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:

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12/08/09 3:07pm

How about another round of the Neighborhood Guessing Game? There’s a Rice Design Alliance membership waiting for the winner!

You know the drill: We want you to guess where this home is! If you guess correctly, you win! If more than one person guesses the correct neighborhood, the prize goes to the player who gave the best explanation for the guess.

If you know this home already, or if you come across it online while we’re playing, please don’t blurt out the answer and ruin the fun for everyone else. Instead, send Swamplot a link to the listing, then submit your own incorrect guess. Make it sound convincing! If you do that well, you’ll get special recognition when the winner is announced. And if nobody guesses the correct neighborhood, that winner could be you. (That’s how last week’s winner won!)

First, you’ll want to look at a few more photos:

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12/03/09 11:57pm

None of you guessed the correct location for this week’s mystery home. But we have a prizewinner for that Rice Design Alliance membership!

Here’s where you thought the home might be: Friendswood, Timbergrove Manor (5 guesses), Lazybrook (2 guesses), Oak Forest (2), Westbury, Willowbrook, Shepherd Forest, Spring Branch (2), Sharpstown, Meyerland, Westwood, Willowbend, Braes Heights, Ayrshire, Afton Oaks, Lynn Park, Old Braeswood, Braeburn Valley (2), Bellaire, and Maplewood.

Since nobody guessed it, we’re giving a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance to a player who wrote in to identify the listing, then posted a couple of solid decoy guesses:

While the funky kitchen floor throws me off a bit, I’m going to guess based on the traditional furniture that they are Afton Oaks-dwellers.

and

Sorry – Afton Oaks OR Lynn Park (behind Highland Village). That whole area has that real estate tension between renovating old ranches or mowing them down to build a brand-new faux-something.

Congratulations, LT. You’ve won the week!

So where is this home?

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12/01/09 10:06pm

Were you thinking about trying your luck with another Neighborhood Guessing Game? Now’s your chance!

If you can guess the location of the pictured home, you’ll win a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance. If more than one of you names the correct neighborhood, the prize will go to the player who provided the best explanation for the guess.

As usual, if you know this home already — or if you come across it while we’re playing — please don’t blurt out the answer and ruin the game for all the other players. Instead, send Swamplot a link to the listing — so we know what you’re doing — and then make an incorrect guess. Make it sound plausible — enough to throw other players off track — and you’ll get special recognition when the answer is announced. And if nobody guesses the correct neighborhood, you could win the prize!

How about we look around the place for a bit?

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11/19/09 11:03pm

We have a winner for this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game! Who won that membership in the Rice Design Alliance?

First, here’s where you guessed this home might be: Southampton (2 guesses), Bellaire (3 of you), Tanglewood, Champions (2), “off Memorial near the Tollway,” Baytown (2), “Gessner and Wilcrest area,” Pearland, Sugar Land, The Woodlands (2), Katy, Southampton, the Heights, Briar Forest, Downtown, Memorial, West University, Deer Park, League City, Clear Lake, Greatwood, Willowbrook, Spring, Champions, Kingwood, Midtown, Montrose, Rice Military, Camp Logan, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest, Timbergrove Manor (2), Upper Kirby, the Galleria, Afton Oaks, Gulfton, Spring Branch, Sharpstown, Alief, Braeburn, Tanglewilde, Westchase, Barker Cypress, Greenspoint, Cinco Ranch, EaDo, River Oaks (2), “Wards 1-6,” Riverside Terrace, Avondale, “just inside the Beltway, just off Memorial Dr.,” West Lane Place, “somewhere south of Richmond and west of Hillcroft,” “the Stoney Brook or Westbriar/Tanglewilde area,” Tealwood, and “the Memorial/Gessner area.”

The winner of a one-year individual membership in the RDA is mojo jojo, for pinpointing the home with this entry:

The decorations in this home point to outside the loop, around the beltway or beyond! The photos give very little indication to era, except for the kitchen. From the knob placement on the cabinets (I betcha that these cabinets original had yellow or green ceramics knobs), to the custom built vent apron over the island, this kitchen screams 70’s!!! . . .

What leads me to the location is the fact that the home has almost no yard, as seen in the many photos which show the ivy covered wall outside of every window. This leads me to the many townhome communities built in the 70’s and 80’s, around the Beltway.

My scientific calculations, lead me to believe that this home is just inside the Beltway, and just off Memorial Dr.

