Garden Oaks Home Tour

I was able to spare the past Sunday for Garden Oaks Home Tour 2010. Garden Oaks is a neighborhood with lots of history. It was established in 1937 by Edward L.Crain just north of Houston Heights. Comprised of 5 sections, all sections have seen an abundance of renovations and newly constructed homes built on over-sized yards.

Yesterday's home tour comprised of 6 wonderful homes of which five were renovated homes and one was a new construction home built faithful to the Garden Oaks architecture. The new construction home at 802 W.31st was unique not only because of the homeowners' dedication to conservation of the "old" but also because it offered something truly new. This wonderful home has a wine cellar in the basement (yes a basement in Houston!) where you feel like you have taken a quick trip to Tuscany.

Another home worth mentioning was 1075 Lamonte Ln. Nestled on a quiet alley the home was tastefully renovated and decorated by it's local celebrity owners photographer Ralph Smith (culinary photographer) and author of romantic novels Barbara Smith (a.k.a Olivia Drake). The home was full of with Mr. Smith's beautiful photography taken at the couples' trips. Their cheerful garden is also worth mentioning where herbs and vegetables were generously used everywhere in the landscaping.

Another favorite was 1023 W.43rd St. Homeowner and interior designer Blake Woods created a playful, cozy, modern living space, and has not even moved one wall in this home built in the 1940's. The custom furniture Mr. Woods designed for the kitchen were fantastic small space solutions. His bold color choices, his lamp and glass collections and of course his whimsical art displays made this home a true Garden Oaks gem.

My favorite home of the tour was 1019 W. 43.rd. Artistic and creative homeowners Mr. and Mrs. Hoye used the 1008 sq.ft so successfully, as a realtor I was impressed by the utilization of the space. The creativity of the homeowners are visible throughout the house from the materials they used to build some decorative furniture, the art work and the garden oasis they created. Homeowner Mr. Hoye, a landscape designer truly is a local talent. The unique design which incorporated containers and flower beds, the playful accessory selection (some self-made I suppose) and even the technical solution (rain chimes!) he introduced instead of plain boring rain gutters made this home special. One of my favorite touches was the Ella Fitzgerald playing in the background. Sound is a dimension often ignored in design and what design is complete without the sound of music?

I fell in love with Garden Oaks all over again...such a wonderful community and the home and garden designs were so refreshing. If you visit the area, also check out the home design shop named Cavallini's on N. Shepherd at the corner of Garden Oaks Blvd. They sell some really neat items and the shop owner is very friendly.