Tanglewood, Houston

In 1992 John Daugherty, a real estate agent, said that Tanglewood is "a very low-key, unassuming neighborhood. A lot of CEOs and top management officials would live there."[5]

Tanglewood lots were large, and had many oak trees.[5] As of 2003, larger Tanglewood lots each were .5 acres (0.20 ha) large, while smaller ones are about 100 feet (30 m) by 150 feet (46 m). As of that year Tanglewood lots had prices of $34 to $35 ($47.25-48.64 in today's money) per square foot. In 2003 River Oaks lots were priced $65–$70 ($90.34-$97.29 in today's money) per square foot and West University Place lots were priced around $50 ($69.49 in today's money) per square foot. Ellis said "The lots in Tanglewood are so much larger than the norm in West University or some of the sections of River Oaks. You can just get so much more for your money."[3]

As of 2003 Tanglewood has 1,144 houses. The median house value was $632,750 ($879417.19 in current money), and the total median price per square foot was $194.15 ($269.84 in current money). The median build year was 1960. On average houses had four bedrooms and 4.2 bathrooms. The median lot size was 16,390 square feet (1,523 m²) and the median house size was 3,882 square feet (360.6 m²). Donna Ellis, an employee of Greenwood King Properties, said in 2003 that the prices of houses in Tanglewood ranged from $300,000 ($416950.07 in current money) to $3 million ($4169500.72 in current money). As of 2003 the majority of houses are newer houses built beginning in the 1980s.[3]

In 1992 the Tanglewood area had around 1,800 houses, including Rambling Ranches and some Tudor houses. In November 1992, 172 properties were for sale, and selling prices ranged from $400,000 ($728764.52 in today's money) to over $1 million ($1821911.31 in today's money).[5] Claudia Feldman of the Houston Chronicle said that by that year, "[p]rices in Tanglewood have zoomed heavenward" and that many people had begun tearing down older houses.[7] She said that of the newer houses, "[s]ome of the multistory structures going up seem to take up every inch of the enormous lots."[7] As of December 1992 a house that was intended to be demolished so a new house could go up in its place, or a "tear-down," was priced at $350,000 ($637668.96 in current money).[7]

As of 1994 most of the Tanglewood houses were still the older "rambling Ranch" houses, though larger numbers of newer houses were built. During that year Tanglewood had 1,157 houses. The median house value was $403,200 ($695506.42 in current money), and the total median price per square foot was $131.31 ($226.51 in current money). The median build year was 1959. On average houses had 3.6 bedrooms and 3.4 bathrooms. The median lot size was 16,500 square feet (1,530 m²) and the median house size was 3,560 square feet (331 m²).[2]

Its original homes were "rambling Ranch" houses, spread-out one story houses placed on large lots. The houses were outfitted with central air conditioning. Tanglewood's first houses each had a price tag of around $25,000 ($268636.36 in current money); the houses were four times as expensive as the houses in Farrington's Southdale area in Bellaire. In 2003 the remaining original houses had been outfitted with expensive finishes.[3] In 1994 an older house with no improvements was priced at around $350,000 ($603738.21 in current money).[2]

Newer houses began replacing older houses in the 1980s, and as of 2003 newer houses make up a majority of the housing stock. Newer houses included two-story English-style brick and stone houses and Mediterranean stucco-style houses with clay roofs. Many newer houses have 11-foot (340 cm) ceilings, three car garages, and wine cellars. Katherine Feser of the Houston Chronicle said that Tanglewood lots were "well-suited" for the newer types of houses that had been built.[3] In 1994 there was one popular house style influenced by the Italian designer Andre Palladio, which featured stucco, symmetrical design, tile roofs, and arched windows. During that year most newer houses had prices beginning at $800000 ($1379973.06 in current money).[2] Mary Catherine Miller, the daughter of Farrington, said that Tanglewood "offers all of the amenities of a well-planned community and it has really stood the test of time. This is obvious with the new homes that are being built."[2]

