Pair of weird houses in Houston

[dmm5157]

Saw this one pop up from a FB post and then upon further digging noticed that there is a house next door almost as big.

Just an ugly looking area, both houses look like they're in bad shape.

And in researching stuff for this post, I found a news story from June that tells more of the backstory.

http://abc13.com/realestate/inside-look-at-giant-abandoned-home-for-sale-in-manvel/818235/

This 60,175 sq ft brick home, located on 2354 County Road 59, is now on the market for a cool $3.5 million. The home has 46 bedrooms, 26 full bathrooms, a 9 car garage, an indoor swimming pool and spa and an elevator.

Realtors say the home was built in 2001 by a doctor and his wife. They originally intended to use the property as a live-in rehab facility for the doctor's patients. More than halfway through the project, construction was brought to a halt. Instead, the couple built a nearly identical house on the 15 acre lot next door where they currently live.

"Somebody decided the structure was too large, and they didn't want to complete it," said realtor Mona Miller. "It's definitely not your luxury mansion. It's not built in that sense. It's definitely built institutional like."

There is a small elevator toward the back of the home for those not wanting to take the stairs. There's also a natatorium with an inground pool and a three-bench sauna.

http://search.har.com/site/2354-county-road-59_SITE81589854.htm

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2354-County-Road-59-Manvel-TX-77578/26489409_zpid/

And pictures of the house next door:

link to Google Map Aerial

 

[DFSNOLE]

Looks as much like a warehouse as it does a house.

 

[dmm5157]

More write up on the houses and the people who built them.

http://www.houstonpress.com/news/inside-pearlands-mystery-mansion-6714481

 

[F4Gary]

76 needs to buy it and turn it into a rehab facility. About 70 TVs would do it.

 

[SoProudNole]

76 needs to buy it and turn it into a rehab facility. About 70 TVs would do it.

Sous vide for the masses......

 

[seminoledq]

I think one is fiji's and the other is the one he banishes his wife to when she acts up.

 

[Fijimn]

I don't live too far from those homes. If you go past those homes and around the corner, there is a cool ice house that we'd go to (pre-baby) when I wanted to get my redneck fix on. That area has changed a lot, but those homes still sit there.

 

[SoddyNole]

It would make a good brothel. With 46 rooms you easily pay it off in a couple of years and that 9 car garage would come in handy, no pun intended, to lease out to the local NBA stars.

 

[CC0492]

Damn, a squatter's dream!

 

[Bobcat07]

There was another one that went up for sale a few years back near the University of Houston that was quite the doozy. Not sure whats happened to it since it sold last year.

http://swamplot.com/lucky-buyer-of-...e-mulling-over-what-to-do-with-it/2014-05-20/

 

[billanole]

76 needs to buy it and turn it into a rehab facility. About 70 TVs would do it.

Reminds me of the ghost towns in China. That is stupid money getting wasted right there.

 

[SoProudNole]

Nice yard though.....

 

[Fijimn]

There was another one that went up for sale a few years back near the University of Houston that was quite the doozy. Not sure whats happened to it since it sold last year.

http://swamplot.com/lucky-buyer-of-...e-mulling-over-what-to-do-with-it/2014-05-20/

The new owner is still working on it. http://www.chron.com/homes/article/...-a-beautiful-update-6591362.php#photo-8853000

 

[Bobcat07]

The new owner is still working on it. http://www.chron.com/homes/article/...-a-beautiful-update-6591362.php#photo-8853000

Good to know. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Bartdog]

pet peeve time

"Home" refers to the place (singular) where you, or the subject of the sentence, lives. I get overly bent out of shape when people, start talking about homes in this new neighborhood, etc. They are HOUSES and when someone moves into them, each one will be a home to the family that does. It's especially real estate types who do this, that can be somehow even more annoying.

/pet peeve time
sorry.....rant over... I'm done.

 

[Formerly Rockymtnole]

So homebuilder should be housebuilder?

 

[billanole]

So homebuilder should be housebuilder?

Unless he becomes a home wrecker / house wrecker.

 

[crooked_rain]

there is a cool ice house that we'd go to (pre-baby) when I wanted to get my redneck fix on. .

I wasn't familiar with the term ice house in that context. Had to look it up. Interesting.

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/23/u...ke-their-frosty-beer-on-a-warm-afternoon.html

 

[alaskanseminole]

Damn, a squatter's dream!

Or that secret org from the Hostel movies.

 

[alaskanseminole]

I wasn't familiar with the term ice house in that context. Had to look it up. Interesting.

We just call them igloos.