Saturday shelterporn

Yeah, yeah, we know — Shelterporn has slacked off, and in recent weeks you've had to look for your own dream real estate listings. We're awfully sorry to have put such a burden on you and are making a Chinese New Year's resolution to be more regular. We'll do better at keeping up with Shelterporn, too.

All of which brings us to the home we couldn't ignore: the Frame house, located off Memorial and Chimney Rock. According to David Frame, the man for whom the house was built, architect Harwood Taylor drew up the designs during a 1958 flight from Midland to Houston aboard Frame's private plane — all the more amazing considering that it would take us the length of several car trips between Midland and Houston to even be able to draw a straight line. The house was finished in 1960 and immediately drew accolades: It was featured on a 1960 modern house tour, was covered in the Post, Chronicle and House & Garden magazine, and it won a merit award from the Texas Society of Architects in 1961. The Frames lived in the house for 20 years, then sold it to some folks who really screwed it up: The new owners painted over wood paneling and brick, filled sunken terrazzo tubs with concrete and removed the landscaping that originally terraced down the house's lot toward Buffalo Bayou.

The good news, though, is that the home was rescued in 2004 by a new owner, Dana Harper, who carried out a thorough restoration under the direction of Stern and Bucek Architects. The house is now as close to its 1960 appearance as it can be, with its 18-foot living room ceiling, walnut paneling (all new; the original was damaged beyond repair when it was painted over), terrazzo floor and soaking tubs and fantastic courtyard and pool deck. We hope whoever buys the house appreciates it as much as Harper did — but we have a feeling that, when you're spending $3 million on a house, you're probably not going to screw things up too badly. Bedrooms: five or six. Bathrooms: 6 and a half. Square feet: 5,067. Price: $2.995 million.

(Unfortunately, we missed an open house by a week, but you can get a sense of the home's interior spaces from these excellent flickr photos by MidCentArc.)