Determining the winner of this week’s game was tough! But the judges have awarded first prize to Sara — and a very close second place to KimmerTX. Congratulations to you both!
We also acknowledge the solid head-fake thrown by kimberlee ann, who knew exactly where this home was, wrote in to say so, then sent gullible readers a-wondering if it might be somewhere along . . . Navigation?
Nope!
So where might it be?
Did that more-than-half-off sale on the Piney Point Village bayou-front estate of Doug and Melanie Johnson work any magic? The cozy 8-bedroom, 10 full- and 3 half-bath playhouse recently disappeared from the MLS, but a Swamplot reader suspects something’s up:
I don’t think it sold because I watch it and I never saw it go into sale pending. I think they gave up trying to sell.
The 21,640-sq.-ft. home at 11682 Arrowwood Circle debuted on the market as a $19 million divorce listing back in 2007. According to a Chronicle blog post last year written by Shelby Hodge, that price was set by now-bankrupt broadcast executive Doug Johnson (his company, Johnson Broadcasting, is the “debtor in possession” of local TV station KNWS). After a couple of uneventful years at the top of the listings, the home’s price was eventually cut to $9.5 million — and the commission doubled to 12 percent — after Melanie wrested the right to control the sale herself.
What does it matter that it’s out of the listings? Really, don’t you think a quirky little property like this would do better in a . . . uh, private offering?
We just know you’ll be wanting to get in one last snoop-through of that 5,701-sq.-ft. 1928 mansion on Chevy Chase that received its demolition permit yesterday. And who is Swamplot to deny you?
Who’da thunk that — try as he might, River Oaks society architect Charles Oliver still couldn’t design something as attractive as the four-fifths-of-an-acre lot he placed it on?
It’s time for yet another Neighborhood Guessing Game, in which Swamplotters compete for fabulous prizes — or, as is the case this sponsor-free week — for uh, fame and glory.
How can you win your moment in the sun? By going inside this home, poking around, then telling us all where it’s located. If more than one of you pinpoint the correct neighborhood, we’ll declare the player who provided the best explanation for the guess the winner.
This is, of course, a guessing game. If you’re not guessing — if you know this house already, or if you come across it searching online — please don’t blurt out the answer and ruin the game for everyone else. Instead, how about having a little fun with it? Send Swamplot an email with a link to the listing, then submit an incorrect guess — the kind that’s likely to throw other players off track. If you do this well, you’ll get special recognition when the winner is announced. And if nobody guesses the actual neighborhood, that winner could be you!
And now, the rest of the photos:
So many pretty close guesses in this week’s game, but we’re awarding the prize to the player who came the closest of all. Flake, congratulations! You’ve just won a one-year individual membership in the NGG’s longtime sponsor, the Rice Design Alliance!
Is this place really (as commenter Phil put it) the “MOST. INNOCUOUS. HOME. EVER.”?
Have a look and judge for yourself. There’s no harm in that.
More photos of unknown homes — and you get to guess the location! That’s how we play the Neighborhood Guessing Game: Guess right and you’ll win a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance! Guess wrong and . . . well, hey — it won’t hurt you!
We’ll resolve any ties in this game by awarding the prize to the player who guesses the correct neighborhood and provides the best explanation for the guess. And if you already know this property, please don’t mess with us by blurting out the answer. Instead, mess with the other players — by sending us an email with a link to the listing (so we know what you’re up to) and then submitting a valiant but incorrect guess. If you do this well enough to sway or fake out a reader or two, you’ll be awarded special recognition when the winner is announced. And if nobody comes up with the correct neighborhood, that winner could be you!
Let’s poke around a bit and see if anyone’s home, shall we?
A couple readers recently suggested we host a “Swamplot Posters’ Living Room Views” feature, “so that names can be connected to spaces…†Even though something like that might be fun, most of our readers are likely not especially interested in outing the dowdy, dusty, or ultra-mod couches of commenters’ own homes.
But it may be worthwhile to repeat what longtime Swamplot readers likely already know: We’re more than happy to publish photos of our readers’ design creations (anonymously or not, as you wish). If you’ve got a breakfast room or a tiny apartment or a garden or a bedroom you put together that you’d like to share with more people than you could otherwise fit into the space, send us some pix and a brief description of what you think is notable about it.
And if you know someone with more than the usual something goin’ on in the furniture or home decor department, why not give that person a little push? Have your talented friend drop us a line. If you’ve got something interesting to show, hordes of curious Swamplot readers are gonna be eager to take a peek!