Briargrove Elementary School

Tanglewood's public schools are operated by the Houston Independent School District. The community is within Trustee District VII, represented by Harvin C. Moore as of 2008.[14]

Grady Middle School

Tanglewood is zoned to Briargrove Elementary School[15] (in Briargrove) and Tanglewood Middle School (formerly Grady Middle School.[16] The land that Tanglewood Middle School sits on was donated by a Tanglewood developer. High school students are zoned to Margaret Long Wisdom High School (formerly Robert E. Lee High School)[17] and may choose to attend Lamar High School or Westside High Schools.[18] Even though several wealthier neighborhoods such as Tanglewood and Briargrove are primarily zoned to Wisdom, As of 2010 parents there prefer to send their children to Lamar, Westside, private high schools, or charter high schools.[19]

Residents of the Briargrove Elementary School attendance zone may apply for the Briarmeadow Charter School.[20]

The HISD board voted to rename Grady to Tanglewood in 2016.[21]

Mark White Elementary School is scheduled to open in August 2016. Residents of the Briargrove Elementary zone, along with those of the Pilgrim, Piney Point, and Emerson zones, will be allowed to apply to this school.[22]

The T.H. Rogers School, an alternative K-8 school for gifted and talented students, deaf students, and multiply impaired students, is nearby Tanglewood. In 1982 T. H. Rogers, which previously served as a neighborhood middle school, was converted into a magnet school due to low enrollment. Uptown residents were rezoned to Revere Middle School, but complaints from neighborhood parents that stated that Revere was too far resulted in the re-opening of Grady as a middle school in 1992.[23][24]

St. Michael School, a Roman Catholic K-8 school that is a part of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, is in the area.[25]

Al-Hadi School of Accelerative Learning, a private K-12 Islamic school, is in the area.

Strake Jesuit College Preparatory and Saint Agnes Academy are in the Sharpstown area, southwest of Tanglewood. Saint Thomas High School is east of Tanglewood, a lot closer than Strake Jesuit.

Other nearby private schools include St. John's School in the Upper Kirby district of Houston and The Kinkaid School in Piney Point Village.

The closest library branch is the Jungman Library of the Houston Public Library.

Future U.S. president George H. W. and first Lady Barbara Bush lived in the Tanglewood area for a long period of time. All three of the houses they owned in Houston were in the Tanglewood area, and Bush began his political career there. Susan Warren of the Houston Chronicle said that the Bush family had established "deep roots" in Tanglewood.[29] Bush moved into a house on Indian Trail in the 1960s. As residents of Tanglewood, the Bushes sent their children to The Kinkaid School. The family frequently shopped at the Rice Food Market, now known as the Rice Epicurean Market, and at Patterson Hardware & Garden Supply and Miller's Laundry & Cleaners. At the nearby Houston Country Club, George H. W. Bush played golf and tennis.[7] He represented the community as a U.S. Congressman.[5] As a Tanglewood resident, Bush liked to eat at Molina's, Otto's Barbecue, Hunan, and Ninfa's on Navigation.[29] Bush later moved out of Houston, sold his Indian Trail house, and lived in Washington as he got involved in his political career.[7] Bush continued to own a different house in Tanglewood, which had five bedrooms.[30]

In 1981 Bush became Vice President of the United States and sold his Tanglewood house,[5] making a $596,101 profit. This started a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service.[30] While away from Houston, Bush's legal residence was The Houstonian Hotel, in the Tanglewood area.[31] To resolve the IRS dispute,[30] in April 1985 Bush signed an affidavit that served as an agreement for him to build his retirement home on a lot in West Oaks,[5][32] outside of the Tanglewood subdivision limits,[33] but within the Tanglewood area.[5]

The Bushes, after leaving Washington, DC, temporarily began leasing a house formerly belonging to a family friend.[34] In December 1992 the Bush family announced that it was building a new house on the lot.[35] The Bushes, as of 1994, live in the West Oaks house.[2] As of 1992 Bush still attended church at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, in the Tanglewood area.[5]