Neighborhood Guessing Game

Homes for Sale
05/21/09 11:51pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game Over: The One That Got Away

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Interiors, Neighborhood Guessing Game, Shepherd Park Terrace
5 Comments

Time’s up! But . . . there’s no winner this week. None of you got it. We’ll keep the prize — a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance — to give away another time.

Where did you think this week’s home was? Meyerland, “some schlubby little neighborhood off West Airport,” Briargrove, “the area just north of I-10, south of 11th street, east of Westcott and west of Durham,” Westbury (2 guesses), Westchase, Nottingham Forest, Oak Forest, Memorial Hollow, Lakeside Estates, Walnut Bend, off 290 and the Beltway, Thornwood, Kirkwood and Briar Forest, the Heights, Clear Lake, Friendswood, “between T.C. Jester, Ella, 11th, and 18th,” First Colony, Fondren Southwest (2 guesses), Willowbrook near S. Post Oak, Willowbend, Willow Meadows, Briarmeadow, Glenshire, “one of the generic Champions wannabe neighborhoods out near Willowbrook or Jones Road,” and “below Woodlake in the neighborhood bounded by Westheimer, Fondren, Gessner & Richmond.”

No dice.

Carol gets an honorable mention for being close, with Oak Forest.

So where is it?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Interiors
05/19/09 11:55am

Neighborhood Guessing Game: That Bowl of Apples

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Neighborhood Guessing Game
23 Comments



Welcome to yet another outside-less Houston home! The prize for this week’s game: A one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance!

How do you play the Neighborhood Guessing Game? You guess the neighborhood! If you guess correctly, you win the prize! If more than one person guesses the correct neighborhood, the player who provided the best explanation wins.

Do you know this home already? If you do, or if you come across it during the week, don’t ruin the game for everyone else by posting the answer. Instead, send Swamplot an email with a link to the listing, so we’ll know what’s up. Then . . . post a super-tricky incorrect guess, just to throw the other players off. If you do this well, you’ll earn special recognition when the answer is announced. And if nobody guesses the actual neighborhood, you could win the prize!

Thanks again to the Rice Design Alliance for sponsoring the prize this week. Ready to see more photos?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Homes for Sale
05/14/09 4:39pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game Over: Padauk Show

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Interiors, Neighborhood Guessing Game, Oak Estates
No Comments

Who won that $345 Made-to-Measure dress shirt from Hamilton Shirts?

This week’s game featured a whole big bunch of Memorial-ish guesses: 3 for Piney Point Village, 2 for Spring Valley, 2 for Bunker Hill Village, 2 for Hunter’s Creek Village, 2 for Memorial and Voss, and 2 for “Memorial just outside the Loop”; plus Hilshire Village, “near the Houston Country Club south of Woodway,” “the Memorial Villages west of Voss in the neighborhoods along Memorial before it joins with San Felipe,” “Memorialish, just inside the beltway,” and off Chimney Rock near Winsome. Then: 4 for Tanglewood, 2 for Briargrove, and 2 for Royden Oaks; and on with Meyerland, Timbergrove Manor, Spring Branch, Oak Estates, Afton Oaks, Riedel Estates, River Oaks just west of River Oaks Boulevard, River Oaks north of San Felipe, Clear Lake, “the area straddling Sage north of Woodway (Pine Shadows?),” “West of Tanglewood, bordered by Yorktown, Sage, San Felipe, and Westheimer,” “San Felipe corridor just inside the Loop,” Braes Heights, Old Braeswood, Walnut Bend, Yorkshire, “near the HCC, north of Woodway, between Shadywood and Brown Saddle,” and West University.

What size are you, David W? You might want to be locating 5700 Richmond on a map, because you’ll be heading to the Hamilton Shirts flagship store there soon to spend your gift certificate for a Made-to-Measure shirt!

