COMMENT OF THE DAY: KITCHEN COUNTERPOINT “By the way I meant formica counters, not linoleum. Just wanted to clear that up. Don’t want to be disqualified on a technicality.” [Jessica, commenting on Neighborhood Guessing Game: Fine Dining]
Sign up for the Newsletter
Tag: Neighborhood Guessing Game
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:
COMMENT OF THE DAY: GUESSING GAME MARKDOWN “This home was custom built as wheelchair accessible. The features noted are the obvious accessibility features. What makes this home a great example of universal design are the lack of thresholds and the curved radius walls which lessen the chance of crashes, but they also look great! The owners are not handicapped at all and are relocating. They now cannot imagine having shower doors and thresholds to trip over in their next home. The price has been reduced to $555,000.” [Thomas A B Johnson, commenting on Neighborhood Guessing Game Over: First Chair]
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?
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:
Today, a lucky smart Neighborhood Guessing Game player wins a Houston. It’s Worth It. gift box — containing a copy of the original Houston. It’s Worth It. photo book, a HIWI mug, a HIWI T-shirt, a HIWI baseball cap, several “afflictions” postcards, and of course HIWI bug repellent. Very appropriate prizes for this game, and all donated by . . . yes, Houston. It’s Worth It. (You can find more about the individual products at the HIWI store.)
Before we announce the prizewinner, there’s a long list of neighborhoods to call off — your guesses! Ready? Meyerland off South Post Oak near 610, “between Westwood CC and Beechnut,” the Heights, La Porte, Jersey Village, Willow Meadows, “near the bayou off Braeswood in a flood zone,” “between 610 and the beltway, near the Ship Channel,” Jacinto City, Denver Harbor, Pasadena (2 guesses), Galena Park, North Shore, Clover Leaf, Channelview (2 guesses), “near Antoine, south of Tidwell,” off Griggs or Scott, the East End (2 guesses), the Energy Corridor, “off Dairy Ashford close to Stratford High School,” “somewhere along the 225/Allen Genoa/Allendale area,” “north of Braes Bayou, west of Buffalo Speedway, east of Weslayan/Stella Link,” Forest West, Oak Forest, “south along the I-45 corridor,” South Houston, Harrisburg, Magnolia, Baytown, “around Irvington [or] continuing north to the Airline area,” Sagemont, “the Westbury/Willowbend area,” Briarmeadow, Sharpstown (2 guesses), “Sharpstown near Gessner/Bellaire,” the “Sharpstown/Chinatown area” (2 of you), “south of Braeswood near Buffalo Speedway,” near UH, “damn close to Southmore,” Lazybrook, Pearland, “off Navigation,” Meyerland, lower Westbury, the “southern part of Greater Westbury,” south of the Med Center, Southwest Houston, Alief (2 guesses), Bellaire between Wilcrest and Dairy Ashford, around Friendswood, “over by the Georgia addition in Eastwood (sort of near Evergreen Cemetery maybe),” “Larkwood, near Bissonnet and Fondren,” Spring Branch, Windsor Village, the Hiram Clarke area along Sims Bayou, Riviera East, along Normandy north of I-10 by Greens Bayou, near “perennial Channelview area flooder Sterling Green by Carpenters Bayou,” Maplewood between Braeswood and Beechnut, Glenbrook Valley, and Meadowcreek Village.
Phew! That’s quite a tour! And there are some great guesses in there.
Picking the winner was a little tough this week because nobody guessed the exact name of the subdivision — and because a few players came mighty close. The winner of the photo finish — and the prize — is subprimelandguy, who managed to name a couple of flanking neighborhoods and a nearby bayou . . . among others:
I agree that there is definitely some flooding bayou love going on here. But due to the decor and burglar bars, I’m not thinking Braes Bayou or White Oak, but instead prolly Sims or Greens. Maybe somewheres in Windsor Village or elsewhere in the Hiram Clarke area along Sims, or maybe out east in Riviera East or elsewhere along Normandy north of I-10 by Greens. Or, maybe even perennial Channelview area flooder Sterling Green by Carpenters Bayou. All feature 1960’s or 1970’s General Homes type tract specials.
Congratulations! And shouts-out to runners-up flake (for “lower Westbury”) and JT (for “the southern part of Greater Westbury”). A whole bunch more of you were pretty darn close, too.
This was your target:
If you have even an inkling about the location of the home featured in today’s game, you’ll want to go ahead and take the time to make a guess. It’s worth it.
Why? Because the prize this time is being sponsored by “Houston. It’s Worth It.” And it is! This week’s winner will receive a gift box of Houston. It’s Worth It. merchandise worth $100. Namely: The HIWI book, a HIWI coffee mug, a HIWI T-shirt, a HIWI baseball cap, 10 or so “afflictions†postcards, and yes: HIWI bug repellent. You can see more details about many of these items (and shop for a few others) at the HIWI online store.
So, then: A quick review of the rules. Guess the neighborhood of the home pictured here, by adding a comment to this post. If you guess correctly, you win the prize! If more than one person guesses the location, the player who provided the best explanation wins.
But: If you already know this home — or if you come across it while we’re playing the game, don’t blurt out the answer and ruin it all for everyone else. Instead, send an email to Swamplot with a link to the actual listing (so we know what you’re doing). Then post an incorrect guess, but make it sound real smart — just to throw off the other players. If you do this well, you’ll earn special recognition for your efforts. And if nobody guesses the actual neighborhood, you might win the prize!
On to more photos:
Hey, we have another Rice Design Alliance membership to give away!
