After three years of hard work by members of the Avondale Historic Committee, Houston City Council has approved Avondale West as the city’s ninth historic district.
It is the second historic for Montrose. The Avondale East Historic District — bounded by Avondale, Baldwin, Pacific and Helena plus about eight lots on Stratford west of Helena — was approved in November 1999.
Platted in 1908 — about a decade before River Oaks or Broadacres — Avondale was one of Houston’s first premier addresses.
“We want to save these houses. The houses are what makes the neighborhood the neighborhood and if someone doesn’t step up to save them they’ll all be gone,” said Sylvia Drew who lives in a 1925 house in the 2600 block of Stanford.
A big chunk of Avondale West is for sale! Adjacent lots 600, 606, 610, and 614 Avondale are in the new district; 520, 524, and 528 Westheimer aren’t. Together, they make “a total of 52,400 square feet in the heart of Montrose with frontage on Westheimer, Avondale and Stanford.”
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Asking price: $5 million. Being able to tell your new neighbors that you can tear down whatever history you want in their new district after 90 days: priceless.
Enjoy it while it lasts, because it’s gonna be history in a different sense soon.
Historic preservation in Houston is a joke. A total joke. The only neighborhood that seems to have any real protection is Sixth Ward but I suspect at some point an attorney will find a loophole and a developer will build another metal shed townhouse.