Iconic 'Darth Vader House' Sells

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Iconic 'Darth Vader House' Sells

IT TOOK OVER the internet when it first listed, and now, West U's iconic "Darth Vader House" has a new owner.


The mansion at 3201 University Blvd. is an icon familiar not only to Houstonians, but to Star Wars fans around the globe. Nicknamed such for its resemblance to the villain's helmet, it hit the market in May for $4.3 million, causing quite a stir on the interwebs, seeing as the previous owner famously turned down interviews and photo ops.

Real estate aficionados and movie buffs alike enjoyed flipping through the image gallery, which revealed a counterintuitively light, open interior. A sunken portion of the living room makes a unique seating area, surrounded by curiously patterned concrete and stone flooring; other oddly shaped areas are found throughout the home, which has a distinctly '80s, yet surprisingly fresh, vibe.

Last listed for $3.1 million by Wade Knight and Nadia Carron of Martha Turner Sotheby's International Realty, the property officially sold this week. Time will tell what the new homeowners choose to keep and forego.

Matthew Dirst (photo by Jacob Power)

FOR FANS OF early music — an often scholarly lot who aren’t afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves — bad-boy Baroque-era painter Caravaggio certainly nailed something in his dramatic 1595 painting, “The Musicians.” (Simon Schama talks about this in his TV series The Power of Art.) One look at his masterpiece, and you feel as if you’ve stumbled upon and surprised a roomful of dewy-eyed musicians, their youthful faces swollen with melancholy, with the lutist looking like he’s about ready to burst into tears before he’s even tuned his instrument. So no, you certainly don’t need a Ph.D. to enjoy and be moved by the music of Handel, G.P. Telemann, or J.S. Bach, but a little bit of scholarship never hurt anyone. Knowing the history of this music may even deepen your appreciation of it.

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