Our winner in this week’s game was Señorbanity. Congratulations — you’re the newest member of the Rice Design Alliance — via a one-year individual membership donated by the organization. Thank you, RDA! We’ll also recognize a neighborly guess and award second place to Jayci.
Sweet! So where can you find this home?
We’ve got 13 interior photos of a home to show you. Can you tell us where it is? If you can guess it, there’s a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance in it for you!
What happens if more than one of you guess the correct neighborhood? The RDA prize will go to the player who gave the best explanation with the guess.
What if you already know this home — or if you come across the answer while we’re playing the game? Well then, please don’t just blurt out the answer and ruin the fun for all the other players. Instead, play this screwy version of the game: Send us an email with a link to the listing; then post an incorrect guess — but make it sound plausible, just to throw other players off! If you do this well, you’ll get special recognition when the winner is announced. And if nobody guesses the actual location, that winner could be you!
A dozen more pix, coming up!
The winner of this week’s game is EllieMae. Congratulations! And Kevin, you’re our runner-up.
So where is this home?
We’re all ready to go with this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game! All you need to do is have a gander at these photos, then decide where the pictured home is located.
If you guess correctly, we’ll declare you the winner and give you a hearty virtual pat on the back. But we’re only patting one back here: If more than one player guesses the correct neighborhood, the person who provided the best explanation for the guess will be declared the winner.
As usual, this is a game for guessers. If you already know this property, or if you find it online while we’re playing, please don’t blurt out the answer and ruin the fun for everyone else. Instead, you’re invited to mess with the game a bit — provided you follow these rules: First, send Swamplot a link to the listing, so we know what you’re trying to do. Then submit an incorrect guess, to throw the other players off. Just make it sound super plausible. If you do this well, you’ll earn special recognition when the winner is announced. And if nobody guesses the actual neighborhood, that winner could be you!
Here are the rest of the pix:
The judges for this week’s game declare . . . that we have a winner! Miz Brooke Smith, you get the prize: a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance. Congratulations!
(Thanks also to flake, for writing this post’s headline!)
So where is this place?
Ubiquitous design blogger Joni Webb hyperventilates over the March issue of Veranda magazine, which features actual interior pics of the house Kay O’Toole had built behind her Kay O’Toole Antiques & Eccentricities shop. The shop is in the building with the rounded corners next to the Firkin & Phoenix Pub parking lot at 1921 Westheimer:
I had heard the blogosphere mumbling about this Veranda showing Kay O’Toole’s new house and that was what had my mouth watering like Edward’s whenever Bella is around. Honestly, I’ve been waiting over two years for this issue!
O’Toole owns a French antique shop housed in a 1920s brick building that was once home to several different businesses. Through the years, she eventually acquired the entire building and tore down the dividing walls – creating a long and narrow haven for the best of what France, and now Belgium, Sweden, and Italy have to offer.
O’Toole’s single-story, one-bedroom stucco home — designed by Murphy Mears Architects — is another long and narrow haven, modeled after something O’Toole saw in New Orleans’s French Quarter: It’s one room deep, and backs up to the property’s back fence.
Couldn’t Webb have just charmed her way inside, camera in hand? Oh, she’d tried that:
If it’s Tuesday, this must be the Neighborhood Guessing Game! This week the winner of the game will get a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance. Are you in it to win it?
If so, simply look at these photos and tell us where the pictured home is located. If more than one of you come up with the correct answer, the RDA prize will go to the player who provided the best explanation for the guess.
But the winner’s got to be guessing. If you’ve seen or heard of this home before, or if you come across it while we’re playing the game, please don’t blurt out the answer and ruin all the fun for everyone else. Instead, try this trick: Send Swamplot an email with a link to the listing — so we’ll know what you’re doing. Then, add an incorrect guess, explained just sharply enough to throw other players off the scent. If you do this well, you’ll earn special commendation when the winner is announced. And if nobody guesses the actual neighborhood, that winner could be you!
Ready to play?
“Beautiful corner lot, gorgeous oak trees. House has been added onto and has 8 ft ceilings,” begins the terse listing for this 80-year-old property with a $1.6-million asking price on live-oak-lined South Blvd. It’s part of the newly declared historic district portion of Boulevard Oaks.
A 4,270-sq.-ft. home with lowish ceilings — is that a problem? Nothing you can’t make up for by taking your interior shots from atop a stepstool:
