Neighborhood Guessing Game: Office Managers

Neighborhood Guessing Game 32: Office

Do you recognize this home? If you do, please check out the rules of this here little weekly contest.

If you don’t, congratulations! You’re ready to play Swamplot’s Neighborhood Guessing Game!

The rest of the photos are a real treat. Study them carefully . . . then make your brilliant guess: Where is this place?

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Neighborhood Guessing Game 32: Entry

Neighborhood Guessing Game 32: Living Room

Neighborhood Guessing Game 32: Den

Neighborhood Guessing Game 32: Dining Room

Neighborhood Guessing Game 32: Kitchen

Neighborhood Guessing Game 32: Breakfast Room

Do you have a sense of this place now? Have you noticed all the clues hiding in the photos?

Neighborhood Guessing Game 32: Master Bedroom

Neighborhood Guessing Game 32: Bedroom

Neighborhood Guessing Game 32: Bedroom

Neighborhood Guessing Game 32: Game Room

Neighborhood Guessing Game 32: Laundry Room

So . . . what’s your guess? Where is it — and what makes you think so?

Your answers go in the comments. The answer arrives on Thursday.

Update: The answer has been posted!

Photos: HAR

56 Comment

  • Yay!!!! Taxidermy room!

  • Definitely old people house. Built in 50’s or early 60’s. I’m thinkin Garden Oaks or Spring Branch.

  • I am thinking either Meyerland or over off of Braeswood near the Braeburn CC.

  • Good grief… an actual WALKER in the first shot. Definitely ex-great white hunter Grandpa Jones’ place. Notice he hasn’t touched a thing since Ma passed last year and the kids are making him go to the “home” as it is too much to maintain the place in… Bellaire.

  • Looks like it could be the right age for Garden Villas, the hood between Telephone and Mykawa northwest of Hobby.

  • Wow… its a time warp. Did they ever buy anything since 1954? Its like looking through an old photo album from when my parents were kids. Reminds me of the movie “Blast from the Past” and these are pictures from the nuclear shelter. I’ll guess Braeswood.

  • I’ll say Glenbrook. The house is pretty swanky, circa mid 50s. If there’s an estate sale, I wanna be there.

  • For some reason I want to say a residential tower, but then I saw a slanted ceiling.

  • I would just like to second Carol’s call for estate sale notification. I really want another green velveteen couch. That’s right, I said ANOTHER. And for giggles I’m going to say Spring Valley. Takes some coin to shoot and stuff a moose.

  • Yeah, I’m with Carol. This was a swingin’ place when it was new. Check out the entry floor, for example. Wouldn’t surprise me if the taxidermy room is a converted garage.
    There’s a lot of MCM detail here, and there have already been a lot of good guesses. But I don’t think anyone has guessed…Willowbend!

  • Hehe…no one has guessed Linkwood yet. I’ll throw that one in the hat.

  • I’m guessing Spring Branch…late 50s ranch-style with an add-on in the early 70s. look at the cabinets in the kitchen compared to the yellow utility room.

  • i’ve def been in some houses like this in memorial bend and fits the time period although a fair number of those houses have been renovated/demolished there are still a few relics around.

  • You can imagine the smell of the house just by looking at the picutres. South Braeswood/Stella Link area?

  • OK…the animal skin over the door to the potty – some sort of limbo challenge?

    Classic modern. Very large rooms. Best dressed house for the 50’s. Appears to be one level. I’m thinking Tanglewood, or Memorial, perhaps HUNTERS Creek

  • Oh, my goodness!!! I have no idea and would not like to go inside that house…it’s scary!

  • Looks like there has not been market pressure to update in a LONG LONG time. I’m going with somewhere in Pasadena, maybe Meadowcreek, Allendale, Mount Vernon, etc…

  • I don’t know where it is, but I know WHEN it is… when Disco was King!!

  • Folks we must have some commenters with no appreciation for mid century furnishings! Updated, outdated or not, these were fine furnishings of their period and I would venture to say this is a doctor/lawyer or oil professionals estate home. The house is definitely in the 1954-1958 era with the pale yellow kitchen tile counters and the MCM signature pink adobe brick being the telltale. Mrs. Matron loved her draperies but, Lord, can anyone open them up? It looks like some prime windows are hidden. Gotta love that vintage Betty Crocker cookbook in the breakfast room hutch! My first guess was Ayrshire but the house seems too rambling and my second guess was one of the premier homes in Glenbrook Valley. I think Linkwood is a great guess but I am going with old Piney Point.

  • My guess is Katy. It was definitely built, and from the looks of it, furnished then too). It also looks like its on a huge lot. Call it a hunch. Could be part of Memorial though.

  • I meant to say it was definitely built and furnished in the 1950’s.

