Like a long cool sip of a Pimm’s Cup, 2154 Inwood evokes a languid lifestyle that is gracious and ageless. It is one of River Oaks’ original pre-war homes, completed in 1941. A 2005 refresh by Eubanks Group Architects more than doubled its size and incorporated must-have 21^st-century features, such as a large cook’s kitchen, mud room and family room. With four bedrooms (all ensuite) plus full guest quarters, this home will accommodate a sprawling family and/or owners who love to entertain. The home is appointed with antique fixtures, and the formal rooms feature floor-to-ceiling windows, extensive millwork and oak floors. Out back, enjoy the lovely rear garden and fountain as is – or add a pool. There’s already a full bath below the guest quarters adjacent to the garden. Close to River Oaks Shopping Center and Buffalo Bayou Park, 2154 Inwood is sited on a 12,000 SF lot. Whether it conjures classic Charleston or NYC’s Upper East Side depends on you. Price: $2,750,000. Click here.

This lovely and sensible Avalon Place home was built in 1940 and most recently updated over the past decade. The property is comprised of two buildings – the main house and the two-story guest house – that together offer four bedrooms, three full bathrooms and two half baths, plus office/library, formals, sauna and multiple living areas. The building duo forms an L around the pool, and they are tied together by a shaded gallery outfitted with a dreamy summer kitchen. Every square foot of the two buildings, as well as the gardens, patios and connecting hardscape, are put to efficient use. Aside from the home’s versatile architecture – it would suit modern furniture, antiques or traditional styles equally well – the location is ideal. It’s just a few minutes to many of the city’s finest restaurants, supermarkets and shopping. It’s also zoned to River Oaks Elementary, one of Houston’s very best schools (Buyer must verify eligibility for attendance). Price: $2,785,000. Click here.

Located on one of the most coveted streets in River Oaks, 3723 Knollwood is a low-slung brick home perfectly sited on more than three-quarters of a wooded acre. Prompting descriptions like “striking” and “art collector’s fantasy,” this 1950 contemporary masterpiece by architect Wylie Vale is notable for its polished white limestone floors, luxurious finishes and fittings, and expanses of glossy white walls. The main house offers more than 7,000 square ft (per Appraisal) of living space, including 5 bedrooms, 4 full baths and 3 half-baths. Art lovers will appreciate the floor-to-ceiling windows that allow in natural light as well as unbroken walls that offer space for large art installations. From the street, the home’s modern silhouette features a massive chimney, as well as several rectangular masses that overlap or intersect horizontal roof slabs. Need a visual? Imagine Palm Springs circa the Rat Pack era. Property and improvements/structures did not flood from Harvey. Price: $6,995,000. Click here.

Calling all MCM fans! Designed by Karl Kamrath, Houston’s leading midcentury interpreter of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian architecture, 67 Tiel Way celebrates an organic connection with nature. Completed in 1950 as an austere 2 BR home, the current owners asked the late architect Reagan Miller to update and enlarge the home in accordance with Kamrath’s original design. The result is a 4BR home with 21st-century amenities that is one of Houston’s most significant Mid-Century Modern homes. Clad in brick and redwood, it is perfectly sited on a 20,000-plus (HCAD) SF lot planted with native trees and shrubs. The master bedroom is on the ground floor, and there is a second-floor deck that runs the length of the side wing overlooking the back yard. Miller’s seamless update led to a 2012 Good Brick Award from Preservation Houston and accolades from the AIA and others. Tucked away and quiet but for bird calls, 67 Tiel Way is centrally located just a block off Kirby Drive. Price: $3,995,000. Click here.

The heart of this 4-bedroom, 5-bathroom brick home is surely the kitchen. The entire house was renovated in 2020 with new roof, new water heaters, fresh paint and all new windows. But the kitchen – with its new KitchenAid appliance package, porcelain countertops, desk, bookshelves and fireplace – is the place where you will want to gather. Homework supervision, pool parties, fireside cocktails, family holiday celebrations: This roomy, hardworking kitchen is designed to handle it all. Built in 1986, 2324 Bolsover is set on a tranquil tree-lined street just a block north of Rice University. Each bedroom has its own bath; the rear bedroom also has a small kitchenette. There is also a full bath with shower near the mud room just inside from the pool. The pool-side garden is paved, so there is no rear lawn to maintain. This being Southampton, there is an alley from which you access the attached garage and where trash is collected. Price: $1,649,000. Click here.

In the late 1960s, as America’s original Mid-century Modern movement was winding down, architect George Smart was commissioned to design a low-slung brick and glass house at 2300 Timber Lane. It would serve as the parsonage for St. Luke’s United Methodist Church for 49 years. When it was sold last year, the neighborhood assumed the house would be scraped away, as was the fate of so many others. Fortunately, Unicus Developments stepped in to brilliantly redevelop the property, maintaining the original footprint while expanding the first-floor master suite and preserving the modern brick facade, mature live oaks, and circular drive. Following 14 months of renovation, 2300 Timber Lane is set for its second act. It has four ensuite bedrooms – including the garden-side master bedroom – plus upstairs and downstairs powder rooms, a high-tech kitchen, elevator, refrigerated wine storage, private interior patio and a one-of-a-kind rooftop terrace with summer kitchen. Price: $3,850,000. Click here.

This jewel box of a house, just five years old, is French inspired. Squint your eyes, and you can imagine a 16th-century Anjou manor home designed to provide privacy and protection from the outside world while affording every sweet comfort within. To passersby, the house presents a cream-colored façade encrusted with decorative flourishes, gated circle drive (with motor court) and manicured plantings. Inside, it is a brilliant combination of elegance and 21st century technology. Floor-to-ceiling windows allow in abundant light, which practically glows as it strikes the gorgeous surfaces, including Carrara marble and Caesarstone countertops, Venetian plaster walls and gray-washed oak floors. The home features an elevator, home automation system with in-wall iPad control, three fireplaces, 300-bottle wine storage, three-car garage and a central vacuum system. In addition to its four (or five) bedrooms, there are spacious separate quarters over the garage. Price: $4,495,000. Click here.

A designated Houston Historic Landmark residence designed in 1936 by Birdsall Briscoe for his own family, this classic home showcases the architect’s gift for proportional design and ornamental detail. At the same time, to provide for today’s modern living, amenities include an updated island kitchen opening into spacious living spaces, a master suite and bath carefully designed for livability, three additional ensuite bedroom/baths, and landscaped patios and gardens. Recent updates include exterior paint (2018), new roof (2018) and McDugald Steele decorative fencing (2011). This home is located on one of River Oaks’ desirable park-like “courtyards” that offer splendid green space and buffer homes from busy streets and through traffic. A note on Birdsall Briscoe: Houston’s earliest residents chose this architect (as well as John Staub) to build their generational homes in River Oaks and elsewhere. He is considered one of the city’s greatest classic architects. Price: $1,675,000  Click here.