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WITH ITS INAUGURAL set of residents newly moved in, Pelican Builders’ mid-rise condominium Westmore at 2323 W Main Street in Upper Kirby is already seeing the blossoming of a tight-knit community. Designed by Houston-based Mirador Group the Westmore is the first new condominium product to be introduced to the in-demand, inner loop neighborhood in more than three years. And with remaining two-bedroom homes starting at $895,000, it’s a remarkable value for this increasingly pricey area, where condos can easily climb to several million dollars and more.
The Westmore’s intimate, mid-rise scale was intended to complement, rather than overpower, its charming surroundings, which range from renovated bungalows and multiplexes to high-end patio homes and townhomes plus multi-million-dollar single-family residences. And while just seven stories, residents are afforded beautiful treetops and skyline views that belie its modest size.
Perfectly nestled just off bustling Kirby Drive, just outside River Oaks, and moments from West University, the 33-residence property boasts an enviable 92 Walk Score. The proximity to things both useful and enjoyable has been one of its biggest sale drivers given the plethora of things that a pedestrian can so easily access just blocks away, from Whole Foods Market and Levy Park to Pinstripes bowling and bocce and Color Factory, plus a slew of antique and design stores, art galleries, service offerings, and fitness studios. And that doesn’t touch the surface of a literal bounty of restaurants for every taste, ranging from The Original Carrabba’s, Kiran's, and Thai newcomer MaKiin to recently opened bistro PS-21, Armando’s, Local Foods and Relish.
According to Pelican Builders founder Robert Bland, “The appeal for this building spans upwardly mobile young professionals to downsizing couples in their 50s and 60s, and they’re all drawn to a no maintenance lifestyle with the best of the city at their fingertips. At the Westmore, they have all that with the bonus of a 24-hour doorman for security purposes.”
The property is exclusively sold and marketed by Douglas Elliman Development Marketing. Its model residence is open Monday – Tuesday and Thursday – Sunday from 12 pm to 5 pm or by appointment. For more information or to book an appointment to tour, please call or text 713-600-5096 or visit www.westmorehouston.com.
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WITH A GOAL of ensuring access to quality healthcare for underserved families in Houston’s East End, El Centro de Corazón has been making a difference for 30 years. Its annual Making a Difference luncheon, this year chaired by Vicky Dominguez with honorary chairs Leisa Holland Nelson Bowman and Leila Perrin, raised more than $150,000.
Emceed by Cyndy Garza Roberts, the River Oaks Country Club affair honored Michele Leal Farrah for her commitment to El Centro and similar causes all over Houston. The organization’s CEO, Marcie Mir, thanked supporters and shared why El Centro must still expand its services to reach more Houston residents. Notably, 74 percent of El Centro’s 12,000-plus patients live at or below federal poverty level ($31K annually for a family of four) and more than half are uninsured.
Then Stephanie Ramos gave the keynote address; the ABC News correspondent and Army Reserve Major spoke about channeling inner strength to make a bigger impact.
Andrea Godea, Larry Savala, Amalia Savala
Sippi Khurana and Donae Chramosta
Blanca Lopez, Julie Garza, Hoda Sana
Shelley Ludwick and Elvia Taylor
Elizabeth Ramos, Marcie Mir and Michele Leal
Esmeralda De la Cruz, Lorena Gomez, Vicky Dominguez
Neena Arora, Diana Grair, Kavon Young
Maria Smith, Diana Ospina
Mari Trevino Glass and Cinthya Reade
Evelyn Leightman, George Connelly, Helen Perry
George and Michele Farah
Lisa Wilmore, George Connelly
German Ibañez, Melanie Rodriguez
Linda Flores Olson, Vicki Luna, Graciana Garces, Jorge Gonzalez
Jan Mendenhall, Xochitl Ljuboja, Miriam Zatarain
Jolene Trevino and Vicki Luna
John Cisneros, Marco Perez
Lisa Wilmore, Ed Emmett and Leisa Holland Nelson Bowman
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This Weekend: Axiom Quartet Plays Contemporary-Classical Concert in the Heights — and Doesn't Play It Safe
Oct. 3, 2024
ONE CANNOT ACCUSE Houston’s Axiom Quartet of playing it safe. When it comes to exploring the outer limits of string quartet repertoire, engaging audiences who don’t normally attend classical music concerts, and putting in the collective time necessary to nail the gnarly idiosyncrasies of 20th- and 21st-century composers, Axiom continues to walk the walk as they talk the talk.
They’re a dapper bunch; relatively conservative in appearance. You’ll never see founding member cellist Patrick Moore, violist Katie Carrington, or violinists Timothy Peters and Matt Lammers rocking a rainbow mohawk or dressed in studded leather jackets onstage.
Instead, the quartet, who have weathered some recent changes in personnel, embraces an unpretentious, hip-to-be-square attitude, engaging their audiences in down-to-earth language while bringing great classical music to unexpected places, be it a pizza parlor, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, or literally underground at Cave Without a Name in the Texas Hill Country.
On Sunday, Oct. 6, Axiom opens its '24-'25 season above ground at Lambert Hall in the Heights with Risky(er) Business, an intense, historically informed concert that explores the sounds of dissent. The program includes Dimitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 2 and the American premiere of Ukrainian-born composer Nikolai Roslavets’ recently discovered and unrecorded String Quartet No. 5.
Roslavets, a cantankerous modernist who nevertheless wholly embraced the experimental innovations of his time, composed this his final string quartet in the early 1940s, toward the end of his life, and in a decade when his music was officially repressed. Thanks to the efforts of dedicated musicologists and ensembles like Axiom, the extent of Roslavets’ repertoire and contributions to contemporary music are finally coming to light. (On Sunday, Axiom will unpack Roslavets’ biography and life under totalitarianism for the Lambert audience.)
Axiom describes Shostakovich’s second string quartet as “a now-celebrated masterpiece written with feverish frustration … giving voice to the Russian people through a transformed folks song.” Musicologists believe Shostakovich used the string quartet as a platform to communicate, albeit in cryptic, even contradictory language, his true feelings regarding Soviet censorship, oppression, and violence.
The second movement of his String Quartet No. 2 is quintessential Shostakovich, with its impassioned recitatives and romantic folk melodies ascending over inverted dominant seventh chords that sit undisturbed like pools of black water.
By the time the movement’s haunting and dissonant chorale appears, you can almost imagine what it must have been like to compose music under Stalin, a time when art was politicized to the point of absurdity, and Shostakovich found himself living a life of relative safety under totalitarian scrutiny.
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