Congratulations, mojo jojo!

We’re also handing out an honorable mention to movocelot, for being kinda close too. Now just where is this place?

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11/17/09 11:47pm

Another Neighborhood Guessing Game, and this time there’s a prize! If you win, you get a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance! Are you ready to play?

All you need to do to win is guess the location of the pictured home. If more than one of you guesses the correct neighborhood, the player who provided the best explanation for the guess gets the prize.

If you already know this home, or if you come across it while we’re playing the game, please don’t spill the beans and ruin the fun for everyone else. Instead, send Swamplot a link to the listing (so we’re clued in), then submit a well-argued but just-plain-wrong guess. If you do this well and fool a few readers in the process, you’ll get special recognition for your efforts. And if nobody guesses the actual neighborhood, you could win the prize!

Let’s see a few more photos now, yo?

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11/16/09 11:52pm

Some very smart and interesting guesses in this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game!

Here’s where you thought this home might be: “Off of Highway 249, Jones Rd. and Louetta,” West University, Katy, Lakeside Estates, “around the Augusta/Bering area” (2 guesses), Riverside Terrace (also 2), “that strip between Almeda and 288,” Lakeside Place, “Barker’s Landing, between Memorial and I-10, behind the BP compound,” Gaywood, Braeswood Place, Ayrshire, Braes Heights, Braes Oaks, Braes Manor, Braes Terrace, Emerald Forest, Southern Oaks, the Rossmoyne Addition (near Bonnie Brae and Graustark), Wilchester, Clute, Meyerland, Memorial, FM 1960, along Yorktown and Sage in the Galleria, “just south of Memorial City Mall, maybe on Gessner,” Westhaven Estates, “one of the Fleetwood neighborhoods near Memorial and Highway 6), Montrose, “within a mile or 2 of Memorial and 610,” Sugar Land (2), Richmond, Sugar Creek, Quail Valley, “along Cypresswood and Louetta,” the Energy Corridor, Prestonwood Forest, “East of Eden,” The Woodlands (3), Dickinson, along Dickinson Bayou, Champions, Champion Forest, “that River Oaks Lite neighborhood between Shepherd and Kirby, north of Westheimer,” Pecan Grove, Tanglewood, Vatican City (2), Bellaire, the Museum District, Willow Meadows, Linkwood, “the ‘Ashford’ subdivisions along Briarforest west of Kirkwood,” “the older subdivisions in Pearland and Friendswood along Clear Creek,” Bay Oaks in Clear Lake, Idylwood, Briargrove Park, Spring Valley, Northfield in Fondren Southwest, Lazybrook, Timbergrove Manor, “the Shepherd Forest/Brookhollow area,” Inwood Forest (2), Bayou Bend, “the Woodstone/Woodlake Forest/Hudson Oaks area,” Tealwood, “I-10, just before the Beltway, north side of the highway,” Kingwood, River Oaks, “on Breakwood by 610 South,” Townhouse Manor, and “one of the more upscale subdivisions in outer Mongolia.”

Matt Mystery wins this one with his close-enough, uh . . . 19th guess:

The paneling is the main clue but the ceiling height is what is so mysterious – not just a high ceiling. Not a two story ceiling. It’s a one and one-half story ceiling. Wherever it is, I suspect it is a custom home. Some built custom homes in “tract” subdivisions which is what I’m wondering about – some other possibilities could be Bellaire, the Museum District, Willow Meadows, Linkwood, the “Ashford” subdivisions along Briarforest west of Kirkwood, the older subdivisions in Pearland and Friendswood along Clear Creek, Bay Oaks in Clear Lake. So many possibilities.

Yes, but this is where it is:

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11/13/09 9:37pm

Looks like there needs to be a bit more guessin’ for this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game!

We’ve already extended the game for an extra day. None of you have it yet. But . . . it’s still within reach! Just where could this home be?

If you haven’t guessed yet — or if you’ve already guessed — you’ve got another chance to figure it out . . . over the weekend! We’ll let you in on the answer on Monday.

Photo: HAR

11/10/09 11:51pm

The winner of this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game . . . wins the Neighborhood Guessing Game! Could that prizewinner be you?

It could — if you guess the location of the home pictured here! If more than one of you guess it correctly, we’ll award the first place prize to the player who provided the best explanation with the guess.

