Houston Stables To Close
By Margaret Foster | Online Only | Feb. 2, 2009
Spring Branch Stables, a collection of 27 barns, has been a beloved horse farm in Houston for decades.
Credit: Steve Long
With 48 acres in northwest Houston, a horse farm may not stand a chance against development.
Spring Branch Stables, one of the city's last, will close April 15, a prelude to sale later in the year. Owner and local builder Frank Liu has a contract to sell the stables to an undisclosed party—possibly to a nearby school.
"In Houston we've seen, in the last five years, three large urban stables closed or moved," says Steven Long, editor and owner of Horseback magazine, who keeps his horse at Spring Branch. "It's happening all across the United States. The loss of the urban stable is truly a tragic event in the history of the country."
Liu, who declined to comment for this article, did not respond to an offer to meet with Ramona Davis, president of the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance, to discuss preserving the stables, according to Davis.
Spring Branch has 27 barns (the oldest dates to the 1930s), each one designed for its original tenants. It's a unique, secluded place, Long says. "You have a variety of eclectic architecture built around a central common—I just haven't seen anything like it."
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