Potential loss of Montrose compound saddens preservationists resigned to losses

The Montrose duplex on Hyde Park Boulevard is photographed on Wednesday, May 2, 2018, in Houston. The residential compound long-rumored to have housed Clark Gable for a stint in the 1920s is under contract to be sold. ( Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle ) less The Montrose duplex on Hyde Park Boulevard is photographed on Wednesday, May 2, 2018, in Houston. The residential compound long-rumored to have housed Clark Gable for a stint in the 1920s is under contract to ... more Photo: Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle Photo: Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Potential loss of Montrose compound saddens preservationists resigned to losses 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

Preservationists are disappointed but not surprised that the 1920s Montrose compound rumored to have housed Clark Gable likely will be replaced by luxury town houses.

Some even see an odd twist of fate that the collection of buildings built in 1927 by a World War I veteran-turned-thespian will be replaced with a more modern style after a pending sale.

"It's ironic because these are kind of the 1920s version of town homes," said Jim Parsons, programs director for Preservation Houston. "It's just weird that those could potentially be replaced with modern ones."

But town houses have become an architecture staple in this once-gritty urban neighborhood west of downtown that longtime residents say has for years been losing its character at the hands of developers.

“It’s really unfortunate to see all this happening where everything is just getting torn down,” said Brian Kalinec, who used to live next door to the historic property at the corner of Hyde Park and Whitney.

READ ALSO: Unique Montrose property under contract to be sold

In 2008, he and his wife moved to the Heights after getting an unsolicited offer to buy their house for lot value and four-story townhomes started going up right behind them.

“You could kind of see the seeds of it,” Kalinec said. “Now everything’s going crazy.”

There are three residences on the compound, which hit the market last month. One of them is a three-story Mediterranean-style home that behind its dingy facade and overgrown landscaping has almost a storybook feel. Architectural historian Stephen Fox has described the 1927 house as “quaint,” “diminutive” and an example of American architectural eclecticism of the 1920s.

Many have called it a Montrose landmark.

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Name: Houston Cotton Exchange

Build date: 1884

Location: 202 Travis Street We do a bad job of keeping it, but Houston has plenty of history if you're willing to get lost in it. We've collected a list of some of the oldest buildings in our area and old-timey photos of the locations.Houston Cotton Exchange1884202 Travis Street less We do a bad job of keeping it, but Houston has plenty of history if you're willing to get lost in it. We've collected a list of some of the oldest buildings in our area and old-timey photos of the ... more Image 1 of / 54 Caption Close Oldest buildings in the Greater Houston area 1 / 54 Back to Gallery

Danny Samuels, an architecture professor at Rice University and longtime Montrose resident, has watched for years as new development changed the character of the neighborhood.

In 1972, when he opened an architecture firm at the corner of Taft and Fairview, the area was largely untouched by developers.

As more Houstonians became interested in living close to downtown, landlords started rehabbing derelict rental properties, and homeowners began restoring the classic old bungalows.

Developers, too, moved in, realizing they could put multiple townhomes on a single lot and see high returns on their investments.

“The transition has been toward higher density, which is inevitable. That’s going to happen, and there’s always going to be tension,” Samuels said.

He bemoans more than just the loss of residential architecture in this part of town roughly bordered by Buffalo Bayou on the north, U.S. 59 on the south and River Oaks on the west.

“A lot of the things nice about it were not the historic buildings, but the little freaky things here and there. That Texas Junk store on Taft Street, or Corazon, that little building on Waugh that was falling sideways. Those are the things I find of value, but there’s no mechanism for saving those,” Samuels said.

The Hyde Park property includes two structures: the three-story stucco and stone residence on the corner and a shingled building with two living units that was built several years earlier.

The buildings were featured in a November 1928 issue of Civics for Houston magazine titled “Old World Architecture Graces Houston Corner.” It describes the taller home’s unique materials and features: terracotta tile roof, pine beams, custom iron railings, and square-paned casement windows.

The man who built it in 1927 for an estimated $6,000 named it L’Encore, for come again.

Still an aspiring actor, Gable was said to have lived in the shingled house during a 1920s stint with a theater company in Houston.

The properties were designed and built by Frederick Leon Webster, himself the director of a local theater group.

Now, the compound is owned by the Jack Blalock Jr. Trust. Blalock, a Korean War veteran, pilot for the CIA’s Air America, and Houston businessman, died Sept. 12, 2001. He had lived in the house at 415 Hyde Park since at least the 1970s.

A group affiliated with Drake Custom Homes, a local company that builds single-family homes and townhomes primarily in the Montrose and Midtown areas, is under contract to buy the site.

Owner Blake Vincent said plans for property have not been finalized.

“We don’t own it yet,” Vincent said. “I don’t know exactly what our plans are.”

The property went under contract shortly after it hit the market in mid-March. The closing is scheduled for late this month. Fritsche Anderson Realty Partners has the listing.

Samuels, who knew Blalock and visited the house a number of times, said he was always struck by its compact size.

The house measures 20 feet by 22 feet and has one main room on each of its three floors. The kitchen is on the first floor followed by the living room and the bedroom on the third.

Saving the house would take extraordinary measures, Samuels said. The wood frame building is on ground level, meaning it’s subject to moisture and termites.

There are no historic protections that would prevent its demolition either.

The property is just outside the Avondale Historic District, a part of Montrose where demolitions are prohibited on older properties and exterior changes are limited.

Neither building has ever been designated as a Houston historic landmark. For properties to be considered landmark, owners must request the designation.

“It shows the value of — not in this case — but the value of landmarking a property. People talk about, ‘how do we keep buildings like those from disappearing?’ That’s what gives you real protection from properties that we don’t want to lose,” Parsons said.

A house across the street was recently demolished and a developer is planning a trio of three-story homes on the site.

Samuels said there is no way around the densification of Montrose and urban neighborhoods like it. He just wishes there was better planning.

“There have been vast swatches that have turned into four-story townhouse streets with no coordination of what the urban effect is,” he said.

nancy.sarnoff@chron.com

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