Houston News Blog

"what architect conceived of this monstrosity as a residence..."

My guess? Not an architect. A Home Builder.

Hum anyone remember the Chicken Ranch?

Great story and pics. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm off to *pick up* some cheap marble flooring ...

"What became of the house after Dr. Watkins abandoned it and went on to build the halfling mansion next door isn't a matter of public record, suffice to say it's a bizarre story of its own that deserves to be told one day."

Well, yeah! What a tease! Spill it!

Seriously, if you look at the pictures of the other one, it seems pretty clear what the intended purpose must have been. Private rehab/detox. Garages so the client cars can be hidden, way out in a rural area (especially so mid-90s, when these were begun), small windows for security and privacy (and to deter escape), institutional size kitchen, break room for staff, giant pool, industrial dropped ceilings with generic hotel-style furnishings. I can't think of any other reason for those "features."

What jumps immediately to my mind is the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints church (FLDS). This looks a lot like the one raided recently in El Dorado, Texas. And the indoor pool doesn't look that big to me, but it looks like the windowless "baptismal pool" we saw in the El Dorado house. In any event, in this condition, it looks downright sinister.

While I like the Mormon theory, it appears Dr. Watkins attended Howard University, which is a historically black university. I won't get into what Mormons have thought of African Americans in the past, you can look that up yourself. Besides that, it also appears that Dr. Watkins is a practicing Catholic.

Shilcutt, that is just the worst sort of tease. "hahaha, I know something, and you dont. Oh, and I cant tell you." Next time, dont even hint that you know the real reason if you cant spill it. Tease is not a compliment...

What's wrong with just seeing the pictures? Knowing everything takes the fun out of it. Once you "know everything," all that's left is "huh, so that's that," and there's nothing left to it.

This way, there's still a mystery to ponder.

The More You (Don't) Know...[cue music]

"not at all difficult to picture these two buildings on this serene piece of land housing elderly or assisted care patients one day." -- SERIOUSLY?? You want to live there when you're old? Or you want your parents living there, or ANYONE you know or care about? I don't think so. I find that comment commpletely insensitive and offensive.

P--

Yes, if windows were added, efforts were made to landscape and improve the area in general and the house was completed. I obviously didn't mean in its current condition. Take a few deep breaths and step away from the keyboard, dude. Jesus.

Rep. Al Edwards introduced a resolution honoring Dr. Watkins in the Texas House this past spring. Here is the text: http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/html/HR02593I.htm

In the text it refers to "the late Katie E. Watkins" as well as Dr. Watkins' four children and several grand and great-grand children.

Veromi.net shows Ulysses Watkins associated with a lot of different businesses and shows a "Katie Ethel Watkins" and addresses in Manvel, Missouri City, and Rosharon.

According to the Chron, Katie Ethel Watkins passed away at the end of August, 2007.

Well, I heard from a friend of a retired carpenter that knew the landlady of the guy that was related to two people who happened to be in the same grocery store as the Doctor one time that Watkins got rich forwarding emails. Guess Microsoft actually *was* paying for all that.

Who knew.

I used to live in Manvel for 10 years, leaving right before these were built.
When we moved, there were a few smaller 'compound' like houses about 4 miles apart and we were told they were schools for delinquent boys. We'd see them hanging out in the front every once in a while.
I would assume this was part of the same school or rehab?

ooohhhhh...i love mysteries like this....the kind where nobody has been hurt, and it is just a guessing game that we may never know the solution to...it is even more intriguing to follow the link and go to the site showing pix of the mini-version of this empty nest.....but doggone it SOMEONE knows...someone who worked on these buildings, furnished the one etc....it would require a large number of people to pull off putting these structures together...not all of them are discreet....SOMEBODY SPILL THE BEANS PLEASE!!! What harm could there be??? But for those who prefer the mystery, please at least give a spolier alert first!!

I was curious about those houses last year and called the church across the street from them. The lady there told me that the doctor built one for his home and the other for either a rehab or home for the mentally disabled. She wasn't sure. It's obvious it was for some sort of medicle treatment. Nonetheless, I'd like to know more. Looks like more reporting could have made the story more like the usual Houston Press reads.

Dr. Watkins? The same Dr. Watkins mentioned as a Houston Press 2008 "Best Radio Talk Host"? Small world ...

So the bigger one has essentially stalled construction for some time, but it's still got electricity powering the lights? Weird.

The smaller one -- Dr Watkins still owns it...but nobody lives there either?

There's virtually no information about this fella or these houses on the internets either...weird.

Story checks out about the doctor; that's pretty much what I was told.

I've actually been IN this "house". Totally bizarre layout, with 10 foot wide central corridor and rows and rows of very large "bedrooms" down each side. Mostly unfinished; the electrical rough-in and sheetrock was just getting started. Some exterior damage from IKE. Pretty poor construction quality, especially in trim and the limited finishes that have been installed.

The really bizarre thing is that there are bathrooms along the exterior walls, leaving most of the large interior spaces windowless.

There is also a huge enclosed unfinished swimming pool at the rear.

Currently being considered for a complete remodel and conversion to an assisted living facility. It's gonna take a LOT of work but it is possible/feasible if they apply enough cash.

Thank you so much Katherine for covering this story. I live in Pearland have have driven by these houses many many times and always wondered about this.

Fascinating!!

Here's another idea: there used to be (maybe still is) a religious group (I would call it a cult, but perhaps it's just a very enthusiastic church group) called The Rock. They have bought a lot of land in Rosharon. Weird group, mainly African Americans, many professionals and highly educated. Charismatic leader who uprooted them all from the Austin area and moved to the Alvin area, then to Rosharon. (I heard that the leader was called to stamp out racism, in which case Alvin was an excellent choice of location.) Now they all appear to subsist on public handouts (perhaps "bleeding the beast", like the FLDS). If Dr. Watkins has a residence in Rosharon, he may be a member of The Rock and he may have built the behemoths with the intention of having the cult, er, church, move in there. Perhaps the church has disbanded? Perhaps the utility bills were going to be too high? Maybe he left the church? The Rock used to have a big billboard in Alvin, haven't heard from them lately.