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 fun for everyone else. Instead, we hope you’ll make the game even more fun — by sending Swamplot an email with a link to the listing (so we know what you’re up to), then submitting an incorrect guess, meant to throw the other players off! 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!)

Ready to give this game a try?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

11/05/09 11:44pm

Where was that home that was featured in this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game? And did anyone win that RDA membership?

First, let’s run through the locations you guessed: Braes Heights, Highland Village, on Brogden Rd. in Memorial, Southampton, Rice Village, Midtown (2 guesses), “somewhere off Washington Ave.,” St. George Place, Hyde Park (also 2 guesses), Cottage Grove, “north of Fairview, east of Dunlavy, near Wilson Elementary,” “between Shepherd and Waugh, just south of Washington, maybe around Feagan St.,” Timbergrove Manor (2), Montrose, the Museum District, Camp Logan, the Heights (2), “just east of Memorial Park, south of Washington, north of Memorial, near Westcott,” Rice Military (3), near Memorial Park, in the “River Oaks” area, “in the upper west Washington Ave/Rice Military vicinity,” near Winter and Houston Streets (2), Sunset Heightsish, Upper Kirby, Shady Acres (2), “north Heights,” Sunset Heights, “within a mile of the north Loop,” off Quitman, East Downtown, Fifth Ward, Downtown, the Caceres development, “between Montrose and the Museum District” (2), Jackson Hill, the West End, and near the Menil.

The winner of that one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance? Longtime NGG player justguessin, who just guessed this guess:

First, I’ll go with somewhere off Washington Ave. Second, St. George’s Place, so many townhomes over there.

One of those new modern townhomes with all of the slate tiles on the exterior.

This house must have been built recently. There are a few too many textures in this place….cement floors, granite and marble counters, and the ubiquitous “tumble stone” backsplashes. Also, the rug in the bedroom seems to keep showing up in the NGG houses. You would also have to sell the dining room table with the house…what else could work there?

Congratulations, justguessin!

This week we also recognize the considerable efforts of reader mojo jojo, who already knew the answer (and wrote in to let us know that), but went ahead and posted this remarkable entry anyway, just to throw the rest of you off track:

Just from my initial peruse through the photos, two things immediately caught my eye; the window placement and the curved walls in the dining room and just past the kitchen. Noticing these items, I am certain that this is a recently constructed contemporary/modern home. On closer inspection, I noticed that through the four windows in the living room, I can see that the property has been landscaped with an abundance of tropical plantings, consisting of large green leafy foliage. From the size of the landscaping, I would estimate that this home was built somewhere around 2005 or 2006. Although I don’t see any, I would bet my first Gin & Tonic of the morning that the property has its fair share of palm trees.

From the photo of the master bedroom, again looking out the windows, this photo also gives two clues to location! Out these windows, you see mature trees both on this property as well as across the street. This indicates that the home is located in an established neighborhood, maybe from the 30’s to the 50’s. The second, and most important clue, is the slope of the street running in front of the home (bottom of the middle window). I can tell that the road slopes down to the left! Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!

This home is located in Braes Heights, what should be Section 9. I am sure it is located on one of the streets that run North or Northwest from N Braeswood Blvd, between Stella Link and Buffalo Speedway. My guess would be that the home is within five to 10 lots North of N. Braeswood Blvd. Another clue, which I almost missed, is the framed diplomas located in the open cabinets in the study. These diplomas look just like those that hang behind my Dr’s desk. My theory is that the owner is a Dr who does ER work, thus the close proximity of Braes Heights to the Med Center is perfect.

Did it work?

So where is this place, really?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

11/03/09 11:51pm

Hey, how about another round of the Neighborhood Guessing Game? There’s a membership in the Rice Design Alliance on the line this time!

Here’s how you can win it: Just guess the location of the pictured home. If more than one of you guesses the correct neighborhood, we’ll send that one-year individual RDA membership to the player who provided the best explanation for the guess.

If you have already seen this home or its listing, or if you find it while we’re playing the game, please don’t blurt out the answer and ruin the fun for everyone else. Instead, send Swamplot a link to the listing — so we’ll know what you’re up to. Then submit an incorrect guess — but make it seem plausible. If you do this well, you’ll get special recognition when the winner is announced. And if nobody guesses the actual location, you could end up with the prize!

Have a look around:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

10/29/09 11:46pm

We have a winner! The . . . same winner.