Here’s David W’s winning entry:

Wow – this poor house has been remodeled to death. The blue bathroom looks original and places this as 50’s construction. Love the chrome gadget over the sink for toothbrushes and such. The bedroom just above is an addition, the other bathroom with the double sinks is either an addition or has been redone. The blue bedroom may be original but that master bath must be new, too. The office with the brown walls is clearly an add-on as well. Hard to tell how this place is laid out – that one huge family room/dining room/kitchen is so long and the house goes on beyond it. The lot must be pretty big. I would guess Tanglewood but it seems like it was originally a fairly small house. Based on the money they must have spent I think it must be inside the loop – Royden Oaks or Oak Estates. Yep, that’s it.

Congratulations! Next, BenC gets an honorable mention for this guess:

Originally built in the 50’s (blue bath), it has been extensively remodeled, and walls removed. Those wrapped collar ties indicate that the ceiling was lifted, so it is probably a 1 story. Lots of money spent on the remodel means the neighborhood can support it. Maybe too old for Tanglewood, I’m guessing memorial corridor just outside the loop, or san felipe corridor just inside inside the loop

Also in the neighborhood, at the last minute: Aaa, with that “wannabe River Oaks” guess!

We had no fewer than 3 secret agents this week! Special commendations go to ABP, Dana, and Jen, for emailing Swamplot the actual listings, then helping to throw other players off the track with fake guesses — like this one from Dana:

With the secluded feeling and mature landscaping that can be seen through the windows, this certainly has the feel of the Piney Point area as someone has already suggested, but I also feel a Bunker Hill vibe with the extensive (and expensive) remodel. The leather sofa and desk combination area suggests that this room is being used as a home office…… attorney or realtor? Looking at the furnishings and colors used, this is certainly a household with an active interest in the local arts in Houston.

. . . and this from Jen:

Let’s see, big rooms, tons of mature trees, somebody spent some cash to “update.” I’m saying Tanglewood. Plenty of ranch houses left there that have been updated.

What’s the real story?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Interiors
05/12/09 5:07pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game: Desk Job

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Neighborhood Guessing Game
35 Comments

If you win the Neighborhood Guessing Game this week you’ll get a shirt!

But not just any shirt. Houston’s own Hamilton Shirts is donating the prize: a gift certificate for one of the company’s fine Made-to-Measure shirts, valued at $345 — and made in the workshop at the company’s flagship store at 5700 Richmond, near Chimney Rock.

How can you win this prize? Just guess what neighborhood the pictured home is in! If more than one player guesses the correct neighborhood, the prize will go to the player who provided the best explanation for the guess.

If you know this home already — or if you come across it while we’re playing the game — don’t blurt out the answer and ruin the game for everyone else! Instead, send Swamplot an email with a link to the listing, then enter an incorrect guess, just to throw the other players off. Make it sound real plausible, okay? If you do this well, you’ll earn special recognition when we announce the answer. And if nobody guesses the actual neighborhood, you might win the prize!

Ready to play, then? On to the pics!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Homes for Sale
05/07/09 7:30pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game Over: The So Big House

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Interiors, Neighborhood Guessing Game, Twin Lakes
12 Comments

We have a winner — right on the nose! Who gets that RDA membership?

Many excellent — and entertaining — guesses in this week’s competition. There were 4 for The Woodlands and 3 each for Kingwood and Katy. Sugar Land and First Colony each got 2 votes. The rest: Clear Lake, Brook Forest, Cypress, Silverlake, Bellaire, the Energy Corridor, Cinco Ranch, Kelliwood, Bay Oaks in Clear Lake, “north of I-10, directly west of Barker-Cypress Rd., off Parkview Rd.,” “near Barker Cypress,” Barker-Cypress “in the vicinity of Pine Forest Country Club,” Greenhouse, “near a Hobby Lobby,” Missouri City, Lakewood Forest, Pearland, Twin Lakes, Jersey Village, Northgate Forest, Wimberly in Deer Park, the Lakeside area (“1970s early 80s pre bust energy corridor north of Westheimer south of Memorial”), near Fry Rd. south of I-10, Meyerland, below Memorial west of Voss, and Spring.

