How valuable is the grandiose mansion of the Houston power couple once visited by Barack Obama?

The Houston power couple, John and Becca Thrash, have been the talk of the town for nearly three decades due to their lavish parties hosted at their bespoke mansion.

 

The mansion, which has played host to several high-profile personalities such as George H.W. Bush, Barack Obama, Tom Brady, George Clooney, and Anna Wintour, is up for auction next month with a guide price of $19.5 million.

John Thrash, the CEO of the Houston-based green energy company eCORP International, and Becca Cason Thrash, a renowned hostess, met in 1995 at a party. At that time, John was constructing an enormous house on four separate lots in Houston’s upscale Memorial neighborhood.

 

As everything is bigger in Texas, John transformed and significantly expanded a five-thousand-square-foot structure, which was originally built by the famous local architect Preston Bolton, who was known for his mid-century Mexican hacienda-style homes, into a modern extravaganza almost four times the size.

 

 

The house features an intricate design fusion that incorporates a variety of elements from architectural giants such as I.M. Pei, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

The result is an ideal party palace with numerous water features and high-quality materials like granite, slate, and rift-sawn oak that pay tribute to the natural world beyond the glass walls.

The house has three wings: a set of low-rise rooms at the front, which comprises bedrooms, bathrooms, and a study; the middle section, which contains the reception rooms, including several living rooms, a library, a dining room, and an indoor pool; and the back, where the private two-story primary suite is located. The estate features 18,113 square feet, three bedrooms, six bathrooms, and four powder rooms, all on 3.62 acres of land.

 

 

In 2002, Texas Monthly described the new dwelling as “a flat-roofed, granite-and-slate showplace with skylights, two-story windows, imposing oak-and-stainless-steel furniture, large marble tables engraved with quotations (‘The greatest dreams are realized by those who have the ability to dream greatly’), glass floors that had to be constantly cleaned, and a ‘pool room’ that contained not billiard tables but a 22- by 44-foot indoor swimming pool.”

Despite the mansion’s grandeur, Becca Thrash remains refreshingly modest. In a 2002 interview with Texas Monthly, when asked about her 2,000-square-foot professional-grade kitchen, Mrs.

Thrash said, “I don’t know that much about it. John and I go out to eat almost every night.” When asked if she ever swam in the indoor pool, she said, “Oh, God, no, it’s too cold. I’ve never put my big toe in there.”

The opulent estate, which includes a guesthouse called “The Treehouse,” has never been previously offered for sale. It will be sold via Sotheby’s Concierge Auctions in collaboration with Jay Monroe of Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Realty.