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UER Mobile > US: South > octagon shaped house: an accidental explore (Viewed 2705 times)

post by Honey Revenge

octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
< on 3/10/2020 9:32 PM >

hello all! long time lurker, first time poster!

First let me bore you with some personal details. TLDR at the bottom. Born and raised in a small town a few hours from Houston, got a job offer here in 2016. Took that offer ASAP to get myself to the big city! Met my SO who grew up here, and for the first two years, we spent every weekend driving around downtown, showing me all the buildings/ landmarks/ graff spots. Eventually we ended up at the infamous downtown hotel, where it was discovered we were both eager to get in and climb to the top. This post is not that, although we did get in and climb it, it was after that I stumbled upon this website!

Since then, I have lurked my ass off (read: unhealthy amounts of time) on the rookie forum, the south forum, gone through almost all the photography section (I started from the last post so I wouldn’t miss a thing) and without trying to sound like an extreme creeper (because I definitely feel like one) many of your Flickr pages. With that being said, I have never posted anything because I am afraid that anything I post will be boring as hell compared to y'alls wonderful work, BUT I finally decided fuck it, I’m going to post something. Unfortunately, due to number of children > lack of child care, we have not been exploring since late 2018, so these pictures are from May 2018.

We did not set out to explore on this particular weekend, we were looking at houses for sale. Horrible time to look, as Hurricane Harvey had just come through 7 months prior, so either these houses had seen water and were priced at “investor special” prices (read: gutted & unlivable), or it didn't get flooded, and the price went way up because “nO wAtEr fRoM HaRvEy!!!”

We were riding around a neighborhood armed with a real estate app just driving by houses for sell when I noticed this one listed at $85,000 with no pictures of the inside (not a good sign) but it was a very strange looking house on the outside, so we head over to check it out. Parked on the street, hop out, walked up and first thing we notice is a big sign on the window: THIS IS AN UNSAFE BUILDING. We say to one another, okay what happened in here?? As soon as we start trying to look through the windows, a truck pulls up. We think, ok maybe this is the owner and we can look inside...

A guy gets out, walks up and says, “Are you a realtor?” We say “No, are you?” He says no, pulls out his phone…dials a number…walks up to the door...asks us if its unlocked, we tell him we don't know, we didn't try...

He pushes on the door, it swings open, then he just walks right in! We looked at each other like WTF is this guy doing? I told my SO, “Well if he's going in so are we!” and we followed right behind him. I wasn't able to take the best pictures as I didn’t want a picture of this random guy walking through the house, but I got what I could.

I have included my photos as well as photos I found today on a realtor site. On the realtor photos I have put a red mark on the top right corner, so its easier to tell which is which. I wanted to show what it was and then how we found it (they also have some pics I didn’t get of the outside) so I hope I'm not breaking any rules by posting their pics. Let me know if so!

TLDR; I’ve never posted because I feel inferior to y’alls amazing work, but I decided I’m sorry/ not sorry if I bore you with this sweet house that was deemed unsafe & for sell somewhere in Houston. On the realtor photos I have put a red mark on the top right corner, so its easier to tell which is which

RFRONT by JA, on Flickr
^the only pic they had of the house that day^

mfront by JA, on Flickr ^over grown, complete with "this building is unsafe" sign on window^

RMIRROR by JA, on Flickr

mmirror by JA, on Flickr

^the open door on the left is the front door^

mgoingup by JA, on Flickr

RLIVINGROOM by JA, on Flickr

mlivingroom by JA, on Flickr
^i'm standing in the same place as they were, but looking up, because HELLO its a badass octagon vaulted ceiling! how could they NOT capture this? if you go back to the first pic, this room is to the right of the front door.^

RBED by JA, on Flickr

mbed by JA, on Flickr
^this bedroom is through the French doors by the fire place^

RDOOR by JA, on Flickr

mdoor by JA, on Flickr
^bathroom right off this trashed bedroom^

RTUB by JA, on Flickr

mceilingg by JA, on Flickr

mtub by JA, on Flickr
^this room only had a bathtub in it. they really loved their octagons in this house. you can see a door on the right side of the pic , it goes to a half bath^

