The childhood home of Clyde Drexler

Some houses are just not photogenic.  They aren’t ugly, exactly, but they are awkward.  The house where Clyde the Glide grew up is just such a place.  The front door doesn’t face the street, for example, which is great for family privacy but not so great for attractive photographs.  Shrubbery and landscaping are minimal, which is great for controlling maintenance costs, but not so great for photos. 

Having said that, we were delighted to discover this out-of-the-way South Acres (Crestmont Park) neighborhood and Elm Tree Drive in particular.  The trees are mature, the lawns are large and the neighborhood is pretty much the same as it was in the 1970s when the Drexler family lived there.  You won’t find any McMansions here, but you will still find plenty of above-the-garage basketball hoops and plenty of little boys and girls taking advantage of them. 

The Drexler house was built in 1961, about a year before Clyde was born.  It has three bedrooms, two baths and approximately 1500 square feet.  There’s a one-car garage and a nice extra-wide driveway.  We can just imagine Clyde, James, Denise and Virginia out there tossing balls, playing chase, and running barefoot in that lovely St. Augustine grass.  Can’t you?

 

 





Bonus:  Here’s a picture of the original Drexler’s BBQ building, Dowling at Gray.

 

All photos copyright 2013 Marie Brannon

 

 

 

 

Houston’s First Ford Dealer Lived in Westmoreland

Every house has a story.  This one isn’t the largest or most impressive house in Westmoreland, but it isn’t the smallest or ugliest either.  Its first residents weren’t famous by today’s standards, but they do hold a small place in local history.  The address 402 Marshall first appeared in the city directory in 1908 (HCAD records indicate it was built in 1904) at the corner of Marshall and Flora, occupied by James Wade Cox, the first Ford dealer in our fair city.

 
The structure was built in the popular Queen Anne style of the day, complete with two bay windows, a ‘witch’s hat’ turret on the front, and a curved wraparound covered porch.  It has two staircases and a grand foyer with exquisite hardwood floors.  Its 4,000 square feet contain four bedrooms and two and a half baths.

James Wade Cox was born in 1863 in Lavinia (Carroll) Tennessee.  He was unmarried when he came to Houston in the late 1880s and set up a bicycle repair shop at 1014 Texas Avenue.  Through the years, this shop also sold pistols and rifles, hardware and supplies.

 

 

In 1903, at the age of 40, he married Eva E. Burts, a daughter of railroad engineer Joseph Burts.  By 1907 the store had moved to 1012-1015 Main and added ‘Auto and Bicycle Sundries” to its list of services.  The couple lived at 505 Tuam until their home at 402 Marshall was ready in 1908. 

Unfortunately, Eva only lived in the house for two years.  She died in 1910, the same year the Ford dealership “rented the entire ground floor of the Sternenberg Building at Milam and Walker for a salesroom and display area". 


In 1908, Harris County was home to “200 automobiles, the largest number of any county in Texas”, according to an issue of Automotive Industries magazine.  There were three automobile dealerships in the city, and our J. Wade Cox was the only one who sold Fords. 

For the next five years, Mr. Cox continued to live on Marshall Street as a widower.  In 1915, he remarried, to Miss Pearle Ray, whose father was a Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace.  With the coming of World War I in 1916, they sold their house and moved in with Pearle’s parents.  J. Wade Cox passed away in 1942. 

Photo by Dennis Pow-Sang

 

 

 

Interior of Ford Dealership on Main, c. 1908

Photo from David P. Rigney 1976

A legendary lawn in Houston

Houston, Texas just might be the Pretty Lawn capital of the nation.  Its semi-tropical climate and lush suburban neighborhoods combine to create some truly stunning residential landscapes.  St. Augustine grass spreads a glorious carpet of green on almost everybody’s yard, the scents of gardenias and magnolia blossoms abound, and springtime is always a riot of color.

The Houston area is peppered with its share of rich and/or famous residents, of course.  George and Barbara Bush, many NASA astronauts, baseball legends Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, entertainer Mickey Gilley, and the infamous R. Allen Stanford all have lovely homes and gardens in the area.

Photo by Corky Ballas

There is, however, one Houston lawn that holds a special fascination.  Its current owners are not particularly rich or famous, but their three-acre home site is notable.  It is located in Rivercrest Estates, an upscale neighborhood near the Beltway and Westheimer.  Its claim to fame?  It is home to the first grass ever trimmed with a Weed Eater. 

