Roaring 20's - Anybody know about this place?? (San Antonio, Salado: houses, neighborhoods)

[banker]

I lived on Stairock and saw the fire out my living room window this past fourth of July. I did not know that Honigblum purchased that house in 1998. He told me that he grew up there. I'm not sure if you know - but he had the main house extensively remodeled prior to purchasing the Roaring 20's including having a large pond put in and having the pool resurfaced with many large fully mature palm trees planted around the property. They had contractors working on and in that house for nearly two years...just when we thought he had the house just like he wanted it - he began the work on his new home on the Roaring 20's property. It looks like he used an existing house to which fe had part of it leveled and then added on significantly.

When the building was burned - Honigblum was out of the country. He blamed the fire on vandals shooting off fireworks inside the structure...but I highly doubt that. I drove by the building about 45 minutes before it was fully ablaze and didn't see even one sign of smoke or flame. The fire started very quickly and gutted the building far too efficiently to have been started by a loose fire cracker. It was evenly ablaze within roughly 15 minutes of being called in. A small accidental fire would seem to have been localized before spreading through the old wooden buildings.

I agree with you about the flood zone. I lived in Churchill Forest in 2002 when Salado Creek crested and can attest to the fac that the water never reached the barracks. That building was never in the flood plain. The rumor in the neighborhood is that Steve Honigblum pulled some strings to have a large part of the property rezoned flood so that he could buy it cheap - which I believe he did. He told folks he purchased it for about $300,000. Steve was never nice to the folks that lived around him and seemed to have too much time on his hands as he was never seen going to work.

We moved because we needed a little more space and wanted something with more yard and much more efficient. We loved the neighborhood - but did not like living near Steve.

By the way - when he purchased the property back in 2006 as he began to dismantle the various structures it appears there was a large shed with an old large cabin cruiser stored behind the dance hall. Is that true? It looked like the old Chris Craft boats seen from the 60's and 70's and very large.

[therman]

You didnt like the llamas huh? You are quite astute Banker. It was a 1961 25ft Chris Craft boat. We also had an extensive collection of antique cadillac limousines on the property. The home which I grew up in was vacant after my dad passed away for about a year and vandals really did a number on it. The house he lives in now was an old farmhouse and was moved from where Sunray apartments are now located off of Blanco rd and Lockhill Selma. I have some pictures of the moving process that I'm in the process of scanning. My dad paid to have it moved and then completely gutted and remodeled it. My older brother (then about 6 years old) fell off the roof "helping" dad and had to get stitches. I wont post anything about Steve on here but if you're interested in nitty gritty parts of the deal(s), PM me and I'll give you my phone number.

[banker]

Originally Posted by therman

You didnt like the llamas huh? You are quite astute Banker. It was a 1961 25ft Chris Craft boat. We also had an extensive collection of antique cadillac limousines on the property. The home which I grew up in was vacant after my dad passed away for about a year and vandals really did a number on it. The house he lives in now was an old farmhouse and was moved from where Sunray apartments are now located off of Blanco rd and Lockhill Selma. I have some pictures of the moving process that I'm in the process of scanning. My dad paid to have it moved and then completely gutted and remodeled it. My older brother (then about 6 years old) fell off the roof "helping" dad and had to get stitches. I wont post anything about Steve on here but if you're interested in nitty gritty parts of the deal(s), PM me and I'll give you my phone number.

The Llamas were ok...it was the peacock that drove us nuts. Very noisy. Cool about the boat. What ever happened to it?

[majormadmax]

There are some good pics of the place when it was still standing on Live Search Maps if you go to the "Bird's Eye View." You can still see the archway...

Cheers! M2

[therman]

I believe the boat was left on the property since my uncle couldnt sell it.

[banker]

Originally Posted by therman

I believe the boat was left on the property since my uncle couldnt sell it.

Then it must have burned with the rest of the buildings.

[banker]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

There are some good pics of the place when it was still standing on Live Search Maps if you go to the "Bird's Eye View." You can still see the archway...

Cheers! M2

The "Bird's Eye View" is an older shot than the Aerial View. If you select the Aerial view you can see how the property behind the Roaring 20's was cleared and the new home under construction directly south of the tennis courts. You can also see that at that point the Roaring 20's was in the early stages of demolition. I would guess this picture was taken in early 2007 a few months before the "fire" that burned the property to the ground. Now the entire property in front of the new house is cleared with grass and well manicured trees. Very pretty.

[majormadmax]

Yeah, I had to see this place firsthand so this afternoon I punched the address into my GPS and we went and took a look. Had I not known the building was there, you would never notice anything ever existed if it weren't for the sign. Thanks to the great pics on this forum, I could visualize how the place looked in its heyday; but it would be nicer if that piece of history was still standing and not a nice, green patch of grass!

Cheers! M2

[banker]

Amazing patch of grass...Steve Honigblum has done a nice job of turning it into luxury residential property. You should see it from the creek side...beautiful pool and open porches overlooking the Salado Creek and bluffs above.

[Bowie]

Originally Posted by banker

Amazing patch of grass...Steve Honigblum has done a nice job of turning it into luxury residential property. You should see it from the creek side...beautiful pool and open porches overlooking the Salado Creek and bluffs above.

That view may lose some appeal in a couple of years when there are users of Voelcker Park staring back across it from the other side of the creek.