houston_house

Morgan Brown

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Mom & Dad



We moved into our home at 2134 MacArthur in August of 2004. The house, located about a half mile south of Rice University, in the Southgate Neighborhood, occupied much of my free time and our cash flow in the following year, although this was expected. The one-story, Ranch-style structure had been occupied by one owner family from its construction in 1952 until the death of the family matriarch in 2004. The construction quality is good, but when we moved in, the home's interior was quite dated, with a hodge-podge of updates from the 1960s and 1970s, although there are many interesting original 1950s features. The outdated aspects discouraged almost any prospective buyers, in spite of the area's very tight home supply and the property's spacious (9300 square feet) lot.

At the time of closing, the house had wall-to-wall carpeting, much of it of the dilapidated shag variety. Much to our relief, a couple days' effort uncovered (mostly) pristine hardwood oak flooring throughout the entire house. We've mainly made superficial updates which preserve the original aspects of the home: painted the interior, installed numerous light fixtures, replaced the front door (fixing old drywall termite damage in the process), and "redone" the kitchen (painting, ceramic tile on floor and counters). I've enjoyed getting basic knowledge in many of the common trades and working with my dad and father-in-law.


Click on small images to start "slide show"
backyard-pano.jpg (285 KB)


Panoramic view of the backyard...
bath2_before_after.jpg (218 KB)


bdrm3_before_after.jpg (200 KB)


brdm2_before_after.jpg (263 KB)


corner-pano.jpg (231 KB)


Panoramic view of 2134 MacArth...
dining_before_after.jpg (227 KB)


foyer-drywall-door-before-after.jpg (199 KB)


Foyer after big changes! In th...
foyer-wallpaper-before.jpg (139 KB)


Wow! Was the foyer ever dark ...
foyer-wallpaper-mid-strip.jpg (142 KB)


I had to include this for comi...
front_before_after.jpg (265 KB)


garage-east-before.jpg (121 KB)


Haven't done much to the garag...
hall.jpg (190 KB)


kim-robert-front-door.jpg (219 KB)


Although hideously heavy, the ...
kitchen-north-before-after_2006_02_26.jpg (251 KB)


Kitchen after completion of ma...
kitchen-range-microwave_2006_02_26.jpg (147 KB)


Kim's dad Rob generously repla...
kitchen-south-before-after_2006_02_26.jpg (250 KB)


Kitchen after completion of ma...
kitchen_before_after.jpg (254 KB)


living_before_after.jpg (196 KB)


master-fixed-hardwood.jpg (146 KB)


I fixed the hardwood flooring ...
master_bath_before_after.jpg (208 KB)


mbdrm_before_after.jpg (270 KB)


side-yard.jpg (173 KB)


study_before_after.jpg (258 KB)


utility-before.jpg (126 KB)


I don't have an after picture ...
yard.jpg (158 KB)





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Department of Geophysics
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Modified: 03/24/07, 08:14:12 PDT , by morgan
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