But BenC wins this week’s prize — a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance — for this enthusiastic entry:

Lots of oversize rooms and a pool make it ideal for energy corridor expats coming over from the dreary cold homeland. An outside picture would show at least one V8 powered car/suv.

Too big for the south of I10 energy corridor, to old (black appliances) for Lakes of Eldridge. I’m guessing twin lakes. Where ever it is the agent should earn a double commission on the sale.

Here’s more detail:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Interiors
05/05/09 2:11pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game: The Shortened Bartender

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Neighborhood Guessing Game
37 Comments

It’s time we played the Neighborhood Guessing Game again, dontcha think? The winner of this week’s round will receive a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance.

Shall we review the rules? Look at the photos in this post. Then guess where the pictured home is. If you guess correctly, you win the RDA membership! If more than one player guesses the correct neighborhood, the player who provided the best explanation for the guess wins.

If you already know this home, or if you come across it while we’re playing, there are special rules for you: Don’t blurt out the answer — it ruins the game for everyone else, and you’ll likely make a lot of other players angry. Instead, send Swamplot an email with a link to the listing. Then, make an incorrect guess, but make it sound plausible. If you do this well and confuse other players in the process, you’ll win special recognition for your talents. And if no one guesses the actual neighborhood, you could win the prize!

On to the photos . . .

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Homes for Sale
04/30/09 11:55pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game Over: Kids These Days

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Interiors, Lancaster Place, Neighborhood Guessing Game
9 Comments

All those Inside-the-Loop guesses meant some of you weren’t too far off the mark in this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game.

The most popular guess was West University, made by 4 of you. The Heights, Winlow Place, and Woodland Heights each attracted 3 guesses. There were 2 guesses each for Rice Military and Highland Village. The rest? Southampton, Southgate, “the area behind the River Oaks shopping mall on West Gray, bordered by Shepherd to the west, Westheimer to the south and Montrose to the east,” “the Hyde Park area behind River Oaks Center,” “the Post Oak/Woodway corridor,” Nantucket, West Lane Place, Montrose, “High End Montrosian,” Mandell Place, “near the Village,” “that vague area between Kirby and Shepherd that is neither River Oaks nor Montrose,” “Audubon Place – around there or east of Montrose at least,” the east side of Montrose, Lynn Park, Weslayan Plaza, “between W. Alabama and 59, somewhere between Shepherd and midtown,” “Kingwood-ish,” “southeast of the Medical Center, off Parkwood,” Midtown around Brazos and Main, “Southmore/Wheeler/288ish,” the Museum District, The Woodlands, Westmoreland, Riverside, Southmore, “on the way to that old cemetery . . . I drive down to get to Lockwood via Leeland . . . near Wayside” (?), St. George Place, “around the Museum District – but east of Montrose,” “along the Gulf Freeway on the east side,” Midtown, and East Houston.

Who was the winner? LT, who humbly asked if “between W. Alabama and 59, somewhere between Shepherd and midtown” was too broad a guess. Not if it’s the only one that’s correct! LT went on to marvel:

I just can’t [get] over how CLEAN the place is – I don’t know anyone with kids who has as little clutter as these people.

Congratulations, LT!

Two players deserve honorable mentions for smart catches. JT, for going that extra step to guess that the house is a “red brick Georgian”; and Starkeshia, for deducing that this was “a new house meant to look old.”

Meant, in fact, to look like this:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Interiors
04/28/09 9:13pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game: Attic Office

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Neighborhood Guessing Game
34 Comments

This week on the Neighborhood Guessing Game we’ll be playing it old school — which means that the winner this time will receive Swamplot’s hearty congratulations, but no fancy prize. Don’t worry . . . the prizefights will return next week.

This match, then, was made for serious contenders. This round is all heart. Think you have what it takes?

Then guess what neighborhood this home is in! If you guess correctly, you win! If more than one player guesses the right neighborhood, the player who provided the best explanation will end up the winner.

