Top Homes: The Experts’ Lists

When we decided to put together our January feature on Dream Homes, we started by asking four local architecture experts to submit a list of their 10 favorite Houston domiciles. Several of the experts submitted more than 10 homes, while architectural historian Stephen Fox submitted two lists—one of his 10 favorite homes by practicing architects, and one of his 10 favorite homes by architects no longer practicing. In early November, the four experts gathered at the Houstonia house to go over their combined lists and discuss the relative merits of the included homes. Out of that meeting, a rough consensus emerged around 10 homes, which we featured in our magazine (currently on newstands). Many readers have asked to see the original lists submitted by our panelists, so here they are:

Panelist: Rusty Bienvenue

Frame/Harper House, 430 Westminster
1960, Harwood Taylor; Renovation/restoration: Stern & Bucek

9 Shadowlawn
1961, Anderson Todd

Menil House
1951, Phillip Johnson; Restoration: Stern & Bucek

Bayou Bend, 1 Westcott
1927-28, John Staub with Birdsall P. Briscoe

Stern House, 1202 Milford
1992, William F. Stern & Associates

Kamrath House, 8 Tiel Way
1953, MacKie & Kamrath

Style In Steel Townhomes, 4156 & 4160 Meyerwood
1968, Wilson Morris Crain & Anderson

Shot-Trot House, 4914 Curtin
2004, Brett Zamore

Grenader House, 2231 Wroxton
2008, Nonya Grenader

1319 Banks
2001, Francois de Menil

Panelist: Barrie Scardino Bradley

Kellum-Noble House, Sam Houston Park
1847, Francis McHugh

Mansfield House, 1802 Harvard
c. 1895, George Barber

William Nash House, 215 Westmoreland
1905, H. C. Cooke & Co.

Bayou Bend, 1 Westcott
1927-28, John Staub with Birdsall P. Briscoe

L. D. Allen House, 2337 Bluebonnet
1936, Wirtz & Calhoun

Menil House
1951, Philip Johnson

4826 Bellaire
2007, Allen Bianchi

Maher House, 2930 Lazy Lane
1964, Barnstone & Aubry

Balinskas House, N/A
1992, Natalye Appel

Virginia Pointe, 3319 Virginia St
2009, Adams Architects

Panelist: James Evans

9 degree House, N/A
2012, Interloop Architects

Bleyzer House, N/A
2012, Stern & Bucek

1930 Bolsover
1970, Anderson Todd

Robertson House, 3718 Gramercy
2007, Christopher Robertson

1418 Kipling St
1997, Val Glitsch

Anderson House, 1638 Banks
1960, Wilson Morris Crane & Anderson

Grenader House, 2231 Wroxton
2008, Nonya Grenader

HOUSE 2045, 2045 University
2005, Collaborative Designworks

Shorthand House, 2233 University
1997, Francois DeMenil

Shot Trot House, 4914 Curtin
2004, Brett Zamore

Nguyen Family Houses, 1506 W 26th
2004, MC2 Architects

THE 505, 505 West Alabama
2006, Collaborative Designworks

8 Tiel Way
N/A, MacKie & Kamrath

3736 Chevy Chase
2009, Jay Baker Architects

1955 Richmond
1954, Harwood Taylor and Burdette Keeland

Frame/Harper House, 430 Westminster
1960, Neuhaus & Taylor

Panelist: Stephen Fox

Fox, our final panelist, submitted two lists of homes: one designed by architects no longer in practice, and another by architects currently in practice today.