If you are a home-buyer, the very first thing you will do after the seller has accepted your offer and everyone has signed the purchase agreement is book an inspector to check the systems of your new house. This is not the same as an appraisal. A home appraisal is an estimate of how much
Let’s say your spouse’s elderly mother is moving in with you. What kinds of accommodations should you make for her? The answer is the same whether you plan to age in your own home or simply want to add features to make your property safer and more accessible for others. In the United States, we
If Cameron and I were to poll homebuyers as to what single room can make or break a home purchase, the winner would be the kitchen. (Duh!) The kitchen is the source of food and drink, comfort and relaxation. And even if you don’t cook much, you probably find that the kitchen is where your
Guests always seem to congregate in the kitchen, right? Even if you set up the party buffet and bar in other rooms, people wander into the kitchen. And they often stay there all evening. Is it the messy informality of the kitchen? Do some shy guests need a place to hide out of the spotlight?
It was just four weekends ago that we all emerged, kind of numb, from the mid-February deep freeze and took a look around. Even if you were among the fortunate who did not have damage to your pipes and home, you surely were disheartened to view our Houston landscape … the queen palms, sagos, hibiscus
Building a new nest or refeathering an old one? Either way, we can probably agree that the bedroom is life’s most personal space, a retreat that should look good and feel good. After all, we spend about a third of our lives in our bedrooms. Meet Houston designer Karen Pulaski, who has devoted the last
Cameron and I were talking about ginger. It seems like every time you buy a plump hand of ginger at the supermarket the darn thing dries out in the vegetable drawer before you get around to trying some new recipe for Thai-inspired coconut soup. I’ve spent years buying fresh ginger, only to throw it away
What are the chances that two of our current listings would both be fundamentally Mid-Century Modern in their DNA and yet so very different? Both homes are located on highly desirable River Oaks streets (albeit on opposite sides of the subdivision), both were built in 1950 and both are exquisitely realized – one a wholesome
A lot has happened since our last River Oaks Letter. At the same time, almost nothing has happened. Every day we get up early (the dogs don’t know we have a stay-at-home order), make the coffee and toast, read the news in The New York Times and online, listen to Morning Edition and then …
We’ve all been hard at work on 2300 Timber Lane for the past 14 months. If you get the print edition of the River Oaks Market Report, you’ve seen renderings for this big-deal house. Finally, as of late September 2019, it is complete and about to be unveiled. Here’s the scoop: In the late 1960s,