‘Ranchettes’ target rich Houstonians
A tiny Texas town north of Houston known for its large antique shows and attracting well-heeled vacationers is getting a new 62-acre luxury development.
The development is slated for Round Top, about 95 miles northwest of downtown Houston. The town’s population of 90 that swells to a few hundred thousand people during the Round Top Antique Festivals that take place in the fall, winter and spring.
Katy-based real estate developer BSR Properties and its division Faircroft Communities are launching a luxury community of so-called “ranchettes” or mini ranches. The community is planned on an area with rolling terrain and mature trees at 1337 State Highway 237 in Fayette County.
Called Estates at Astoria, the development expected to encompass 22 ‘estate-sized’ parcels ranging from two to five acres. Owners would purchase the land from the developer, then they could hire their own architects and general contractors to construct a custom home.
The parcels will start at about $175,000 per an acre and up.
The antique shows and small-town charm have made Round Top a destination for wealthy residents from Houston to purchase second homes, realtors say. A typical home in Round Top sells now for about $870,000, up by about 2.5 percent in the past year, according to data from the real estate brokerage Redfin.
In recent years, Houston-based hospitality group Palacios Murphy, which owns Armando’s Mexican restaurant in River Oaks, opened restaurants and a boutique hotel in the town because the owners believed it would have a built-in audience from River Oaks area residents staying there.
The Houston-based real estate firm Layne Property Partners, launched by former Howard Hughes chief Paul Layne, also recently acquired the venue for the Original Round Top Antiques Fair and the Blue Hills antique venue nearby.
Marissa Luck
KPRC meteorologist puts home up for sale
Local celebrity and television weather forecaster Frank Billingsley recently put his second home on the market for sale in Galveston.
Billingsley, chief meteorologist at the television station KPRC, and his husband Kevin Gilliard have owned the Victorian-style home since about 2007, but are selling it now to possibly move to a low-maintenance property elsewhere in Galveston, said Eric Gage, Realtor with Douglas Elliman who is marketing the home.
“Galveston loves (Frank) so he’s not leaving the island, he’s just looking for other opportunities,” Gage said.
The 3-bedroom, 2.5bathroom house was recently put on the market with an asking price of $750,000. Located in the East End of Galveston at 1726 Avenue L, the house is a short drive from the popular Stewart Beach and East Beach. The house and an adjacent one next door were built in 2006 to replace an 1856-era home that had previously burned down, according to Douglas Elliman.
The median sales price for a home in Galveston was $390,000 in July, up by nearly 28 percent from the year earlier, according to data from the real estate firm Redfin.
Marissa Luck