The Garage Where the Weed-Eater Was Born

Photo by Marie Brannon

Dance instructor, college professor and real estate developer George C. Ballas was a busy man, but he had a yard to mow just like everyone else.  He was frustrated that his lawnmower couldn’t handle fence corners, areas around trees and other hard-to-reach spots in his large yard.  Sitting in a car wash one day in 1971, watching bristles spin against his vehicle, he had a “light bulb moment”, and the Weed Eater was soon born in his garage.

Photo by Marie Brannon

To see images of Mr. Ballas and his original spinning tin-can, click here. 

An overlooked mansion in the Museum District

Many hundreds, if not thousands, of vehicles pass through the intersection of Bissonnet and Montrose every day.  The Contemporary Arts Museum, the Cullen Sculpture Garden and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston are highly visible here and serve as anchors for the entire Museum District. 

But wait!  Intersections have four corners.  What’s on that other corner?  The southwest corner, behind all those bushes and trees and that lovely wrought iron gate?  Another museum?  Headquarters for some non-profit arts foundation?  Wrong.

Much to the surprise of many, it is a private residence.

Photo by William T. Cannady

At 6,180 square feet, it probably qualifies as a mansion.  It sits on half an acre, facing Bayard Street.  It is L-shaped, has five balconies, two fireplaces and 5½ bathrooms.  It was built by noted architect William Cannady in 1990, and is surely worth the $5.2 million price tag it carries.

So, the next time you find yourself in the area of Bissonnet at Montrose, take a moment and enjoy the beauty of a contemporary showplace hiding in plain sight.  If you want to see the real estate photos taken by Markley Crosswell, click here.

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Jesse H. Jones must have loved Main Street

If Jesse Holman Jones were still alive, he would celebrate his 137^th birthday this week, and I’m sure he would still be living somewhere on Main Street in Houston.  From the time he arrived in our fair city in 1898, until the time of his death in 1956, he always lived on Main. 

Local history buffs might recall that he lived at the Rice Hotel for several decades, but he also lived in two other homes on Main Street.

At the age of 24, young Jesse arrived in Houston to stay with his aunt, Mrs. Martin T. Jones.  They lived at 2908 Main Street in a large house with four resident servants: a cook, a coachman, a maid and a gardener.  Jesse’s uncle Martin had passed away and his Aunt Louisa needed help in operating the M.T. Jones Lumber Company.  This house, which was near the corner of Main and Tuam, is long gone.  The property is now an empty lot.

from 1905-06 city directory

In the 1900 census he was living at the Capitol Hotel (Main at Texas).  Interestingly, two other residents of the Capitol at that time were William and John Foley, who were selling groceries and liquor.

Capitol Hotel
photo courtesy UH Libraries

In 1911, when Jesse was 37 years old, he bought the Rice Hotel and demolished it.  He rebuilt it on the same site, took up residence there in 1913 and stayed for the rest of his life.  In the 1926 city directory he is listed there, with a phone number of 2278.  This number was later CA-2278 and presumably became CA2-2278.  But I digress.

When World War I started, Jesse filled out his papers and gave his address as 2908 Main Street, Houston.  So he probably used both addresses as long as his aunt was living. 

By 1946, he was so famous that he was featured in Life Magazine, with a photo of him at home.  We think this was his Rice Hotel home, but who knows for sure?

Life magazine, October 1, 1946

Happy birthday, Jesse Jones.  The next time I visit Jones Hall I’ll think of you and your illustrious life.  Thanks for sharing your talents and wisdom with Houston. 

The Bob Lanier residences in Houston

Houston’s own Mayorbob is observing his 86^th birthday this week, and we are taking the occasion as an opportunity to remember a couple of fabulous places where he lived.  He first moved to Houston after World War II, after growing up in Baytown and serving his country.  He became a successful attorney, working for Baker Botts during the 1950s and establishing his own practice on Washington Avenue in the 1960s.  In 1968, he bought a mansion on River Oaks Boulevard and lived there approximately two decades with his wife Mary Elizabeth and their children. 