Still: If you know this property already or if you come across it under any circumstances while we’re playing the game, don’t blurt out the answer and ruin the game for everyone. Instead, send us an email with a link to the listing — then post an incorrect guess, but make it sound really plausible. If you do this well, you’ll earn special recognition for your obfuscation.

Ready to play? Let’s see a few more of those photos, then!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Home Decor
04/23/09 11:26pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game Over: Hobby Horse

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Interiors, Neighborhood Guessing Game, Skyscraper Shadows
7 Comments

No one guessed the actual neighborhood for this week’s guessing game. But . . . we do have a winner for that Hotel Sorella stay!

There were 2 guesses each for Riverside Terrace, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest, Sharpstown, and Woodside. The rest: “Off Broadway and Bellfort near Hobby Airport,” the Med Center, Sagemont near Beltway 8 and I-45 South, Brookesmith, “around 249 and I-45,” Spring, Glenbrook Valley, Timbergrove Manor, Westbury, Lindale Park, “the neighborhood south of Shaver in Pasadena from Rayburn High School,” Montrose, Webster, Katy, Greenspoint, Eastwood, Garden Villas, Santa Rosa, 77035, 77096, Willowbend, “Winkler/Almeda/South Houston,” Deer Park, Gulfgate, “Lawndale/Wayside,” Westwood, “the area north of 610 between Ella and Shepherd but south of Garden Oaks,” “in the vicinity of Hardy Toll Road and Aldine Mail Route,” Shady Acres, “east of Stella Link, south of the bayou, west of Main,” and Candlelight Oaks.

Alas, none of you mentioned Skyscraper Shadows, directly to the south of Hobby Airport. But Swamplot’s panel of judges — skilled in the art of extracting unintentional meanings from the words of others — was able to twist one of the entries into . . . a prize winner! Of the players who mentioned nearby communities, only one of them included the phrase “near Hobby Airport” in the guess . . . and that was deemed good enough.

Congratulations, Brad! You’ve won an overnight stay for two at the new Hotel Sorella in CityCentre (the new mixed-use development on the site of the former Town & Country Mall at I-10 and the Beltway). And you’ll have a couple of cocktails waiting for you at the hotel’s bar, monnalisa. Thanks to the hotel for sponsoring the prize!

Honorable mentions go to all the runners-up who hung out nearby: Chris, KimmerTX, Lauren, and Miz Brooke Smith.

Wanna take a closer look?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Homes for Sale
04/16/09 11:27pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game Over: Olde Bright Wood

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Interiors, Neighborhood Guessing Game, Olde Oaks
2 Comments

Great guesses, everyone! We have a winner for this week’s game — and a prize sponsored by the Rice Design Alliance.

Many of you favored Forest neighborhoods. There were 3 votes each for Greenwood Forest and Champion Forest, 2 each for Prestonwood Forest and Lakewood Forest, and singles for Ponderosa Forest, Nottingham Forest, Briar Forest, Briar Forest at Kirkwood, Oak Forest, Ella Lee Forest, and Huntwick Forest The rest: Spring Shadows (2 guesses), off Mason Rd. south of I-10 near Kingsland and Highland Knolls in Katy, Nottingham Country (2 guesses), Humble, Inwood North, the northern part of Alief “bounded by HW6, Westheimer, Old Westheimer, and the Westpark Tollroad,” Fountainhead Village, Pasadena (2), Clear Lake, League City, Ashford Hollow, Ashford Village, “Ashford-ish,” Kingwood, Dairy Ashford and Memorial, Quail Valley (2), Richmond, Rosenberg, Williamsburg Settlement, Wilchester (2), Northampton in the Spring/Klein area, Lakewood Glen, Seabrook, Kemah, “right off of Memorial, just past Kirkwood,” Sugar Creek, Memorial, Friendswood, “one of the Fleetwood neighborhoods (Highway 6 and Memorial),” Grogan’s Mill, Olde Oaks, Copperfield, and the Galleria.