  • i love the fact that furniture looks the part of the home and is in the condition it is. sadly, i imagine this is some “little old lady’s” home that is being sold and moved on. my guess would be near braeswood

  • I have no idea where this is.
    First I thought “off-Shepherd/Garden Oaks” where the neighborhood is iffy enough to NEVER OPEN THE DRAPES to show the burglar bars…
    but I love this place!
    And I like JT’s detailed comments about it, and agree it was the Bomb at one time.
    See how that old, thick, floating linoleum floor rolls up into the kick-space in the kitchen? Awesome. Original. Can’t do that with new stuff.
    Oh, the original wall-coverings pasted horizontally & 1950’s paint color-palette have me hearing strains of Elvis on the gramafone.
    But wait! drop-in cook-tops, dishwasher & double built-in ovens are more of a posh, 70’s thing. So perhaps the kitchen was updated at that time.
    That’s all. I’m all misty with nostalgia…

  • South Houston/Garden Villas, off Monroe either side of 45. And please, buyer, DON’T TOUCH A THING. This place is a period piece! Every room is perfect. In fact, it could be turned into a mid-century museum with only a light vacuuming and a gentle clearing out of Grandpa’s personal effects.

  • I have to comment on the lighting fixture above the dining room table (the one with the pink chairs). I’ve never seen anything quite like it: Giant gold snowflakes orbiting a smokey brown glass bowl. Awesome. This is the most fun house you’ve chosen, by far.

  • Not the 50’s but the 70’s…early 70’s and believe me, they spent some money on it. My guess….East Harris County. Deer Park, Pasadena, or Baytown. Probably a doctor’s house.

  • If I buy the house, can I keep the drapes? I’m thinking a Memorial Village near 1-10. Close enough to be within commuting distance, but far enough to have missed any attempts at modernization.

  • I want to smell it! I want to own it!!

  • and now that i have looked again. i want all the furniture. estate sale my ass.

  • Hmmm. A childless couple, I’m guessing – because those bedrooms were never updated. He was in Japan in WWII and afterwards, and came home with a Japanese wife? He’s some kind of professional (see all those certificates in the den). They did not live here year-round; that’s why everything still seems so fresh and new. Extreme lack of technology again says no grandchildren. OK, Sherlock, where is it? I’m guessing Memorial because of the large lot/rooms/glimpse of the big tree outside. Boring guess, I know. I’m having more fun disecting their lives than their house. This place SHOULD be kept as a museum.

  • Post #2 from me: The MCM furnishings are really neat. I like the entire dining room table and chairs, along with the trapezoid shelf unit… but, I LOVE that coffee table in the trophy room with the small knee relief on one side and the beveled edge treatment. I wonder if the top is tile? I have dibs.

  • Looks early 60’s to me. And I’ll take a wild stab at Spring Branch.

    What is that growing on the lampshade in the boys room? Tribbles? Maybe this is part of the starship Enterprise?

    I can’t tell what’s going on in the living room? Has some furniture been moved or removed to accommodate the wheelchair?

    No pics of the baths — well except for the half bath peeking out from under the skin.

    This place must have been amazing in 1964 — I can just imagine the cocktail and dinner parties.

  • I think it might be Braeswood. There are some pieces of furniture in that house the ROCK! I call the dining room chairs!!

  • What fun, and, hey, I have one of those old Betty Crocker cookbooks! I’m guessing Marilyn Estates-a little west of Meyerland, and old enough to have the stone floor-which otherwise may have been an ‘improvement’ if the owner had allergies. The parquet floor and the likely finished garage-taxidermy room date it. Good call on the Asian possibilities and the expense of moose-shooting.

  • You might not want to post the address of this place – I fear the homeowner might be fighting hopeful furniture buyers off with a stick! (Or a pair of antlers – plenty of those handy.) I am totally obsessed with this house, and would also like to see what’s inside the kitchen cabinets!

  • In the Villages between Hedwig and Hunters Creek, probably on Voss. Just the trophy room alone speaks of affluence. Some of those animals are from another continent.

  • Sharpstown. From when Sharpstown was THE place to be.

    Lots of MCM gloriousness in the decor. What a time capsule–no computer in the office!

  • Reminds me of my great-grandfather’s house, but in place of the taxidermy, he had model ships and rodeo memorabilia. And he died in 1978.

    So I’m guessing the house is in his old ‘hood: Briargrove, or one of those Briar places around mid-Westheimer and San Felipe.

    But I have a hunch the earlier poster was correct in assuming that the drapes are close to hide the burglar bars.

  • They should film a few episodes of “Mad Men” in this house. They wouldn’t have to change a thing! VERY authentic 60s kitsch.

  • has anybody noticed the animal skin hanging over the door into the bathroom in the next to last photo.
    bizarre – walk under the hanging pelt to go pee???

  • All I know is that when they do sell it, there needs to be a blender madness cocktail happy hour, complete with fondue and a bowl on the counter for everyone’s keys. This house isn’t in Houston, it’s in my dreams!

  • lots of good comments already. I’m guessing Willow Meadows even though I think the house is too big for that neighborhood. The time period is right there in the 50s.

  • Let’s see, a WWII vet would be eighty at least, probably more, maybe even ninety-plus. That would mean the baby-boomer kids are nearing retirement age, the grandkids are young marrieds, and there could easily be a great-grandbaby or two.
    No one with a small child or toddler is going to spend any long-term time staying with wheelchair-bound Grandma or Granddad; no need for generic little-kid stuff or any tech besides a phone and TV. I’m also not so terribly convinced about our hunter being a wealthy world traveler. Sure, there are a couple moose and one pronghorn, maybe he had a big vacation to Alaska once. Most of the heads look like good old Bambi’s.

