Neighborhood Guessing Game: Desk Job

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!

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Think you know where this home might be? Think again!

Okay, now: Enter your guess in the comments! We’ll announce the answer — and the winner — on Thursday!

Update, 5/14: The answer has been posted!

Photos: HAR

35 Comment

  • Okay, I’ll start if off but I reserve the right to change my mind. Obvious re-do of ’70 ranch with ceilings raised. Bedroom may have once been a garage. Big overhangs. Decorated in a style that a minimaliast friend of mine refers to as “high queen.” I know this isn’t a clever or creative guess, but it just seems so Briargrove.

  • So many rooms…so many red Persian rugs! This couple obviously has so much stuff that they have outgrown their 4,000sqft house in Tanglewood and are upgrading to a larger 8,000sqft house in River Oaks. Screw the recession!

  • I can see this one in meyerland or maybe Timbergrove. Spring Valley/Branch would work too. Late 60’s/70’s big ranch redo.

  • Great gift.

    Spring Valley, original ranch style house updated.

  • Nope, this couple is still hanging on in Tanglewood. They might have built some add-ons to this house, but they are still not quite River Oaks material.

    Though with that much clutter they probably do need an 8,000 sq ft pad. The naked lady over the bathtub is a nice touch.

  • OOOPS, CK beat me to it, so Spring Valley off Westview. Maybe even Hillshire Village.

  • Getting fancy with the prizes now, aren’t we? This is a big house, originally built in the 60s. Huge lot, lots of trees, lots of money. I’ll say Hunter’s Creek Village.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Dayum, dat place iz fancy! Afton Oaks.

  • I’ll say Piney Point.

  • I’m limited but if I stick to my Memorial area possibilities I’ll say a massive redo in Riedel Estates near Memorial City. I can totally see it tucked in somewhere off Chimney Rock near Winsome but I’ll stick with Riedel.

  • Yeah, it looks contemporary on the inside, and for a minute I thought it might have been 4012 Willowick because of the columns. But it’s not. And the columns are too “colonial” and seem strange in a contemporary house. So what is it? It’s big, on a big lot, and has had a lot of money thrown at it. And the blue bathroom does look awfully old. Judging from the furnishings, though, it’s serious money. River Oaks. Just west of River Oaks Boulevard, maybe Del Monte, Chevy Chase, Inverness, or Olympia. Probably built in 1962 and extensively remodeled at least twice.

  • Owned by a former astronaut, this house is in Clear Lake.

  • Interesting home—can’t wait to see the outcome of this one. Like many others I will speculate that it was built in the late 1950’s and extensively remodelled and enlarged. Kind of an odd mix of furnishings from Country French to 18th Century to transitional to funky (those dueling china cabinets in the dining area and the art).
    My guess is the area straddling Sage north of Woodway (Pine Shadows?).

  • West of Tanglewood. Bordered by Yorktown and Sage, east to west; San Felipe and Westheimer, north to south.

  • My spirit guide leads me to choose – Bunker Hill Village.

  • Why do all the pictures look as if the photographer was on his/her knees? The vantage point for most of the images is that of a 6 year old child. Is this done to make the ceilings seem higher than they are?

  • Memorial and Voss area. Old ranch, living room with fireplace has been enlarged. Family room was the garage.

  • WOW! This house has had a lot of money invested into it including the furnishings. Someone loves to decorate. No children in this home so that would rule out the Villages and Briargrove. Hmmm….I think this house was updated awhile ago due to the fact that so many ’50s homes aren’t being remodeled like this anymore and are torn down or lived in for future land value. This house has to be located near the Houston Country Club south of Woodway for sure.

  • I’m with the people who are guessing the Memorial Villages. I’m not sure what the neighborhood is called but I think this is in there west of Voss in the neighborhoods along Memorial before it joins with San Felipe.

    I’m holding back on any snarky comments about the owners’ aesthetic decisions, but I feel compelled to say that I really do like that kitchen!

  • OK, the paint, persian rugs, and ornate everything do say River Oaks to me…but, I think this was do-it-yourself decor. Not quite enough money to hire a professional.

    So…I will go with a re-done rancher, Memorialish, just inside the beltway.

  • 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

  • Braes Heights, Old Braeswood, redone ranch house near the Med Center.

    I’m going to go on a limb for the backstory. This is a Indian-American family who has been in the states a long time. Why an Indian heritage….the love of bright colors, prints, and ornate furniture and rugs. The husband (and possibly wife, too) is a successful doctor in the Med Center, thus the high end carpets and furniture. Kids are grown and are off at an Ivy League school.

  • The backyard looks to big to be in Tanglewood. I’m guessing this is in Piney Point Village, most likely really close to the Kinkaid School, eg where Memorial meets San Felipe.

  • Ranch style in Memorial area, like those on Friar Tuck or Little John, just outside the loop, maybe even into Hunter Creek

  • Definitely Briargrove

  • Bet it backs up to a bayou: No drapes = Total privacy.

  • is that a steam shower?? is that a steam shower??

    this gem is in river oaks on the north side of San Felipe. some nice winding street like Lazy lane or West lane.

  • My immediate thought was Tanglewood because of the overuse of those boring yet annoying slim columns, but I’ll guess a little farther out and say Walnut Bend or Yorkshire..

  • I’m going to say it’s near the HCC, north of Woodway, between Shadywood and Brown Saddle. I agree with most posters that this is a 50s house with a super duper remodel. I think I see a pool back there but no sign of kids. They’re gone. Somebody, probably her, wanted a new house but couldn’t quite let go of the old one and the old neighborhood. I’m kind of curious about the master bath with the shower and toilet closet. Through the opaque glass you can see the paintings hanging in there. And the transom over the door is a nice touch for venilation. I’m not going with R.O. because the fridge is not counter depth and the ceiling fans are fake mission glass fans by Hunter that you can get at Home Depot.

  • 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.

  • Ok, I’ll lob in a late guess – West U, east of Mercer

  • Memorial and Voss.

  • Changed my mind — the art and decor is too inner loop, wannabe River Oaks. Royden Oaks or the area west of Willowick before the train tracks.