The prize this week is a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance. And the winner is . . . Harold Mandell, for this maybe-spot-on entry:

You guys,that parquet EVERYWHERE is a major clue. This is a late 70’s house from the floody part of Olde Oaks.

A hard working family, not born here, but grabbing the dream real fast, bought this big house to live in. But the schools were a disapointment, so they moved to a better school district for their 3 kids (2 spelling bee champs and a valedictorian). Now they are renting the house to newly arrived members of their large family, helpfully furnishing it with leftovers from the couple of budget motels they operate out on 290.

Several other players were very close!

This week’s honorable mentions go to a few players who veered off course, but offered entertaining fiction and commentary: biggerintexas for the compelling if unflattering Pasadena ballad of Stanley and Linda Morris, aurelia_eyre for a sharp account of “the worst house party I was ever forced to attend,” and movocelot, for this contribution:

I think this home DOES, in fact, show how the rich folks lived back in the day (@ jgclark), but why knock it? Today’s French-mediterranean manses will seem ridiculous pretty soon, with their giant cooking hoods & pot-fillers, media rooms nobody uses, and dust-collecting plaster-effects on the walls.

This home’s got a bunch of upgrades… I think the parquet is lovely, the cabinets useful… is that travertine tiles in the Master Bath? And the window in the water-closet is very posh!
There’s a lot of potential here, though still 8’ ceilings…
HO did a tasteful, if DULL, update to their “built-to-survive-WW3” ash-plywood, built-on-site kitchen-cabinets. Personally, I hate granite for c-tops, but I think the color scheme is everything their Realtor told them to shoot for: Blend, baby, blend.

For these reasons I’m supporting this house and vote it should continue on into the Elimination Round!

Okay, show us the house!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Interiors
04/14/09 1:58pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game: Panel Discussion

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Neighborhood Guessing Game
47 Comments

The Neighborhood Guessing Game is ready to roll: The winner this week receives a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance!

The rules, again: You are trying to guess what neighborhood the pictured home is in. If you get it right, you win that RDA membership (you can give it to a friend if you’re already a member). If more than one player gets the neighborhood right, the player who gives the best explanation for the guess wins.

If you know this home already, or if you come across it while the game is being played, don’t spoil the fun for everyone else by posting the answer. Instead, send Swamplot an email with a link to the listing. Then make a guess, but make it a wrong one, to help confuse the other players. Give a convincing explanation for your wrong guess. If you do it well, you’ll win special recognition for your efforts — and if no other player guesses the actual neighborhood, you could win the prize!

More photos below:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Homes for Sale
04/09/09 7:18pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game Over: The Houston Highlands

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Interiors, Inverness Forest, Neighborhood Guessing Game
3 Comments

Which one of you just won a night at La Torretta Del Lago?

We’ll get to that in a moment. But first, a recap of your guesses for this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game. The most popular locations were Nottingham Forest (6 guesses), the Energy Corridor (4), and Spring Shadows (3). Thornwood, Kingwood, Nottingham Country, Lakeside Forest, and Barker’s Landing got two guesses each. The rest: Crestwood, Rice Military, Camp Logan, off Dairy Ashford, near Terry Hershey Park, Wilchester, Westchester, “Dairy Ashford/Wilcrest area,” “the Ponderosa Forest area (1960/Kuykendahl),” Ponderosa Forest, Newport subdivision in Crosby, Briargrove, Tanglewood, Memorial, Spring Branch, Shadow Oaks, Sherwood Oaks, “Braeswood/Bellefontaine area, sorta south West-U-ish,” “north of Memorial, south of I-10 . . . between Gessner and Kirkwood,” Montrose, “one of those out-there, almost Energy Corridor, Memorial Villages,” Nottingham Forest 8, Clear Lake, “the Spring Branch/Shadows area between the Beltway and Gessner in the vicinity of Hammerly Blvd.,” Memorial Meadows, Shepherd Park Plaza, “around the Bear Creek Park area,” Ashford Forest, Olde Oaks, Baytown, Memorial Villages, Hedwig Village, “that bit of Houston proper between Bunker Hill & Gessner above Memorial,” Lakeside Estates, Lakeside Place, Briargrove Park, Walnut Bend, Nottingham, Nottingham West, Memorial Northwest, “somewhere between Gessner, Memorial and I-10,” Champions, Greenwood Forest, College Station, “older Champions, south of 1960, Greenwood Forest, Theall Rd. runs through the area,” “somewhere off Memorial View Drive, just west of Eldridge and Memorial,” “that little old neighborhood . . . tucked in between Memorial Oaks Cemetery and Hershey Park . . . could be a little further west off Barker’s Landing (closer to Hwy 6),” “in the middle of the 1960/Champions/249 asteroid belt . . . a block or two from Champions Forest Shopping Center,” “I45 and Cypresswood, near Spring High School,” “the neighborhood bordered by Kempwood and Hammerly and Campbell and Gessner in Spring Branch,” Memorial and Dairy Ashford, Sharpstown, and Bellaire.