RTOL by JA, on Flickr

mtol by JA, on Flickr
^half bath off the tub room^

RKITCHEN by JA, on Flickr

mkitchen by JA, on Flickr
^kitchen^

mupstairs by JA, on Flickr
^back through the living room and upstairs, heres my pic looking down on the stairs, strange platforms for artwork, statues?^

RTOP by JA, on Flickr
^their photo of that room^

mtop by JA, on Flickr
^turned around, those doors go out to the patio on top of the carport, which we didn't go out on for some reason, but the realtors got a pic^

ROUTSIDETOPOFGARAGE by JA, on Flickr
^their pic of the patio^

RPINK by JA, on Flickr

RSIDEPINK by JA, on Flickr
^back inside, through the archway right after you go up the carpet stairs, theres this room, which we will call the pink room^

msidepink by JA, on Flickr

mpink by JA, on Flickr
^trashed pink room, now if you look close at the blue structure in between the fire place and the chair...you'll see its open and theres something black in there...^

mspirl by JA, on Flickr
^its a spiral staircase!!! I didn't get any pics from the top in the pink room,probably because I was moving around the rando guy that was in there with us, and he ended up staying on the phone not saying another word to us while we all looked through this house^

ROUTSIDEBATH by JA, on Flickr
^now these are the pics I didn't get, this is outside of the room with the bath tub.^

ROUTSIDEPINKROOM by JA, on Flickr
^and this is outside of the pink room^

So that's it! Hopefully no one jumps my ass talking about "this isn't a real explore cause it was for sale" I know it was kinda a cheap find, but we will never forget this house because of just how strange it was and the strange way we ended up in there! Also, this wasn't in Montrose or the Heights or somewhere like that, all the other houses in this neighborhood looked nothing like this one, they were "normal"

Thanks for looking you guys!

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post by blackhawk

This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 1 on 3/10/2020 10:24 PM >

Good 1st post.
Welcome to UER

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post by Howie Dunnet

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 2 on 3/10/2020 11:26 PM >

Nice post and photos. Was the electricity still on? I thought I saw a light on in the Kitchen.

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post by Honey Revenge

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 3 on 3/11/2020 12:31 AM >

Thank y'all for the comments, it means a lot! As I was writing my story today, I had to try and think back to two years ago when we explored this, and I could have swore we saw a light when we were looking through the window, so I asked SO, "hey didnt we see a light on in there?" He said no. Not convinced, I showed him the kitchen pic and another one that I didnt post (horrible angle) and we came to the conclusion that it must of been a skylight because of how bright it was.

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post by MisUnderstood!

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 4 on 3/12/2020 5:57 AM >

I enjoyed this! Cool find. I dont see whats so unsafe...Crazy. I think Your pics are better than the Realtor. Awesome 1st post. Would love to see your Hotel pics. Dont be shy! Welcome to UER and The Texas forum.

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post by IndoAnomaly

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 5 on 3/12/2020 10:19 PM >

Hey! Great job. I remember my first photo thread on UER. It can take a lot of guts posting compared to everyone else's work and when you aren't sure how people will respond. Good on ya doing it anyways! I enjoyed your documentation of this unique little home. Thanks for sharing and hope it isn't the last time!

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post by IndoAnomaly

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 6 on 3/12/2020 10:19 PM >

Hey! Great job. I remember my first photo thread on UER. It can take a lot of guts posting compared to everyone else's work and when you aren't sure how people will respond. Good on ya doing it anyways! I enjoyed your documentation of this unique little home. Thanks for sharing and hope it isn't the last time!

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post by leafloving4x4gal

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 7 on 3/12/2020 11:53 PM >

Nothing wrong with this post!!

Really enjoyed your story and comparison photos.

Welcome forth from the shadows

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post by Honey Revenge

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 8 on 3/13/2020 2:32 AM >

Posted by IndoAnomaly
Hey! Great job. I remember my first photo thread on UER. It can take a lot of guts posting compared to everyone else's work and when you aren't sure how people will respond. Good on ya doing it anyways! I enjoyed your documentation of this unique little home. Thanks for sharing and hope it isn't the last time!

Thanks so much!

