The wonderful details of Remington Trails

By Tim Sojka

There is a very well known dining establishment in Houston called the Taste of Texas that features fantastic steaks.  When a homeowner wants a taste of Texas, there are few communities that meet the demand better than Remington Trails.  As the Houston Rodeo approaches each year, the community longs for old Houston traditions.  Located west of Katy Mills Mall and north of I-10, Remington Trails is the ideal community for someone who desires those traditions, while living in a luxurious home.  Wide open spaces allow you to raise animals or just have a great place for your children to play.  Many of the residents raise horses, breed champion dogs, and a few even raise cattle.

According to homeowners, Cindy Haag and Linda Merz, the neighborhood was originally founded by a few friends from a local church who wanted to live next to each other but also have the space to raise animals.  Some of Houston's premier builders came in to finish out the neighborhood.  There are a few home sites still being developed but the neighborhood is almost completed.  Most homes are located on between one and ten acres. 

Most homes are of traditional, western or rustic design.  Take a peek inside and you will see features of granite or Corian countertops, libraries, media rooms, and complete outdoor kitchens.  An interesting dichotomy can be witnessed as visitors of these mini estates might see a child jumping horses along side a  rustic barn, and mom or dad swimming in a sparkling pool complete with a waterfall all within their line of vision.

Homes range from the high two hundred to over a half a million depending on acreage and features.  As mentioned earlier, horses are welcomed throughout the community.  Some sections of the community even welcome cows.  Pigs, goats and a few other animals that make less attractive neighbors are not currently allowed. 

The neighborhood features several retention lakes and horse trails in addition to the standard amentias of most upscale neighborhoods.  Ms. Haag mentioned that she can ride through the neighborhood for hours without seeing the same view.  The views are indeed beautiful, from the gorgeous homes, to the beautiful prairie, to the wildlife.

For those who love wildlife, the neighborhood is bordered by the Katy Prairie Conservancy, a land trust, charged with ensuring the protection of the land and wildlife of the Katy Prairie.  Each year hundreds of species of birds can be seen at the Conservancy.  Wildlife still make an appearance for neighbors to enjoy. 

Although the neighborhood has many amenities, probably the best feature of the neighborhood is the neighbors themselves.

The neighbors make the neighborhood

Each neighbor has their own reason for moving to Remington Trails.  The Haag family, who relocated from Oklahoma, looked at several neighborhoods but kept coming back to Remington Trails.  Ms. Haag added "Where else can you ride your horse for a few minutes and see a beautiful bird sanctuary."  For the Merz family, her husband had taken over their Nottingham Country garage with his hobby.  Moving to Remington Trails allowed him to build his own workshop.  For the Randerman family, who own four horses and raise golden retrievers, one that will soon be competing at Madison Square Garden, it was a chance for their children to get to enjoy the special thrill of raising and maintaining horses.

Remington Trails truly does have a feel of a simpler time and place.  Ms. Merz told a story that a few very young entrepreneurs in the neighborhood showed up at her door selling fresh picked dewberries.  Another group of very young entrepreneurs showed up at Ms. Haag's house offering to work for $1 an hour (for the record she did pay a much fairer wage).

Many of the neighbors have extensive gardens and happily share the fruit (and vegetables) of their labor.  According to Ms. Merz and Ms. Haag everyone just kind of takes care of each other. 

With the completing of 99, the widening of I-10 and the West Park Tollway most commutes are now less than 40 minutes.  However, due to a terrible car accident, Ms. Merz husband had a very long commute home.  Surprisingly, when he arrived in the neighborhood, he faced a traffic problem of a much more pleasant sort.  Several young ducklings were walking across the road.  Ms. Merz said her husband felt the stress of the day just wash away as he watched the ducks complete their march. 

One wonders how much each of us could use children delivering dewberries to our home, hayrides for the kids in the fall and ducklings crossing the street to make our life a little less stressful.

For more information on the Katy Conservancy go to http://www.katyprairie.org.

A special thanks to the contributions of Cindy Haag , Linda Merz and Brandye Randerman.  Pictured is the beautiful horse Justin Time and trainer Karen Trout.

For more information this beautiful community call realtor Timothy Sojka at 713-822-2152.  To find out the value of your property go to www.seetimsell.com and click on free neighborhood info.