Did you leave anything out?

The winner of an overnight stay with breakfast for two in a Tower suite at the La Torretta Del Lago Resort & Spa on Lake Conroe is . . . Rachel, who sprung this wandering guess on us:

I grew up in a house similar to this style too of Wilcrest and Memorial. How I loved going to the neighborhood pool during the summer. Many have already guessed that area so I am going to guess elsewhere…Hmmm the multiple locks on the front door does translate to either a nervous home owner or an area of town which isn’t the safest. I think my Mom has those exact same chairs in the pictured in the livingroom, she has had her’s reapolstered…All along I45 there are some smaller older neighborhoods closer to the freeway. I would say the Huntsville area, but there aren’t enough pine trees in the backyard…I will go with I45 and Cypresswood, near Spring High School.

Congratulations — and enjoy your stay! Also very close, with guesses of Ponderosa Forest, were Jeff and David. David takes special honors this week for this compelling walkthroughand guess:

I can see why so many are drawn to Kickerillo and the Energy Corridor. I feel like I know this house. Come in the front door, wainscoting in the foyer, formal living on the left, formal dining on the right with a bay window. Continue through to the paneled den with corner fireplace to the left and further to the left the downstairs master on the front and master bath toward the back past all the built-ins. Kitchen and breakfast on the right in the back. Period porcelain pulls on the dark stained kitchen cabinets. Walk through a utility room to the detached garage connected by a breezeway. Office is an upstairs bedroom on the right side front of the house with a door out to the upstairs balcony with a wrought iron railing. Probably four bedrooms up with hollywood baths. I bet there is a pocket door between the dining room and the kitchen.

I don’t think it is in the Energy Corridor, though. Some details are Kickerillo but some don’t seem right like the bay window around the tub. It is the right aluminum framed variety from that era but I don’t remember any houses like that. Kickerillo did some other developments – I am going with Ponderosa Forest due to the lack of recent updates and a feeling in my gut.

Very nice. But probably better to go with this gut feeling:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Interiors
04/07/09 12:47pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game: Fine Dining

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Neighborhood Guessing Game
55 Comments

This will be the 50th Neighborhood Guessing Game Swamplot has hosted. And we’ve got a great prize to give away to the winner!

If you win this week, you’ll receive an overnight stay and breakfast for two in a Tower suite at the La Torretta Del Lago Resort & Spa on Lake Conroe. You’ll also have access to the $130-million waterfront destination’s 3.5-acre Aqua Park, with six swimming and activity pools, including a sandy beach and Lay-Z River Rapids. All courtesy of the resort.

Interested? Ya gotta play to win! As usual: Whoever guesses the location of the home pictured here wins the prize. If more than one player guesses the right neighborhood, the player who provided the best explanation for the guess wins. Simple!

But: Don’t mess with it. If you know this property already, or if you come across it while we’re playing, don’t ruin the game by posting the answer. Instead, send Swamplot an email with a link to the listing, so we know what you’re trying to do. Then post an incorrect guess, but explain it well enough to throw others off the track. If you do this well, you’ll get special recognition when we reveal the answer. And if no one guesses the actual neighborhood, you could win the prize!