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post by Honey Revenge

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 9 on 3/13/2020 3:50 AM >

Posted by MisUnderstood!
I enjoyed this! Cool find. I dont see whats so unsafe...Crazy. I think Your pics are better than the Realtor. Awesome 1st post. Would love to see your Hotel pics. Dont be shy! Welcome to UER and The Texas forum.

Thanks alot MisUnderstood!!! Maybe they put the unsafe sign on there to discourage people from going in. Someone definitely broke in and broke the mirror, went through the kitchen, but as far as unsafe, we didn't feel any soft/unstable spots. BUT there was one pic i didn't post of the pink room :

mpinkroom by JA, on Flickr
so mold. BUT it wasn't sagging and it didnt smell bad. it didnt smell in the whole house!

Also question about posting the hotel: Is there a thread that I can add to or do I post my own story? I knew I wasn't going to make my first post on that because its too unoriginal/ well known. But I've seen the threads on the doors, the "comes in threes" thread, but it that just photos only, not locations?

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post by Explorer Zero

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 10 on 3/15/2020 7:29 PM >

Posted by Honey Revenge

Also question about posting the hotel: Is there a thread that I can add to or do I post my own story? I knew I wasn't going to make my first post on that because its too unoriginal/ well known. But I've seen the threads on the doors, the "comes in threes" thread, but it that just photos only, not locations?

Just create your own thread with photos or stories or both, it makes no difference in the forums. If its in Texas this is the correct forum. Feel free to show it.

Threads in forums however get buried over time and eventually archived. If its a unique location request Full Membership and add it to the UEDB if its not already there. If its already there just add your photos and story to it. If you need help message me.

The d.b. is permanent at least IT will be here as long as this site is around.

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post by Honey Revenge

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 11 on 3/16/2020 12:57 PM >

Posted by Explorer Zero

Just create your own thread with photos or stories or both, it makes no difference in the forums. If its in Texas this is the correct forum. Feel free to show it.

Threads in forums however get buried over time and eventually archived. If its a unique location request Full Membership and add it to the UEDB if its not already there. If its already there just add your photos and story to it. If you need help message me.

The d.b. is permanent at least IT will be here as long as this site is around.

Thanks for replying! I will go ahead and post my story and pics then.

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post by Dee Ashley

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 12 on 4/15/2020 2:05 AM >

I think this is a great thread!

I really like the unique architecture and little additions, including the tall multi-layered ceilings, the vintage bathtub, etc. These are the things that give homes character - and these are things that you don’t see too often in the cookie cutter homes built these days. The decór could use a facelift, but that’s superficial. I love finding hidden gems like this (and yes, it still “counts” as far as I’m concerned!).

Lastly, I’m going to venture a guess regarding the warning attached to the door that someone else commented on: Regardless of how safe it was (or wasn’t), the owner/realtor was just hoping to cover their ass(es) for liability purposes.

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post by Kotaru

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 13 on 4/15/2020 6:49 PM >

I love quirky houses like this too. Reminds me of a house of a friend of my parents. It was laid out like a circle and at it's center was a room sized arboretum or sorts. All the walls were glass so you walked around and could see in. It had a little pond with turtles. Houses with some creatively in their design are awesome.

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post by backslider26

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 14 on 4/20/2020 7:04 AM >

Can you pm me a location? I know this is several years old but i want to see if its still available....

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post by Honey Revenge

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 15 on 5/1/2020 3:48 PM >

Posted by backslider26
Can you pm me a location? I know this is several years old but i want to see if its still available....

Like, if its still for sale?
If you wanna know if its for sale, its not. I haven't passed by there to see exactly whats been done with it but on HAR and Zillow it doesn't show as a listing. As far as giving you an address....sorry to publicly turn you down, but not gonna happen. I see that you've been on here 11 years, I've only been on here for 2 and I've read plenty about sharing locations/ asking for locations. People get absolutely FLAMED for asking. Not trying to be rude

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post by txwader

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 16 on 9/14/2020 2:09 AM >

Cool old house with a lot of water damage. Good pictures, thanks for posting.

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post by tax_mouse

Re: octagon shaped house: an accidental explore
<Reply # 17 on 9/14/2020 10:08 PM >

That is one bad ass house!!! I hope someone restores it or renovates it. I hate seeing beautiful structures like that go completely to waste.

Great Post!!!

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