Saturday, October 22, 2016 • Page 1B
Pool project spills over into a bigger overhaul the
By Cynthia Lescalleet For The Leader Having lived in their Woodland Heights century-old cottage since 2001, homeowners Pam and Greg Roche wanted to add a back yard pool. More specifically, they wanted a pool they could actually see from somewhere other than the closet of their bedroom. Their redo solution “grew and grew,” she recalls. So did the timeline, which stretched to 22 months from the nine months they’d anticipated. Still, the renovation project was “less stressful than buying a new house,” she says. They had looked elsewhere, briefly, during the peak of the housing market, but quickly decided: “We like our house. We like our neighborhood.” Now completed, the threephased transformation added 600 square feet for a new master suite and converted their previous bedroom into a den with pool views. The project also gutted and renovated the kitchen, an update they’d long discussed since built-in appliances from a previous owner’s redo were dying off and replacements didn’t fit. Plus, the teal-andpink tilework just had to go, she says. They also opted to replace the cracked slab of the garage and quarters, a feat that meant hoisting up the structure during the work. For about nine months of the overhaul, the family of five (three boys, two cats and one dog) had biv-
Contributed photo Union Kitchen announced their arrival on social media this week and residents flocked to the eatery to try it out.
Union Kitchen opens on schedule (almost) By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com Back in May, Paul Miller of GR8 Plate Hospitality, who owns the Union Kitchen restaurants in Bellaire and Kingwood as well as the Jax Grills at S. Rice and Shepherd Drive and the Rollin’ Kitchen food truck, offered the neighborhood a taste of what the new Union Kitchen, 3405 Ella Plaza, would offer. And now it’s official – only six weeks off their target date of a late summer opening, no small feat with the city’s permit process, the restaurant is officially open. The space occupies the former Golden Wok and Frida’s restaurants as well as an additional 15 feet of space which was next to Frida’s. The completed restaurant is 4,960 square feet and can accommodate up to 220 guests, including 20 seats at the bar and a total of 80 seats in the bar area. The 25 x 50 outdoor patio holds an additional 80 guests. There’s also a private dining room for special events that is adjacent to the main dining area. The design for the Ella location was spearheaded by Paul
Photos supplied The three-phased transformation includes a new master suite, and the conversion of the bedroom into a den with pool views.
ouacked in that 900-squarefoot garage apartment. Her advice in such circumstances: Try to have fun in your temporary digs. “We turned our garage apartment into our ‘groovy London flat,’ or as much of one as we could. We even had a life-sized Austin Powers gracing the stairwell.” UNFAZED BY PHASES The vintage home has had its share of redos, including
a small one a decade ago by the Roches. Having discovered a previous owner’s architectural plans (never executed), they were inspired to resolve the home’s awkwardly configured space upstairs, a ‘30s update tucked under the eaves. Their 2006 revisions netted a bedroom and bathroom without altering the single-story bungalow’s single-story roofline. It also tweaked a few amenities
The potential H-E-B on North Shepherd driving more activity
downstairs. The more recent project, meanwhile, had more obvious impact as it shifted the home’s floor plan from its original rectangle into more of an “L”-shaped flow. The lot-and-a-half property was able to accommodate that change as well as the pool that started the whole mushSee Pool P. 2B
and Doris Miller with assistance from Charles Chapman from Corinthian Contracting. The modern rustic feel they wanted to acheive is different than their other locations. A main focal point of the restaurant is the bar, featuring aged brick and a marble top surrounded by tables created from local 100-year-old oak, fabricated by Rob Roatch from Lone Star Restaurant Solutions. The communal bar table, steel wine racks, decorative bar glass holder and liquor cabinet were created by Steve Walters from Steve Walters Woodworking. Brunch begins Saturday, Oct. 22 at 10 a.m. with a condensed menu. The kitchen team plans to build on the menus as service continues throughout the opening weeks. Signature dishes from other locations include the Lobster Grilled Cheese with lobster, avocado, brie, sun dried tomato and pesto served with tomato basil bisque and The Elvis Waffle with peanut butter, bananas fosters sauce and Texas pecan bacon. Miller told The Leader he’s been looking to find a spot in Oak Forest for a “really long time” and thinks the Ella Plaza location is a great fit.
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By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com With the official announcement by H-E-B that they plan to open their new location at the site of the old Fiesta in the Heights at 23rd Street and North Shepherd - if voters elect to make that area “wet” in November - there has been an uptick in activity on an already busy corridor. Glenn Clements with MFT Interests is developing the former Texas Cafeteria site at 2400 N. Shepherd Dr. and says the exterior of the building is nearly complete, minus some See H-E-B P. 2B
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Photo by Betsy Denson Braun Enterprises has purchased 2401 N. Shepherd at the corner of 24th and North Shepherd, across from the proposed H-E-B.
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