Suburbanites head downtown for midlife fun
Apartment in the heart of the city reflects couple’s love of Astros, desire to enjoy life
The apartment in downtown Houston was a bit of an experiment as Cheryl and John Brady entered a new phase of their lives: empty-nesters.
After living in The Woodlands and other Houston suburbs — where the couple raised their kids, Kaleigh and Michael, both of whom are in their 20’s — they were ready for something completely different. Houston’s sports, culture and restaurant scenes held a lot of allure, and both were game when the idea of moving into the city came up.
Not exactly a midlife crisis — more like midlife fun.
“We’ve lived in The Woodlands for 13 years, so he’s always done that commute (to downtown),” Cheryl said. “When our youngest left, we were in this, ‘let’s switch things up and do something different’ mode. He wanted to get our Astros season tickets back and he wanted to walk to work. I said, ‘Let’s try renting something, then we’re not committing to anything.’ ” The renting idea came after a brief house-hunting stint, finding nothing they wanted to buy and not wanting to invest a couple of years in a designbuild project.
Two years ago, they settled on Catalyst, a luxury apartment building just a couple of blocks from Minute Maid Park and a five-minute walk from John’s job as a partner at a public accounting firm.
From their perch on the 20th floor, they have a glittering view of the city at night, a quick walk to the ballpark and their choice of numerous restaurants, all in walking distance. They can buy theater tickets on a whim or look for last-minute concert tickets. They can also invite friends and family in the suburbs to visit because their apartment has a guest bedroom and sleeper sofas in
the living room.
When their daughter and son were young, the Bradys had season tickets to the Astros, but as sports and school activities took more time, the Bradys decided to let go of those tickets.
They jumped back in with the 2020 season, though by now we know that fans aren’t likely to set foot in the ballpark anytime soon.
Their 5,200-square-foot home in The Woodlands is decorated in transitional style, but they opted for a more contemporary style for their new inner-city nest and hired Nancy Charbonneau of Charbonneau Interiors, the same interior designer they used at their property in The Woodlands, to help them make the most of their nearly 1,400 square feet.
Since it’s a rental apartment, the finishes all came with the floor plan, contemporary cabinets, paint colors, tile and lighting.
In the main living area, with a roomy living room and kitchen, the Bradys stuck with neutral grays in a pair of sleeper sofas, a rug and a swivel chair. Pops of orange and blue celebrate their favorite team’s colors, and a coffee table and end tables bring on-trend finishes in metals, marble and acrylic.
“Nancy and I bounce things off of each other, and she’s good at suggesting things I may not think of. I’m a CPA like my husband, so everything has to be symmetrical, but Nancy has pulled me out of that,” Cheryl said of the mix of custom furnishings and things they were able to shop for locally.
It was important that this space had an at-home feel but also works as an entertaining space, since their kids occasionally visit and friends come over, too. And all of the fabrics are adult-party friendly, just in case something gets spilled.
Their guest bedroom has more evidence of their love of baseball in a framed poster given out at the first game played at what was originally called Enron Field back in 2000. Nearby is a framed photo of the Bradys with their then very young kids at that game.
Charbonneau found a way to use king-size beds in this bedroom and the master, and installed blackout draperies in both so it would be easier to get a good night’s sleep, even with downtown’s bright lights.
John’s parents were one of the first guests in the apartment, using the guest room when his mother, Denise Brady, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and drove in for treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center. She’s been declared a survivor and, like her daughter-in-law, does volunteer work to help cancer patients.
Cheryl herself had a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy and hysterectomy a number of years ago when she discovered she had the dangerous BRCA genetic mutation that put her at high risk of breast and/or ovarian cancer.
“It was hard and not hard to do,” Cheryl said of her surgery. “I have an aunt who died of ovarian cancer, so I saw what that was like. When you see anybody suffering like that that, it’s the last thing you want for yourself or anyone else.”
“I had several scares, biopsies, and I reached a point in my life where I didn’t want to deal with it anymore,” she continued.
Since then, Cheryl has been extremely involved in Memorial Hermann’s In the Pink of Health fundraisers and the Canopy, its Cancer Survivorship Center in The Woodlands. Though the Bradys have spent most of their time in the downtown apartment since they rented it nearly two years ago, Cheryl frequently drives north for her volunteer work.
They kept their home there, too, since their daughter, a petroleum engineer, got a job in that area and lives in their home.
“I have several girlfriends in (Houston), and I’ve gotten to spend more time with them and we’re doing more things in the city,” Cheryl said. “Our daughter stayed with us here over Christmas, and one night I said, ‘Let’s see a play, let’s go get tickets, that’s what we have this for.’ ”
John has regained the time he used to spend driving the nearly 40 miles between downtown Houston and The Woodlands. Instead of getting up early to brave the traffic, he can spend that time exercising before work.
“For 25 years, I drove in and drove out every day and didn’t really live in Houston. I was always a sports fan, but getting to experience it first-hand is so much more fun,” John said. “The dining experience is so much different. There are so many good restaurants within 5 miles of here that we still haven’t discovered.”
John left most of the decisions to his wife and to Charbonneau, but in decorating this apartment and their home in The Woodlands he did offer input and credits Charbonneau with teaching him some new terms.
“I’ve learned some new vocabulary. I have things I really like and she’ll say, ‘That has served its purpose,’ ” he said to big laughs from Cheryl and Charbonneau.
“I say that all the time now: ‘That has served its purpose,’ ” Cheryl added.