Where is this home? There were 2 guesses each for West University, Riverside Terrace, Idylwood, Montrose, and the Heights. The rest: “near Hobby Airport,” Pearland, Southampton, Southgate, Clear Lake, Spring Valley “or the area a little east of there,” “around Rice,” “Longpoint near Spring Branch Med Center,” Meyerland, “MacGregor/Riverside,” “outside the Beltway just south of I-10, maybe near Kirkwood or Dairy Ashford,” Friendswood, “off Lawndale and 45,” Westbury, Garden Oaks, “somewhere in the vicinity of Rice and Rice Village,” “one of the various neighborhoods along Greenbriar and Shepherd between Rice Village and West Alabama,” Oak Forest, Pasadena, and Deer Park.

The winner — for the third week in a row! — is Matt Mystery, who blanketed the Rice University area with a series of guesses, making sure to mention the Rice Village:

That converted attic to me is really the main clue along with that curious mail slot which seems to indicate there is also an entry. So it is in an older neighborhood where even the smaller houses, and this was probably a smaller house with several rooms added on, were a little more “upscale” than normal. One story but with a high-pitched roof which as I recall allowed for better cross-ventilation which kept the house cooler and of course added more storage space in the attic itself. It could be out in the boonies somewhere but my feeling is it’s “inside the loop” and somewhere in the vicinity of Rice and Rice Village although it could be further north in one of the various neighborhoods along Greenbriar and Shepherd between Rice Village and West Alabama and the various neighborhoods between West Alabama and 59 in the Montrose area. Draw a circle using Rice University as the center and I suspect this house is somewhere within a 5 mile radius.

Congratulations, Matt! Our runner-up this week is Carol, who also thought the home was “around Rice.”

Where is it exactly?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

10/27/09 2:31pm

We’ve got one of those “old school” guessing games this week: There’ll be no fancy prizes for the winner — just glory. Are you ready to play?

You win by guessing the location of the pictured home. If more than one of you identifies the correct neighborhood, the player who provided the best explanation for the guess wins.

What if you know this place already? Please don’t blurt out the answer and ruin the fun for everyone else. Instead, send Swamplot a link to the listing, then post an incorrect guess. But make that incorrect guess sound plausible! If you can do that well and throw the other players off, you’ll get special recognition when the winner is announced. And if nobody guesses the correct neighborhood, that winner could be you!

Take a look at the rest of the house:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

10/22/09 11:47pm

Who won that Rice Design Alliance membership?

First, your guesses in this week’s game: Four of you guessed Sugar Land; 3 Hunters Creek, Tanglewood, and River Oaks. There were 2 each for Memorial, Bayou Woods or Sherwood Forest, Piney Point Village, Katy, Magnolia, Sweetwater, Bellaire, and The Woodlands. Plus individual votes for “Memorial/Beltway 8,” “somewhere off Memorial Dr. near Voss,” “south of Memorial Dr. between Post Oak and Voss,” Memorial and Dairy Ashford, Crestwood, Glen Cove, Kingwood, Sugar Lakes, Venetian Estates, “the Peninsulas in Oyster Creek,” Pecan Grove in Richmond, Tomball, Indian Trail, Rivercrest, Augusta Pines, Homewoods, Tall Timbers, Mt. Belvieu, Cinco Ranch, “along the Bay Oaks golf course,” Camp Logan, Royal Oaks, Crosby, “off 249,” Pinehurst, “Champions area,” FM 1960, Northgate Forest, west Friendswood, Brazoria County, Lake Jackson, West Columbia, “the 290/Highway 6/1960 area,” Pearland, “along Buffalo Bayou near the Houston Country Club,” and “Holly Creek, west of Tomball.”

That one-year individual membership in the RDA goes to this week’s hardest guesser, Matt Mystery, who mentioned no fewer than 15 different communities in the course of 7 separate entries — including one that’s very close to the actual location:

Sugar Land. It could be Sweetwater or possibly Sugar Lakes/Venetian Estates. Or maybe The Peninsulas in Oyster Creek. Then there’s Pecan Grove in Richmond. So many subdivisions. So many areas. It just has that Tanglewood look. And it’s 9 pm on Thursday and it’s still a mystery.

Matt Mystery happens to be the same matt who won last week’s contest. Congratulations!

A lot of great guesses in there from the rest of you, too!

How about the deets?

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