Premier Issue: On Location
Go behind the scenes with ‘Houston CityBook,’ the hot new magazine for the most fascinating town in America!
Aug. 16, 2016
The four-bedroom home at 3 Briarwood Court, listed by Compass’ Robert Bland for $27.5 mil, has verdant courtyards and a whole-home generator.
1. Generating Interest
The four-bedroom home at 3 Briarwood Court, listed by Compass’ Robert Bland for $27.5 mil, has verdant courtyards and a whole-home generator.
Hands-down, one of the most in-demand features is the whole-house generator, a built-in fixture connected to the natural gas line which kicks on within moments of a power outage. After the 2021 freeze and the derecho in May, this summer’s Hurricane Beryl was strike three for homeowners who now seek the safety and comfort that a standby generator provides. Many of the city’s most expensive listings, such as this Briarwood Court manse situated on a River Oaks cul-de-sac, tout the inclusion high up in the list of amenities. HAR says that the number of luxury homes sold with built-in generators increased by 600 percent between 2018 and 2023.
2. Wood You Rather?
Mike Mahlstedt of Compass is listing this 8,120-square-foot property at 2110 Del Monte Dr. for $6.5 mil.
While new construction is appealing for several obvious reasons, older homes have one clear advantage: character. Homeowners, designers and realtors all agree that unique details can sell a home. Scroll HAR and you’re likely to find features like parquet floors and wood-paneled rooms, in homes old, new and reimagined. A sleek version can swath a handsome bathroom, like this one in River Oaks, while an office or study might still rock retro or Victorian-style raised paneling. Wood paneling can also lend a cottage-y feel to kitchens, laundry rooms and bathrooms.
3. Urban Oasis
DC Partners’ The Allen has the Thompson Houston hotel, pictured, and high-end condos.
The skyline along Allen Parkway has dramatically transformed over the past few years, with mixed-use developments galore proffering primo dining destinations, nightlife and more. DC Partners’ 35-story The Allen, for example, is home to the Thompson Houston hotel and 115 high-end condos, while the 24-story Autry Park is similarly urbane with 300-plus apartments.
Explore Houston's top neighborhoods here or the real estate report by-the-numbers here.
Katy’s Hayden Baker received a gift from his dad, who worked security at the Houston Rodeo, at age 3 — an acoustic guitar autographed by country duo Brooks and Dunn, who added the directive “Hayden, practice!” alongside their signatures.
Twenty years later, Baker signed a publishing deal with Dunn’s publishing company Perfect Pitch. He also recorded a cover of the group’s “South of Santa Fe,” which appears on Baker’s latest album Barely Gettin’ By, an alternately raucous and introspective collection of songs spanning modern and traditional country styles, with heartfelt tenor vocals bolstered by some serious guitar shredding. This summer, in between trips to Nashville for songwriting sessions, he’s on tour to support the album, with gigs booked across Texas, including a solo acoustic show at The Dosey Doe in The Woodlands on Sept. 21.
When it comes to mastering an instrument, there are no shortcuts, but when Baker picked up a guitar at the relatively late age of 15, he discovered he had a natural facility for the guitar. “It fell under my fingers very fast, and I just became obsessed with that,” says Baker. He learned how to play by ear, listening to solos by guitarists Vince Gill, Stevie Ray Vaughn, top session guitarist Brent Mason, and even Eddie Van Halen.
But it was seeing the multitalented Paisley perform live at the Houston Rodeo that set the course for Baker. “I was like, ‘Yep! I wanna do that!’” says Baker of that teenage epiphany. “I went home and, over five years, learned everything he did.”
On Barely Gettin’ By, Paisley and Baker trade licks on a scorching electric and acoustic guitar duel titled “Don’t Meet Your Heroes,” sounding for all the world like Buck Owens and Roy Clark plugged into a couple of Marshall amps. “He always says the licks that make him laugh the most are the ones he keeps in a song,” says Baker of Paisley’s fearless, go-for-broke guitar playing. Meanwhile, the 26-year-old Baker is getting his props as one of the nominees for Guitarist of the Year at this year’s Texas Country Music Association Awards. It’s an honor he takes very seriously and might not have imagined as a baseball-playing teenager who initially picked up a six-string to impress a girl.
“When it comes to my guitar parts, I take my recording sessions very, very seriously,” says Baker. “Because I know some kid out there may hear it, and it might spark something in them. So I might as well give them the best that I’ve got.”
