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Valentine Law Office aka "Curley´s Corner", Seabrook TX
This flatiron building started out in 1939 as an icehouse that sold beer to thirsty fishermen. In the 1940s, it became a beer, bait and tackle shop that owed its success to the drawbridge that would cause people to stop (and drink) while the boats passed by. In the late '70s, it became Curley's Corner, the new owner maintaining its popularity as a beer and bait store.
In 1985, a local contractor purchased the going concern, but damage from a hurricane and the drawbridge closing had harmed business. The contractor had no choice but to close the bait shop. Twice, he remodeled the building turning it into his construction company office and designing its Spanish-mission motif. After a fight with the town of Seabrook over parking, the contractor put the place up for sale, which is when Michael Valentine bought it.
It wasn't until 1999 that Valentine opened his law office in the former bait shop. He prepared tax returns and maintained a general business practice, but left the building as is, until he outgrew it in May 2003.
Valentine doubled the size of the space (still small at 600 square feet) by finishing out the second floor, which had been a loft. Two sides of the triangular building are comprised of a metal grid of windows 20 feet tall. There is a rooftop view of Galveston Bay and a 7-foot, chrome-plated shark above the sign indicating Valentine Law Firm. But after $50,000 of renovations by Valentine and more than $100,000 spent by the contractor, many locals still refer to his law office as Curley's Corner.
It was demolished as part of the expansion of Hwy 146 in 2018-2019.
Valentine Law Office aka "Curley´s Corner", Seabrook TX
This flatiron building started out in 1939 as an icehouse that sold beer to thirsty fishermen. In the 1940s, it became a beer, bait and tackle shop that owed its success to the drawbridge that would cause people to stop (and drink) while the boats passed by. In the late '70s, it became Curley's Corner, the new owner maintaining its popularity as a beer and bait store.
In 1985, a local contractor purchased the going concern, but damage from a hurricane and the drawbridge closing had harmed business. The contractor had no choice but to close the bait shop. Twice, he remodeled the building turning it into his construction company office and designing its Spanish-mission motif. After a fight with the town of Seabrook over parking, the contractor put the place up for sale, which is when Michael Valentine bought it.
It wasn't until 1999 that Valentine opened his law office in the former bait shop. He prepared tax returns and maintained a general business practice, but left the building as is, until he outgrew it in May 2003.
Valentine doubled the size of the space (still small at 600 square feet) by finishing out the second floor, which had been a loft. Two sides of the triangular building are comprised of a metal grid of windows 20 feet tall. There is a rooftop view of Galveston Bay and a 7-foot, chrome-plated shark above the sign indicating Valentine Law Firm. But after $50,000 of renovations by Valentine and more than $100,000 spent by the contractor, many locals still refer to his law office as Curley's Corner.
It was demolished as part of the expansion of Hwy 146 in 2018-2019.