The house has eight bedrooms, eight baths, and more than 13,000 square feet of living space.  The exterior brick is from the Walker County Court House, built in 1881 in Huntsville. During the 1980s, the house and gardens were often opened for public view during the Azalea Trail Home Tour.  The entryway had a white marble floor and a grand staircase, decked out with fresh flowers from Bob’s beloved gardens.  The living-dining room had red walls before it was trendy to have red walls.

After leaving the Mayor’s Office, Bob and his new wife (Mary Elizabeth passed away in 1984) moved to a luxury high-rise penthouse in the Upper Kirby area of Houston.  According to Madeleine McDermott Hamm of the Houston Chronicle, Elyse insisted “it had to be comfortable and beautiful, and everything had to be bought in Houston”.

Their new digs had almost 6,300 square feet of living space but only one bedroom, leaving scads of room for entertaining Texas-style.  Elyse’s penchant for a red and gold contemporary style was carried out all through the house.  You can read Ms. Hamm’s detailed 1995 article about the interior decorating here.

Happy birthday, Mayorbob.  We hope you have 86 more. 

A personal note to my readers

Friends, my heart is broken tonight as I report the passing of my wonderful husband, Jim Brannon.  Here is a glimpse into his amazing life.

James G. Brannon, JD, CPA

James G. (Jim) Brannon, 77, of Pearland, passed away peacefully at home on February 11, 2011.  A proud native Texan, Jim was born March 9, 1933 in Laredo, Texas, the 4^th child of Rev. R. Bruce Brannon and Margaret Sanders Brannon.  He graduated from high school in Marshall, Texas in 1948 and received his B.A. from Austin College in 1953.  After graduation, Jim joined the U.S. Navy.  He was proud to serve his country as an OED officer, where his job as a diver was to disable live underwater mines. 

After discharge, Jim moved to Houston, where he would remain for the rest of his life.  He was a CPA for more than 50 years, and an attorney for more than 35 years.  He first worked for Shell Pipeline Corporation and Texas Eastern Transmission, becoming an expert in tax planning and tax shelters.  While working at Texas Eastern, he was Comptroller for the development of One and Two Houston Center in downtown Houston. 

In 1974, he graduated from South Texas College of Law.  His career took another turn and he worked for Peat Marwick Mitchell in Taxation and then for Underwood-Neuhaus in equity financing.

Jim became an alcoholic during the 1980’s but by the grace of God and with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous, he took the last drink of his life on May 4, 1987.  One of Jim’s greatest desires was to die sober and he accomplished that, celebrating 23 years of sobriety in 2010.  Jim led a Friday Night AA Meeting at the Last Chance Recovery Center for more than twenty years, becoming affectionately known as “Mr. ABC”.  He also participated in an AA Prison Ministry and was one of the founding members of the Peer Assistance Committee of the Texas State Society of CPA’s. 

He served the Exchange Club of Pearland, the Downtown Exchange Club, Youth and Family Counseling of Brazoria County, CASA and Unity Church of Christianity in various capacities through the years.

For the past two decades, Jim had a private practice as an Attorney/CPA.  He started with four clients in 1988 and built a successful practice.  Jim loved his work and he never retired.  In fact, he was still working on a tax return during the last day of his life.  His final act of service to others was to donate his body to the University of Texas Health Science Center Medical School. 

He had a beautiful basso profundo singing voice, enjoyed singing, jigsaw puzzles, Sudoku puzzles, and sailing.  He was an ardent Houston Astros fan and followed the Rockets and Texans as well.  He voted Republican and was a member of Unity Church.

The family would like to express their gratitude to the nurses and staff at Altus Harbor Hospice, to Dr. Percy Howard, Dr. Timothy Doyle and Dr. Victor Salcedo for their unflagging support during Jim's long and difficult struggle with COPD, and to Karen Kirkgard and Kay Pilgrim for their nurturing spirits.

Jim is survived by his loving wife, Marie, of Pearland, and his sister, Evelyn Brannon Gray and her husband Hal of Irvine, California.  His children are Jonathan Bartran of Redondo Beach, CA, Claire Lee of St. Louis, MO and Bethany Le Sager of Utrecht, Netherlands.  He leaves eight nieces, two nephews and two grandchildren.  A memorial service will be held in the Chapel at Unity Church of Christianity, 2929 Unity Drive on Saturday February 19^th at 2:00 pm.