  • Guess #2, just a stab: Somewhere around the latter, larger parts of McGregor/Riverside, one of the great rambling ranchburgers of the late 1950’s. Something about those long vistas from room to room, the stone floors and walls of windows brings those glorious pre-Meyerland manses to mind. That Chinese bedroom, that twin-bedded wonderland of soft textures, those couches…I am utterly in love with this place, its gold and greenish hues, its fuzzy orange velours and hard brassy accents, its grasscloth and brick walls, and its musty mildewy musk.

  • Okay I am obsessed with this one. I keep reviewing hoping some tschotkis on a table may trigger something. This house was definitely custom with those slate floors. I recognize that door in the office–that knob, that stain—so mid 50s. Matron obviously did some redecorating between 1968-72 but she had an interior designer. There is too much consistency with color flow for the average homeowner. Those coral dining chairs must be vintage 1958.
    Since those are spoken for, I want the stone top dining table!
    I started second guessing myself and entertained the notion that this was some Dow Chemical execs place in Lake Jackson but I am sticking to the Memorial Villages.
    I am guessing that Matron died some years back and the Mister had no desire to redo things. That is his wheeelchair in the office and his recliner in the family room.
    The other hint that this is a 50’s home is that corner window in the guest bedroom–notice how the coral drapes wrap around.

  • It’s midway between Spring Valley and Hedwig Village. The curtains are drawn tight against the cicada-like Katy Freeway thrum. There’s a house dress that matches the eternal autumnal bedspread hanging damply from a hook in the closet.

  • This is a tough one. It’s definitely West Side. Pre Galleria. But it’s outside the loop–or what would have been the loop at that time. I can’t imagine it’s inside the loop. I’m going to have to go with Meyerland.

  • Hey – we all need a Field Trip!!

    I agree that Madame spent time, taste & money on this expansive home. I like the theory that she may indeed have been a native oriental.
    It makes sense to me that it would be located in Lake Jackson, Pasadena, Texas City or Mt Pleasant – some hotbed of affluence back in the day.
    ‘Monsieur’ may have been a somewhat absent, workaholic executive, and thus banished to the UPSTAIRS ‘Trophy Room’ ADD-ON, as well as his tiny, grim Office with over-worn chair carved out of, of, is that the garage(?)
    I surmise that Madame passed, and, Monsieur kept the home unchanged; had a maid who even kept the cobwebs off the artificial flowers! [There’s a lovely Hallmark special.]
    Notice the so-called ‘boy’s room’ has a phone and a boombox.
    Notice the Utility Room has a microwave.
    A son may be living there while the home is on the market – treading lightly.
    [I just love assuming stuff.]

  • I’m going for Creekside Gus.

  • I’m trying to figure out why we like this house so much. It’s not just the cool mod furniture and decorations, or the funky taxidermy room. Maybe it’s that the house looks like the family was so much fun. Maybe it represents the family we all want to go home to on holidays, when Grandma pulls out the Betty Crocker cookbook and makes the greatest stuffing ever and Grandpa tells his hunting stories for the thousandth time. Maybe this was the real American middle class dream of the 1950s. Cue the violins and the teardrop. I second the call for a field trip. Realtor: Please schedule an open house!

  • …but if not Creekside…Tynewood!

  • I would have guessed Old Braeswood because I live in house of this age. And yes, that drop in stove and double oven I’m sure are original to the house – it was the Hit of the Year – the GE All Electric Kitchen! We’ve got it in chrome. Looks nice, works…not so much.

    However, this house is not in Old Braeswood because there are no ranches currently for sale there. I thought it might be my neighbor’s house – they’ve downsized and will soon sell, so all you MCM lovers, stay alert for a listing on Bellefontaine! If you love those heavy drapes, you’ll die for my neighbor’s pink brick, pink scroll iron, multifaceted windows and more!

    Oh, and that “breakfast nook” is outrageously large. Big family? Catholic neighborhood? Down there by Park Place perhaps, near Hobby A/P?

    That taxidermy room is s.c.a.r.y. And I think the home health aid had an eBay business on the side what with all that packing & shipping going on in the laundry room.

  • I’m from Lake Jackson, and some things about this remind me a little of my mom’s house (although her house is far more modest.) The biggest houses of this vintage were actually rather more strongly mid-century modern than this seems to be. Ben Koush has written in Cite about LJ as an MCM time capsule and I’d like to follow up in more detail myself. But the decor and scale of this house,taken together, do not remind me of LJ, particularly. I also think that LJ is a little too remote from most Houstonians’ experience to be a good candidate for an NGG location. Gus, of course, may disagree. Some things here remind me of a Meyerland Mod of the Month a few months back, but it’s not the same house. I’m sticking with a ranchy rambler along Willowbend. Thank goodness it doesn’t hurt to be wrong, or I’d be in the hospital by now.

  • Off of Briar Forest just inside the Beltway