Saturday shelterporn

Today, shelterporn takes you to an incredibly cool, incredibly modern house in the First Ward, within spittin' distance of downtown. Outside, the house is wrapped in a stone and glass skin that makes it look a little bit like an office building — but the expanses of glass provide some stunning downtown views, so who really cares if people occasionally think you live inside some kind of corporate headquarters? We're sure this house comes with something to help you manage unwanted guests.

Inside, there's a large, open living/kitchen/dining area with rich wood cabinetry, stone countertops and stainless appliances (of course) in the kitchen and a glass wall overlooking the downtown skyline in the living area. An exercise room opens onto a pool and hot tub; on the third floor, a large rooftop patio also has a great downtown view. There are a few bedrooms somewhere in the house — it's hard to get a sense of exactly how things are arranged — and what we assume to be the master bath is a miracle of glass block and mirrors that make it seem to be about the size of Toyota Center. Also inside the house is an office area that looks like it comes complete with a little conference room. We could definitely go for moving Shelterporn World Headquarters there.

This really is a stunning house, and it's in an amazing location just off Washington and Houston avenues. Ah, what we'd do if we had an extra couple million bucks in the bank. Bedrooms: three or four. Bathrooms: three. Square feet: 4,428. Price: $1.6 million.

And a shelterporn note: We didn't think it was really worth featuring, but in passing we wanted to note that the most expensive house being offered in Houston right now is a gated, vaguely French manse at 3482 Inwood in River Oaks. The 17,000-square-foot house sits on nearly two acres at the fifth tee of the River Oaks Country Club's golf course; it's going for $14.75 million — and it's not finished yet. For that price, we hope it at least comes with some tools.