Brian Cushing spent a decade as one of the most physical linebackers in the NFL. His career with the Houston Texans left a clear footprint across the Texas real estate market — two properties, two distinct chapters, and a combined real estate story that gives a clear picture of how a top-tier NFL player thinks about home ownership.
This article covers everything you need to know about the Brian Cushing house: the Missouri City waterfront estate he purchased as a rookie, its complete list of features, why it was put on the market, and the West University Place home he moved into next.
Who Is Brian Cushing?
Brian Cushing was selected 15th overall in the 2009 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans. He played inside linebacker and quickly established himself as one of the defense’s most important players. In his debut season, he was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week twice and earned NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
His career was marked by dominant stretches and significant injuries — most notably a torn ACL in 2012 and another serious knee injury in 2016. Despite those setbacks, he played with the Texans for nearly a decade before retiring.
He met his wife Megan while both attended the University of Southern California. She played soccer there. They married and had children during his playing years, and those life changes directly shaped the real estate decisions he made during his career.
The Missouri City House: Brian Cushing’s First Texas Property
Location and Community
Just before the start of his rookie season, Brian Cushing purchased a Mediterranean-style home in the Sienna Village of Waters Lake subdivision in Missouri City, Texas. Missouri City sits southwest of Houston, and the Waters Lake community is a gated, master-planned development where residents get controlled access, landscaped common areas, and waterfront settings along a private lake system.
The address was 26 Commanders Cove — a name that, in hindsight, fits a linebacker rather well.
The area is highly sought after, known for its luxurious homes and picturesque landscapes, providing a serene atmosphere ideal for families.
Size and Basic Stats
The golf course home includes a swimming pool and spa, a three-car garage, and has approximately 7,109 square feet. The home was listed for $1,575,000 prior to the sale.
To put that in perspective: over 7,000 square feet means the house is roughly the size of four average American single-family homes stacked together. For a 22-year-old buying his first home after being drafted, it was an aggressive purchase — but the kind that made sense for someone expecting a long NFL career.
Exterior and Architecture
The home’s exterior follows a Mediterranean design language — stone and stucco construction, a tiled roof, and large windows across the facade. The lakefront property features a first-floor veranda and a second-floor covered balcony that overlook the pool, spa, and lake.
The outdoor pool is designed with near-infinity edges, creating the visual impression that the water flows directly into the lake behind the property. The patio and pool look almost like an infinity edge flowing into the lake, with a spa that serves as ideal recovery space.
The three-car garage adds practical storage without disrupting the home’s exterior appearance. Combined with the gated community setting, the property reads as substantial but not ostentatious from the outside.
Interior Layout: Ground Floor
A grand foyer lined in marble flows into the general formal areas, including a custom kitchen with stainless steel appliances.
The kitchen was built around high-end integrated appliances alongside stainless steel fixtures, with granite countertops throughout. Formal dining and living areas sit adjacent to the kitchen, designed for hosting larger groups. The breakfast area and den face the veranda and pool, connecting the indoor living space visually to the outdoor areas.
The home features a nearly 500-square-foot master bedroom and an attached bath with vaulted ceilings. That master suite is located on the ground floor — a practical layout for a professional athlete who needed easy access to recovery-focused amenities without climbing stairs after hard practice sessions.
Upper Level: Entertainment and Views
The upper floor is where the home shifts from comfortable to genuinely impressive. Perched above the foyer is a media room and game room with balcony views of a lake and the backyard pool.
The game room is a full competition-grade space, while the media room steps things up further. The in-house movie theater features a wet bar, allowing residents to serve drinks without leaving the entertainment space. Theater-style seating faces a proper projection setup, not just a large television.
The covered second-floor balcony connects directly to the game room and media room, giving the upper level an indoor-outdoor flow that mirrors the ground floor’s veranda arrangement.
Technology and Security
The property includes a home automation system and a state-of-the-art security system with surveillance cameras. The automation system installed was Crestron — a professional-grade platform that manages lighting, climate, audio, video, and access control from a unified interface. This is the same technology found in high-end commercial and luxury residential builds across the country, not a consumer-grade smart home product.
The security layer includes multiple surveillance cameras positioned around the property. Given that Cushing was a recognizable professional athlete in the Houston market, the combination of gated community access and in-home surveillance made practical sense.
Wine Storage
The property also includes a dedicated wine vault — a climate-controlled space built specifically for long-term wine storage. This separates the home from standard luxury builds that might include a wine rack or refrigerator. A proper vault controls humidity and temperature precisely enough to age bottles over years rather than months.
