COMMENT OF THE DAY: LITTLE MUSHROOM PILLOWS FOR EVERYONE! “I suspect the Trees and Tea Party rooms are about to be the hot new look for those who can afford the look. Amazing what a little imagination, and probably a lot of money, can accomplish. They certainly redefine the term “kids rooms.†I suspect a lot of adults would probably love to redo their rooms into Alice in Wonderland fantasies as well. And some might after they see these.” [Matt Mystery, commenting on Inside That Kemah House of Theme Extremes]
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Tag: Interiors
Over the weekend we finally got the big reveal from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, featuring the 15-member Beach Family in Kemah. Pictured above: the new Therapy Room, modeled after “the carnival in Kemah.”
Next from the Beaches’ new 6,340-sq.-ft. home: magical mushrooms in the “Trees and Tea Parties Room.”
The winner of this week’s game? Quin. Congratulations! You’ve just won a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance. Our runners-up for this round are O.C. and OJ, both of whom also guessed O.F.
Where’s that?
What time is it? It’s time for the Neighborhood Guessing Game! And since nobody won last week‘s prize, we’ve still got it to give away this time. If you win, you’ll get a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance!
Just tell us what neighborhood the pictured home is in. If more than one of you guess the correct location, the prize will go to the player who provided the best explanation with the guess.
Of course, this is a game for guessers. If you aren’t guessing — in other words, if you know this place already, or if you come across the listing while we’re playing — please don’t mess it up for everyone else by blurting out the answer. Instead, send Swamplot a link to the listing, so we know what you’re up to. Then enter a well-reasoned but incorrect guess, just to throw the other players off. If you do this well, you’ll get special recognition when the prize is awarded. And if nobody guesses the actual neighborhood, you could be that prize winner!
Shall we poke around the interior a bit?
COMMENT OF THE DAY: FAVORED HOME FURNISHINGS OF THE FEDERAL WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM “I do not think Gallery Furniture was the provider of the furniture. If you look closer to the [Dining] Room furniture, it has distinct attributes with the American Drew – Jessica McClintock collection. I tried figuring out the other pieces in the other rooms and it appears the white wash part of the Jessica McClintock but cannot be for certain. If that is the case then it must be a pre-closing Finger Furniture store sale.” [sigma, commenting on The Memorial Drive Mansion Swamplot Knows Absolutely Nothing About]
Which Houston houseguesser walks away from this week’s contest with the grand prize — a shiny new one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance?
Well . . . none of you, actually.
Too bad. Nobody was even close. Here’s where the place is:
The property featured in this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game was suggested by a reader. Can you guess where it is?
If you can, the Rice Design Alliance has been kind enough to offer you a prize: a one-year individual RDA membership. How nice!
What happens if more than one of you guess the correct neighborhood? We’ll award the prize to the player who padded his or her guess with a better explanation.
If you aren’t guessing — in other words, if you know this home already, or if you come across it while we’re playing the game, please don’t post the answer and ruin the competition for everyone else. Instead, send Swamplot an email with a link to the listing — so we know what you’re doing — and then add a clever, well-argued, but incorrect guess. If you do a good job with this, you’ll get special recognition when the winner is announced. And if nobody guesses the actual neighborhood correctly, that winner could be you!
Let’s have a look around, shall we?
Yes, there’s a straight shot from that outdoor fireplace in the back of this house all the way to a walled-off courtyard in the front. And it’s all lined up for you from the back patio: Kitchen, Dining Area, Living Room, and front yard beyond. If you took down that front wall you’d have a better view — past a row of oaks and some bushes — of the Rice Stadium parking lot across the street. The address is 2239 University Blvd. in Southgate.
The home was designed by Strasser Ragni Architecture’s Erick Ragni and his wife, Emily Sing. It’s theirs.
So who gets a pair of tickets to the Rice Design Alliance’s annual home tour this weekend? Why, the winner of this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game, of course! And that would be the player our judges deemed “close enough” for the win: Congratulations, JKL! You’re going to . . . Southgate!
A very close second place goes to Brian, and an honorable mention to movocelot, who just ended up on the wrong side of I-45.
How far off were you?
How best to describe this unique home? We’ll give it a stab: Elegant, modern, cathedral-like little 6-bedroom, 8-1/2-bath getaway on the right bank of the sometime-fiery San Jacinto River in Highlands. Interior rock waterfall at entry, park-like 2.3-acre setting bounded by small creek. Floor-to-ceiling windows bring in plenty of light and refined air. Pink Kitchen with circular island. Just Minutes north of the Lynchburg Ferry. Built in 1972.
And the price for all this fabulousness?
COMMENT OF THE DAY: AND WHERE WOULD THAT PUT VERSAILLES? “If Louis XIV was reincarnated as an insurance broker in Houston, this is where he would live.” [finness, commenting on Where the La-Z-Boys in Lazybrook Are Frozen in Time]
Two Swamplot readers wrote in separately to suggest this new listing as a subject for our weekly Neighborhood Guessing Game. But really, doesn’t this 3-bedroom, 3-bath home have Lazybrook written all over it?
So just what is the fantabulous prize for the Neighborhood Guessing Game this week? Well, it comes again from our friends at the Rice Design Alliance. It’s a pair of tickets to this weekend’s 34th annual RDA Home Tour. This year, they’re calling it Southgate: An Urban Oasis. You can read more about the tour — and see snapshots of the 8 snazzy homes on it — on the RDA website.
How can you win those tix? By guessing the location of the home pictured here! If more than one of you guess the correct location, we’ll award the prize to the player who provided the best explanation for the guess.
If you’re not guessing — in other words, if you know the pictured home already, or come across the listing while we’re playing the game — don’t blurt out the answer, or you’ll make a lot of other players very angry. Instead, there’s a special way for you to play: First, send Swamplot an email with a link to the listing (so we’ll know what you’re doing). Then submit an incorrect guess, to throw the other players off track. Be sure to include some brilliant explanation to make your entry believable or convincing. 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!
On with the tour! Or, at least, this little photo tour:
THE OLD REDS OF WEST UNIVERSITY 
A little seagrass, a few new slipcovers, a plate on the wall — Joni Webb brings a house on Albans Rd. up to date: “The dining room was formerly painted a deep red – typical of most West U homes decorated in the 90s. We repainted the upper half a deeper aqua found in the family room, leaving the wainscot painted white. The owner waited to use her table, chairs and buffet – which were a dated dark reddish brown stained wood. We had these pieces painted a distressed gray to be more in keeping with the lighter wall color.” [Cote de Texas]
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?
