and well maintained. The owners have done a good job of keeping it mostly original. But I would love to see some iconic modern furniture in this place. A couple of leather Arne Jacobsen Egg Chairs would look so cool in the living room. Hopefully this house will be bought by someone who can truly appreciate this place!