Houston River Oaks mansion sells at 55% discount

Inflation may be up, but there’s one category where prices are coming down — high-end Texas real estate.

A River Oaks mansion inspired by the film Atonement that originally listed for $26.5 million in March 2021 has finally sold after being on the market for close to 200 days.

The home, built by energy industry executive Lawrence Blackburn and his wife Deana in the style of English country manors, had its price reduced to $17.9 million this year.

The mansion went to auction in early September through Sotheby’s Concierge Auctions with bids starting at $7.75 million. Bidding on the estate closed on September 21, 2022. The home went for $11 million-range, plus 12 percent in fees going to Sotheby’s, a source told The Real Deal.

Located in River Oaks’ “Tall Timbers” section, 3996 Inverness is an 18,000 square-foot mansion with six bedrooms, seven full bathrooms and four half-baths. It sits on 2.37 acres.

The Harris County Appraisal District lists the market value of the property at $10.5 million.

The price reduction on the asking price for a mansion in arguably the Bayou City’s most exclusive neighborhood is on trend. Another home for sale on Inverness was reduced by 30 percent after just two months on the market. But Icon Global still lists Colleen Holthouse-Romanov’s nine-acre The Lodge at Hunters Creek Village for its original $60 million ask.

The price for the River Oaks home of high-profile Houston trial attorney Tony Buzbee has been reduced to $20 million from the $27.5 million asking price he set in February 2022.

The Blackburns acquired the property in 2008 and worked with Houston-based architect Robert Dame to design the home incorporating English Tudor-style elements.

The English-style country manor sits among the trees and is surrounded by Tudor-style parterre gardens and fountains. The house was built with imported English limestone, while the slate floors were brought in from European design houses. The estate features a home theater, billiards lounge and a wine cellar big enough to host dinner parties.

“The living room boasts groin vault ceilings, custom stone and steel windows with stained glass quatrefoil accents, crown detailing and custom decorative Tudor rose ornamental accents on the 16-foot-high decorative ceiling along with five oversized, hand-carved fireplaces,” Houston society reporter Shelby Hodge wrote in 2021.

Nancy Almodovar ‘s Nan and Co. Properties represented the buyer, who she declined to name.

“Once the home was offered at auction, we knew there would be a great deal of interest,” Almodovar told TRD. “We were prepared and were able to close the deal for my buyer within hours.”

It’s been an active 2022 for Nan and Co. so far. The firm has made some notable Bayou City deals over the past year.

Almodovar brokered the sale of a 21,500 square foot, Neoclassical River Oaks Boulevard home which was previously the home to the late Baron Ricky di Portanova and Baroness Alessandra di Portanova to Houston auto dealer George Demontrond III in July.

Nan and Co is also handling another property on Inverness that was listed for $18 million in July but now is going for $13 million.

In March, Almodovar sold a six-bedroom, six-bathroom unit at The Astoria which is the second highest priced Houston penthouse deal of 2022 so far.

The company is also handling the sales for a new $52.4 million condo-development on Tiki Island.

Martha Turner Sotheby’s broker Jay Monroe represented the Blackburns in the transaction.

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