‘Giant’ Home Gives Texas a Run for its Money, Oil Money That Is
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One of the most exaggerated and accurate representations of the State of Texas and Texans in general is in the movie Giant.
Giant is a 1956 flick that starred Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean. The movie lasts no less than 16 hours and revolves around a big ‘ol Texas man, played by Hudson, who heads east and marries himself a filly who is also a high fallutin’ socialite, played by Taylor, that just rankles the feathers of everyone back at Reata. That is the name of the ranch in case you didn’t know.
I love Eva Gabor. She is the original socialite. I digress.
Back to the movie. Now, James Dean plays a drunk who strikes it rich on a little piece of the Reata ranch that he inherited from Hudson’s sister as a big screw you to Hudson for marrying the high fallutin’ socialite. Sounds like a premise to a pretty interesting movie, right? It’s a shame that interesting description doesn’t apply to this movie, which goes on for 50 more hours.
I just love RuPaul. Can I get a YeeHaw up in here? I crack myself up.
Now, you are probably wondering why in the world I am getting bogged down in this movie. You just have to hold your horses pard’ner, I’m getting there. Once Dean strikes oil, Hudson strikes oil all over his ranch and Giant becomes a big ‘ol 145 hour movie about oil, oil derricks, and Texas. This all brings me to the point of all this prelude.
The house featured in this week’s column would fit perfectly in Giant because it looks like a Texas oil derrick.
You can’t unsee it now, can you? You’re welcome. This seven-bed, six-and-a-half-bath home sits on 139 acres in Rock Hall, Maryland and fronts a private pond. The owners are asking a Texas-sized price of $5 million for this hacienda.
Let us take a look inside.
Well now, this is kind of a let down eh? That is an awfully big area for a little baby stove. What’s that Texas saying, all hat, no cattle?
The view of the water is fabulous from the dining room. Unfortunately, it comes with a view of the mold growing along the wall.
Who says a mansard roof can only be used on the outside? Unfortunately for this house, that indoor mansard roofing was just as effective as stopping water from getting in the house as the roofing outside.
The absolute best use of the space that makes the “arm” of the derrick is right here in the towering library. For the piece de resistance, let’s take a look at one of the bathrooms.
If you are quiet enough you can hear and smell the 62 cans of Aqua Net that were used to make one Texas-sized bouffant hairdo.
So there you go cowboys and cowgirls, that wraps up this week’s column. Happy trails.
See more of this Maryland home designed by famed architect Paul Rudolph on the Realtor.com listing.
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That house does NOT look like an oil derrick. It looks, sort of, kind of, like a pumping jack, though.
The writer needs to go spend the weekend in Tyler, Longview, and Kilgore to learn the difference and to avoid subjugation to lots of belly laughs from authentic Texans. The oil business is responsible for about 25% of the total state revenues, in various ways, for the State of Texas. That means EVERY Texan is in the oil and gas business or benefits greatly from it. Time to learn why.
I stand corrected. I Goog’d oil derrick and that was is what came up. I’m glad you got lots of belly laughs as a result since this is a satirical column. Thanks for the read. Have a great day.
I am generally not a fan of brutalist architecture (with I.M. Pei’s Dallas City Hall an exception) and am accordingly not a fan of this brutalist-inspired house. Eva Gabor, of blessed memory, demonstrated fine comedic timing, skillfully broke the fourth wall, and exhibited genuine warmth in Green Acres, the foremost situation comedy from the golden age of television, and I am her greatest fan. Mimi, publicly admitting error is an august personality characteristic; however, this Paul Rudolph residence does resemble an oil derrick. Your fan, Hedda
Rabbi – perhaps you and I should take a long weekend in Tyler, Longview or Kilgore and partake of a Green Acres marathon. That would undoubtedly be a grand time! Thank you for the read. Have a great rest of the week.
Zsa Zsa Gabor — haven’t heard that name in ages. Reminds me of a joke I heard recently: “He’s so old, the most popular TV show when he was growing up was ‘Keeping Up With the Gabors’.”
Cody, darling, Zsa Zsa’s younger sister Eva Gabor is starring in this thread. On Green Acres, Eva quipped to her television husband, Eddie Albert, “When you married me you knew that I couldn’t cook, I couldn’t sew, and I couldn’t keep house. All I could do was talk Hungarian and do imitations of Zsa Zsa Gabor.” Albert’s response was “Who?”