Graceful arches and original casement windows are Art Deco details; the Steinway piano came with the house.
FAIRY-TALE CASTLE Restored 1930s Mansion in Riverside Terrace Remains an Art Deco Jewel Article by Marsha Canright Photography by Doris Willcox from Emomedia A curving stairway with its ornate iron railing
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he French Provincial-style manor house rises like a fairy-tale castle on a third-acre lot situated on Riverside Drive, east of the Texas Medical Center and Hermann Park. Built of cream-colored natural stone and brick with a turret of limestone travertine, the 4,600-square-foot house is a majestic survivor in historic Riverside Terrace where old oaks line the streets. Houston architect Lenard Gabert designed the house in 1930 for Robert S. Jarett, a wealthy department store owner. It’s an Art Deco beauty with elaborate arches, gables, handsome copper gutters and a red brick driveway.
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“The Sakowitz family lived next door, and Joseph Finger's impressive Wesley West House, unfortunately long gone, was across the street,” says Georgina Key, who owns the castle with her husband.
FIRST ENCOUNTER Key says her knees actually buckled when she stepped through the exterior wall and into the courtyard for the first time. “It was like a secret enclave, so private, and I fell instantly in love,” she says. The house was in better shape than many of the homes
