02/16/10 10:32am

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:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

02/11/10 4:04pm

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?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

02/09/10 5:18pm

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?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

02/04/10 7:04pm

MariaO was the first to name the Yorkshire in this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game. Which means she’s our . . . runner-up! First prize goes to DavidW and his exhaustive descriptions of this west-side home. Congratulations to you both!

Wanna see more details?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

02/02/10 2:03pm

And we are back for another round. Are you ready to play?

You’ll win this game if you tell us where this home is located. If more than one of you guess the correct location, we’ll declare the player who provided the best explanation for the guess the winner. (Yeah, no fancy prize this week.)

If you already know this property, or if you come across it while we’re playing, please don’t be a spoilsport and blurt out the answer. Instead, send us an email with a link to the listing, and then post an incorrect guess. If you do this well — throwing other players off the scent — you’ll get special recognition when the winner is announced. And if nobody guesses the actual location, that winner could be . . . you!

Are you ready to play? You know you want to . . .

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

01/28/10 4:31pm

None of you guessed the location of this week’s mystery home. But . . . we do have a winner of that one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance!

Two readers sent in links to the listing — and helped to mix things up by posting fake guesses. We’ll award the prize to Jennifer, who did so first, and volunteered some extended commentary about the property:

I’ve actually been to see this house. I haven’t been inside, but drove to find the property to see what in the world it was after seeing it on har.com

It’s sort of an island paradise. It’s bounded on the east by a creek and on the west and south by a drainage ditch. It borders another property to the north. The house in the pictures is the main house, but there is another ramshackle house on the property plus the barn.

The entire area is smack in the middle of the revamped FEMA flood maps 100-year floodplain. A neighbor came out and told us that the area had never flooded and that they are in the middle of fighting it in the courts because the change in the flood maps has decimated their property values.

I have no idea if it would be safe to live in this area. We drove the entire area to get a look at it from all sides. The street itself is kind of isolated and the neighbor said it was safe, but just across the drainage ditch on the west side is the kind of apartment complex that shows up on the news, and not in a good way.

Thanks and congratulations, Jennifer! Karen came up with the other fake guess. We’ll call her the runner-up.

And now the details:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

01/26/10 3:36pm

Think you might be able to guess the location of this home? There’s a Rice Design Alliance membership in it for ya!

Yep, the RDA will provide a free one-year individual membership to the player who wins this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game. What happens if more than one of you guesses the correct neighborhood? The prize will go to the player who provided the best explanation for his or her guess.

If you already know this property, or if you come across the listing, don’t blab about it and ruin the game for everyone else. Instead, send Swamplot a link to the listing; then post a convincing but wrong guess. If you do this well, you’ll get special recognition when the winner is announced. And if nobody guesses the correct neighborhood, that winner could be you!

Just a few more pictures to pore over:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

01/21/10 10:56pm

All hail the winner of this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game: Ms Cleo! Well, we promised you glory if you won. Now’s your moment to shine. Congratulations!

Some lovely sleuthing and commentary appeared in this week’s round. Our runner-up, Claire de Lune, was oh so very close but ended up on the wrong side of Shepherd.

Want to see a little more of this home . . . say, the outside?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

01/19/10 9:45am

It’s time to get ready for this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game! There’s no booty for winning this round, but there is glory!

And you and your booty can bask in that glory if you can guess where the pictured home is. If more than one of you guesses the correct location, we’ll reflect the glory onto the player who provided the best explanation with the guess.

Do you know this home already? If you do, or if you come across it while we’re playing the game, please don’t mess with everyone by blurting out the answer. Instead, you can mess with everyone a better way: First, send us a link to the listing, so we know what you’re up to. Then make an incorrect guess, but make it good. If your guess and explanation are good enough to fool a few other hapless players, we’ll award your efforts a special commendation when the winner is announced. And if nobody guesses the actual neighborhood, that winner could be . . . you!

Shall we poke around a little? This way, please:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

01/14/10 2:06pm

Congratulations to the winner of this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game: Helen. And what did she win? Just a one-year membership in the Rice Design Alliance! Our thanks to the RDA, for providing the prize!

Great guesses, everyone. Where is this place?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

01/12/10 2:24pm

Tuesday is Neighborhood Guessing Game day! And the winner this week gets a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance!

All you need to do is guess where this home is. If more than one of you guesses correctly, the prize will go to the player who provided the best explanation for the guess.

If you already know this home, or if you come across its listing while we’re playing the game, please don’t blurt out the answer and ruin the game for all the other hapless guessers. Instead, shoot Swamplot an email with a link to the listing — so we know what you’re up to. Then mess with everyone else by posting an incorrect guess that sounds plausible! 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!

Here’s the rest of the house:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

01/07/10 8:24pm

Here we go with our new faster format Neighborhood Guessing Game results post: The winner of this week’s prize — free enrollment in the “Houston’s History Told Through Its Architecture” course at the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University — is katie. Congratulations — and many thanks to the Glasscock School for sponsoring the prize!

This week’s guesses were full of brilliant and entertaining observations. And we give special mention to Porchman and AKane, both of whom ran interference with well-constructed fake guesses they concocted after writing in with the actual listing.

So much fun! Where is this week’s swingin’ pad?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

01/05/10 2:23pm

It’s a new year for Swamplot’s Neighborhood Guessing Game! And this time we have a new sponsor: The Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University. If you win this week’s game, you’ll get free enrollment in the spring course “Houston’s History Told Through Its Architecture.” The class meets from 7 to 8:30 pm on the Rice campus for eight Mondays, from February 22nd to April 26th. Ordinarily, the course fee is $165 — or $155 if you sign up by February 8th.

Are you ready to play, then? Same rules: If you guess the location of the pictured home, you win! If more than one person guesses the correct location, the player with the best explanation for the guess wins.

If you already know this property, or if you come across it while we’re playing the game, please don’t blurt out the answer and ruin the game for everyone else. Instead, send Swamplot a link to the listing. Then submit an incorrect guess, but make it sound plausible! 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!

Here are a few more photos for you to study:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

12/10/09 9:43pm

Who won the prize for this week’s game — a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance?

Somebody who made one of these guesses: Memorial, Bunker Hill Village, Piney Point Village, Sugar Land, Champions (2 guesses), Charnwood, the San Felipe and Voss area, Katy, Cinco Ranch, “Memorial/Kirkwood area,” “Memorial/Dairy Ashford area,” Richmond Ave. inside the Beltway, Riverside Terrace, Fleetwood (2), Quail Valley, Greenwood Forest, Hedwig Village, Ponderosa Forest, Timbergrove Manor, along Sims Bayou near the Gulf Freeway, “Memorial Northwest, just north of Louetta and off of Champion Forest,” and Sandalwood.

Congratulations to Phil Hyde, for winning with this:

This house has some obvious updates, like the granite countertops. But the herringbone floors and wood paneling scream 70’s. Very typical of houses in Fleetwood.

Would you like your membership wrapped? Also guessing Fleetwood was this week’s runner-up, KimmerTX.

Let’s have a look:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY