Heights Theater for Sale

Photos by Annie of The Bunny Bungalow

Heights Theater in the Historic Houston Heights

On our early morning walk yesterday, Tall Husband and I lamented that the old 1920's Heights Theater is still vacant. It's such a great piece of Houston History and until earlier this year it was a retail space selling antiques. We found our first pieces of furniture for The Bunny Bungalow there, an oak mission library table and an English Arts & Crafts dining table.

The Greater Houston Preservation Alliance has a cool link about the history of this theater. According to them, Heights Theater began life as a Mission style space before being given a 1935 modernistic update.

Now, the old theater is for sale. Our hope is that someone will purchase the space to refurbish, turning it into a really cool retail spot.

Any takers out there? With deep pocket? By the way, for any of you out-of-state investment types: contrary to recent media hysteria, Houston has not been hit by the mortgage crisis or the "R" word.

A Magic Bungalow

It's an addiction. I fall in love with houses. Not usually castles or mansions but small, interesting places that tempt me with their history, with a promise to reveal secrets held within their walls. If such a place needs repair, the attraction is exponential. If I suspect it is haunted, I'm hopelessly under its spell. We find each other through a fortuitous glimpse of a photograph in a magazine at the dentist's office, my being lost in the car or a friend's innocent mention of a house they chanced upon. Tall Husband, indulges me in this illness. On weekends he will drive me to see my latest infatuation. He has gone with me to appointments with real estate agents and has comforted me as I sobbed after a lost bid. He even accompanied me on an adventure to Paris in search of a three-storied glass and concrete house designed by a favorite French designer, Philippe Starck.

I am vintage, verging on antique so I am saddened to report that I had never lived in a house I loved, until recently.

Two years ago, we were looking to purchase a place for an allegedly needy uncle who had been long-lost (we now wish he had remained long lost but that is another story.) To continue with this story: It was December, not a great month to be house hunting and our agent had just left for holiday. However, a co-worker whom our agent had asked to assist us in her absence, e-mailed a photo of a charming bungalow. The blurb stated that this was an updated 1920's craftsman bungalow in the Historic Heights. An hour later, Tall Husband and I followed an agent up the generous front porch. With no breeze to propel it, the porch swing was swaying back and forth. When we stepped through the front door, I could feel the magic and I have always believed in magic. The house cat greeted us with a purr as she brushed against our legs. We immediately offered the asking price.

After a miserable year of a resident relative who was abusive to the Bungalow and to us, we asked him to please get lost again. We moved in and now call The Bunny Bungalow home. And the magic is still here.

Drop by later to find out how this house became known as The Bunny Bungalow.