Sherwood Forest, Bayou Woods, Pinewood Estates

In the years between the first and second World Wars, wealthy Houstonians built hunting lodges, stables and fashionable retreats in the piney woods along Buffalo Bayou in what is now called “close-in Memorial.” These families lived in homes designed by the finest architects of their day, and they retained those same architects, including John F. Staub, to design their second homes and recreation pavilions.

Today, the sylvan tracts where those earlier Houstonians rode, hunted and played are the exclusive subdivisions of Bayou Woods, Sherwood Forest and Pinewood Estates. As Houston’s boundaries moved west, lumber baron W. T. Carter, Jr., and his son Victor developed and platted Sherwood Forest subdivision from the family’s summer retreat, choosing the name and street names, according to family members. Carter Lake, created for the Carters by noted landscape architects Hare and Hare who dammed the Newman Branch of the bayou, is still there, surrounded by boat docks and large homes.

The expansive lots of Bayou Woods, Sherwood Forest, and Pinewood Estates are ideal settings for very large older and newly-constructed homes. Lot sizes in Bayou Woods and Sherwood Forest typically range from ¾ of an acre to several acres; Pinewood Estates lots range predominantly from one-third of an acre to half-acre tracts. Prices range upward from the $600,000s for land sales under an acre to more than several million dollars for elegant recently constructed homes on multi-acre lots.