Why Was the Missouri City House Listed for Sale?
In January 2013, Cushing listed the Missouri City property at approximately $1.3 million. The timing raised questions because his 2012 season had ended early due to a torn ACL — the second major knee injury of his career.
Two practical factors drove the decision. First, Cushing, his wife Megan, and their newborn baby called the Mediterranean-style estate home — and with a growing family, the suburban location in Missouri City, roughly 30 minutes from central Houston, had become a logistical consideration. Second, his contract was approaching expiration after the 2013 season, which gave the couple reason to reassess their long-term living situation.
The listing attracted significant media attention at the time, with some speculation about whether it signaled uncertainty about his future with the Texans. The team’s official website responded by publicly reaffirming his role on the defense and his expected return from injury.
The Missouri City home was eventually de-listed before being sold, and the Cushings moved on to a different Houston-area property.
The West University Place Home: Brian Cushing’s Second Houston Property
The Move Up
Brian Cushing, the Houston Texans’ inside linebacker, purchased a home in Houston for $2.2 million. Public records show that Cushing closed on the house late in May. The sale closed in May 2014, just after the couple welcomed their second child.
The new property sat in West University Place — known locally as “West U” — a distinct city surrounded by Houston that functions as one of the most affluent residential communities in the greater Houston area.
Property Details
The three-story home spans 5,435 square feet and is comprised of four bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms. While smaller in square footage than the Missouri City property, the West University location trades suburban sprawl for proximity to Houston’s urban core, medical center, and Rice University.
The home was a new construction at the time of purchase. The listing originally showed only floor plans and a sketch of the house, meaning the Cushings committed to the property before it was fully built — a sign of confidence in the builder and the neighborhood.
Interior features included a chef’s kitchen, a formal living room, a dining room, a library or study, a game room, a wine cellar, and a spiral staircase connecting the three floors. An elevator shaft was also built into the structure, designed to be activated if needed rather than installed immediately — a forward-thinking architectural choice that adds long-term usability to the home.
Why West University Place?
The shift from Missouri City to West University Place reflects a clear change in priorities. Missouri City offers more land, lower density, and larger homes at lower prices per square foot. West U offers smaller footprints but significantly higher land value, top-rated schools, walkable streets, and direct access to Houston’s most sought-after cultural and commercial areas.
For a family with two young children and a career in central Houston, the trade-off made obvious sense. The Cushing family moved closer to the city, upgraded the neighborhood profile, and paid a higher price for the convenience and long-term value that West University Place consistently delivers.
Brian Cushing’s Real Estate Timeline at a Glance
- 2009: Purchased the Missouri City waterfront estate before his rookie season; approximately 7,109 sq ft; listed at $1,575,000
- 2013: Listed the Missouri City property for sale at approximately $1.3 million following his ACL injury; later de-listed
- 2014: Purchased the West University Place home for $2.2 million; approximately 5,435 sq ft; newly built three-story traditional
The pattern is straightforward: a large suburban estate bought on the strength of a new NFL contract, a reassessment after injury and a growing family, and a move to a more urban, family-oriented neighborhood at a higher price point.
What the Brian Cushing House Tells You About NFL Real Estate Decisions
Most NFL players make their first major real estate purchase within months of being drafted — often before they understand the local market or have a clear picture of where they want to live long-term. Cushing followed this pattern with the Missouri City purchase in 2009.
What sets his story apart is the deliberate correction. Rather than staying in a home that no longer fit his life, or selling into a weak position after his injury, he held the Missouri City property through uncertainty and made the move to West U when the timing was right. The second purchase was smaller in square footage but stronger in location, better positioned for long-term appreciation, and more directly suited to his family’s actual daily life.
That progression — from a statement home to a strategic one — is a more disciplined real estate approach than many professional athletes take.
Conclusion
The Brian Cushing house is really two properties: the Missouri City waterfront estate that defined his early years in Houston, and the West University Place home that reflected a more settled, family-focused version of the same career. Both properties were bought at premium prices, both were in gated or exclusive communities, and both were outfitted at a level that matched his All-Pro profile.
The Missouri City home remains the more visually striking of the two — a 7,000-plus square foot Mediterranean estate with a private pool, lakefront views, a home theater, a wine vault, and a full Crestron automation system. It is the property most associated with the Brian Cushing name in Texas real estate circles, and for good reason. It is a serious house.
The West University Place home is the quieter, smarter move. Less square footage, better zip code, and a clear acknowledgment that where you live matters more than how much space you have.