That’s all. Now the rest of the photos:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Homes for Sale
04/02/09 5:08pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game Over: Sunshine Ranch

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Interiors, Neighborhood Guessing Game, Spring Branch, Sunshine Ranch Estates
5 Comments

We have a winner . . . and a new member of the Rice Design Alliance!

Here were your guesses for this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game: “Spring Branch south of Long Point, around Antoine, Wirt and Pech,” Spring Branch, Oak Forest (2 guesses), Mangum Manor, Timbergrove Manor, Lazybrook, Garden Oaks, Afton Oaks, “Braeburn/Meyerlandish,” Meyerland, Meyer Park, “Westbury, around Chimney Rock/Willowbend/West Bellfort,” Willowbend (2), Glenbrook Valley, Braeburn Valley West, Westwood, Tanglewilde, Westbury (2), Maplewood, “Spring Valley or above – near Hollister,” Pasadena, “between Willowbend and Bellfort, east of Post Oak, within a half-mile of Willow Park in Willow Meadows,” Tanglewood, Braes Heights, Braes Oaks, “somewhere south of Bellaire Blvd., near Stella Link/Buffalo Speedway,” Braes Terrace, Channelview, Jacinto City, Montgomery near Little York, and “the Woodlake/Briar Meadow area off Richmond inside the Beltway.”

Right off the bat, Brad and CK win a couple of honorable mentions for mentioning Spring Branch. This week’s winner didn’t name that neighborhood explicitly, but came closer to the actual location and gave a better explanation:

I think Brad sorta nailed it but I’m going to move a little to the west & say Spring Valley or above – near Hollister. A cul-de-sac lot – that big bathroom window is looking out on their own garage, so no need for, um, cover. Maybe if you buy the house they’ll throw the RV in as well. Possibly a ravine lot – that’s why the new bathroom, because of flooding in the 90’s?

Congratulations, flake: You just won a one-year membership in the RDA!

A third honorable mention goes to biggerintexas, for this entertaining and entirely plausible (if geographically challenged) commentary:

My favorite part is how the dining room floor magically grew onto the kitchen walls. The bathroom was a project done very recently (hence no window coverings) to help sell this house…if only you could see the before photos of the bathroom when it had gold, textured wallpaper and a red carpet to go with the pistachio colored porcelain. In their defense – the visible “neighbor” is actually the detached garage so unless they have squatters living in their garage they don’t have worry about peeping toms from that particular directions. The house is owned by a couple that is reaching retirement age and they plan to sell their house and dump their furniture so they can take their RV (you can see it from the kitchen window) on a tour of America’s finest petting zoos. Once the furniture gets cleared out this house isn’t so bad but the new owner will have lots of fun removing wallpaper and paneling. Oh, and the house was built around 1960-ish in the Oak Forest neighborhood.

And the actual coordinates?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Interiors
03/31/09 4:41pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game: Animal House

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Neighborhood Guessing Game
24 Comments

The Neighborhood Guessing Game is back! You think it would just disappear?

Our sponsor this week: the Rice Design Alliance. The winner of this week’s game will receive an individual one-year membership to the RDA, which ordinarily costs $45. If you’re already a member and you win, you can give the membership to a friend.

The rules, of course: You are trying to guess the location of the home pictured here. Simple, huh? If you’re right, you win the prize! Unless, of course, someone else also guesses the correct location — in which case whichever player provided the best explanation for the guess wins it.

If you already know this home, or if you come across it while we’re playing the game, please don’t post the answer and ruin the fun for everyone. Instead, send Swamplot an email with a link to the listing. Then, post an incorrect guess — but explain it in a way that makes it sound reasonable. Throw everybody off! If you do it well, you’ll get special recognition for your efforts. And if nobody guesses the right neighborhood, you could win the prize!

Ready to play? Here are just a few more clues:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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