Glenwood Cemetery

With gently rolling hills, wildlife and all manner of vegetation, the 19th century park-style cemetery holds as much Houston history as it does beauty. On the latest episode of Looped In, the Chronicle's Nancy Sarnoff talks with Dick Ambrus, Glenwood's longtime executive director, about the business of operating a cemetery and what it costs to be buried there. They then jump in a golf cart with tour guide Jim Parsons to visit the grave sites of Howard Hughes, Bob McNair, William Ward Watkin and others famous Houstonians. Listen by using the player on this page, or search for "Looped In" on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app and click subscribe. ...

On 88 acres near the edge of downtown, a 30 square-foot parcel — roughly the footprint of a walk-in closet — sells for as much as $50,000. It’s set on a lake, has postcard views of the downtown skyline and is just big enough to hold a casket and two urns. “It’s kind of like buying a house. It’s all about location,” Richard Ambrus, executive director of Glenwood Cemetery, said on a recent tour of the historic property tucked between Buffalo Bayou and the bars along Washington Avenue. Ambrus, who took over cemetery operations in 1983, has overseen a series of significant upgrades over the years, including developing new sections, improving drainage systems and adding the lake. Since he’s been at the helm of the storied cemetery, lot prices at Glenwood have climbed more than 1,000 percent. More Information Glenwood CemeteryYear established: 1871Size: 88 acresNumber of interments: more than 24,000Notable interred: Charlotte Baldwin Allen, George R. Brown and Herman Brown, Oveta Culp Hobby, Roy Hofheinz, Caroline Wiess Law, Glen McCarthy, Howard Hughes, William Ward Watkin, Bob McNair, Denton Cooley, George Hermann, William P. HobbyAddress: 2525 Washington Ave. Now, Ambrus is launching another project likely to add even more value to Glenwood, the historic resting place of many of the city’s most notable names: Bob McNair, Denton Cooley, George Hermann, William P. Hobby and arguably its most famous, Howard Hughes. The nonprofit foundation that controls Glenwood has approved construction of a family and visitors’ center. The new building, to ...