Montrose is one of the few parts of Houston where you can leave the car keys on the counter. From our front door, a loop of parks, galleries, coffee, and old bars fits into a lazy afternoon on foot. Here is the route we send guests on, in walking order. Plan on two to three hours if you stop everywhere, and bring water: this is still Houston.
Stop 1: Cherryhurst Park
Start five minutes from the house at the neighborhood’s pocket park. Live oaks, a playground, a tennis court, and the kind of quiet residential blocks that show you what Montrose looked like a century ago. Grab a bench, finish your coffee, and get your bearings.
Where: Cherryhurst St at Avondale St
Hours: Dawn to dusk
Stop 2: Blacksmith
Walk south to Westheimer for Houston’s best-known coffee bar. The Vietnamese coffee and the biscuits are the orders, and the long communal table is good for eavesdropping on the neighborhood.
Address: 1018 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77006
Hours: Daily, 7 AM to 5 PM
Stop 3: Rothko Chapel
Head west along the quiet side streets to Yupon. The chapel holds fourteen Rothko canvases in a silent octagonal room, and the grounds outside, with Barnett Newman’s Broken Obelisk over a reflecting pool, are free and open from dawn to dusk. It closes for events a couple of times a month, so check the calendar.
Address: 3900 Yupon St, Houston, TX 77006
Hours: Tue–Sun, 10 AM to 6 PM; closed Mon
Stop 4: The Menil Collection
A block away across the lawn. Admission is always free, the collection runs from antiquities to Warhol, and the shaded grounds are the neighborhood’s living room. The Cy Twombly Gallery and the Dan Flavin installation at Richmond Hall are both short walks from the main building.
Address: 1533 Sul Ross St, Houston, TX 77006
Hours: Wed–Sun, 11 AM to 7 PM; closed Mon–Tue
Stop 5: Agora
Back up to Westheimer. A two-story Greek-style coffee and wine house with a wraparound balcony that is equally right for an afternoon espresso or an evening glass of wine. Dark wood, mismatched chairs, and regulars who have been coming for twenty years.
Address: 1712 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77006
Stop 6: Westheimer vintage shops
The stretch of Westheimer between Dunlavy and Montrose is Houston’s best block for secondhand. Pavement, Leopard Lounge, and Lo-Fi sit within a few doors of each other, and the racks turn over constantly. Give it half an hour.
Where: Westheimer Rd between Dunlavy St and Montrose Blvd
Stop 7: Poison Girl
If the sun is getting low, duck in here. A long whiskey list, pinball machines in the back, and a patio under the trees. It is the neighborhood bar in the truest sense.
Address: 1641 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77006
Stop 8: West Alabama Ice House
Finish the loop at Houston’s oldest bar, open since 1928. Picnic tables, ping pong, beer and wine only, and a taco truck parked at the edge of the lot. Dogs welcome, kids welcome before dark. From here it is a ten-minute walk back to the house.
Address: 1919 W Alabama St, Houston, TX 77098
If you have more in you: Cactus Music, Houston’s oldest record store, is a fifteen-minute detour south at 2110 Portsmouth St (Mon–Thu 10 AM to 7 PM, Fri–Sat 10 AM to 8 PM, Sun noon to 7 PM), and Rudyard’s at 2010 Waugh Dr is the neighborhood pub for a nightcap and a game of darts.
Staying nearby? Book direct at The Furnished Collective for the best rate. Check in, go out, and stay awhile.