Your guesses for this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game were: Rice Military, the East End of Galveston, Camp Logan, Oak Estates, The Woodlands, Avalon Place, “the area between Shepherd & Montrose and 59 to Milford or North,” Southampton, “west of Chimney Rock to around Voss, between Woodway and Westheimer,” West Lane Place, Nantucket, Southside Place, “Indian Trail/Indian Circle/Tecumseh off Chimney Rock btw Woodway and Memorial,” along the “divorcee belt” between Beltway 8 and 610 “crossed by the likes of Westheimer, Woodway, Richmond, Bissonnet et al.,” the divorcee belt north of Westheimer and east of Voss, “in the area of the Houstonian off of Memorial, closer to San Felipe-Sage/Post Oak,” Midlane at San Felipe, near Bering, “past the Galleria heading towards Voss,” and West University. Plus two each for the Heights, Afton Oaks, and Bellaire. All very sharp!
The winner of a one-year RDA individual membership — donated by the Rice Design Alliance — is Rachel, for this entry:
This home is in the area of the Houstonian off of Memorial, closer to San Felipe-Sage/Post Oak. The kitchen dates it to around 2001 and the small size makes me think the lot is not especially large. It looks to me like they had a decorator come in and all of the built in book shelves suggests a higher end builder.
Congratulations, Rachel! Deserving of an extremely honorable mention this week is Harold Mandell, who stepped out of a shadowy corner of Montrose to deliver two classic NGG entries — first, introducing the Great West Houston Divorcée Belt:
Long time lurker, 1st time player–impelled to jump in because I really want the prize. And because you guys are so off the mark on this one.
No man doth live in this house– and the baby in the baby’s room is a guest baby. This home is found in the great divorcee belt– one of those late ’80’s or newer townhomes found west of Chimney Rock to around Voss, between Woodway and Westheimer. The stairwell and the upstairs ceiling tell all.
. . . and next, in response to a broader definition of the belt, tightening it in a wide-hipped circle around the target:
Bobby Hadley, you see the Great West Houston Divorcee Belt right on– but remember, there’s also the divorcee demographic that arrived from comfortable circumstances in say Briargrove, or even Memorial. Comfortable until there comes a time when “she’d rather be homeless than be at home with himâ€. Then she finds herself in downsized quarters– but at last she can decorate it just like she wants it. I say this place is definitely north of Westheimer, and except for Hammersmith I would say east of Voss.
So, what’s the real deal with this place?
Here we go with another round! This time we thank the Rice Design Alliance for sponsoring the prize: A one-year individual RDA membership, the kind people normally pay $45 for. If you win the game this week, it’s yours!
A quick rule refresher: Your goal is to guess the neighborhood the pictured home is in. If you’re the only one to guess correctly, you win the prize! If more than one player guesses the right location, the player who provided the best explanation wins.
Remember: If you already know this property, or if you come across it while we’re playing the game, don’t spoil it all for everyone else by blurting out the answer. Instead, send Swamplot an email with a link to the actual listing. Then enter an incorrect guess, but it explain it so it sounds reasonable. If you do this well, you’ll get special recognition for your efforts. And if no one guesses the actual neighborhood, you just might win that prize!
And now, the rest of the photos:
Are all the votes in? Okay, then. We have a winner!
First, a big thank you to Robert Gadsby’s brand-new Bedford Restaurant in the Heights, for sponsoring this week’s prize: a $100 gift certificate to the restaurant.
Now your guesses for this week’s home: They were all good. You doubled up on Clear Lake, Cypress, Bentwater, Missouri City, Kingwood, Lakes on Eldridge, and Memorial. Sugar Land got 3 guesses. The rest: Silverlake, Cinco Ranch, West University, Spring Valley, “somewhere east of champion forest, south of spring cypress, north of cypress creek, and west of i45,” the eastern portion of Cypresswood and Louetta near I-45, Cypress Estates, “Kickerillo, Energy Corridor-ish,” Lakes of Parkway, April Sound, near Lake Conroe, “northwest, north of 290, outside of 1960,” Richmond, Pecan Grove, River Oaks, Upper Kirby, Cole’s Crossing, Copperfield, near the Sweetwater or Sugar Creek Country Clubs, Sugar Lakes, Barker Cypress and I-10, Bellaire, Atascocita, Linkwood, Braes Heights, Twin Lakes, Summerwood, Spring, Montgomery, Humble, Friendswood, Pasadena, Dickinson, “Highway 90a between Stafford and the little regional airport,” and Tomball.
Lots of new participants this time. See? It’s not hard! Unless, of course . . . you want to win!
No player narrowed this one down to the actual neighborhood name. But of the two players who mentioned Missouri City, CK had the better explanation, and wins the $100 gift certificate to Bedford. Congratulations! The runner-up was houstonre.
The standout entries, of course, were from flake, who earns an extremely honorable mention for visualizing the hidden wheelchair:
The shower was redone so a chair can get in it. The kitchen counters were lowered and made so a wheelchair can fit underneath comfortably – microwave, sink (plumbing exposed out of necessity) now all within easy reach. Front-loading new washer/dryer put in as well. Also explains the large barca-loungers in LR & bath. And no area rugs to trip up wheels. Mom or Dad is the disabled one – not Grandma.
and later:
ooh, ooh, the light switches are lowered as well. I think they worked with the original builder before the house was built. This just doesn’t feel like a remodel.
Excellent work! Alas, picking up on those clues didn’t lead to the actual location.
Now: A little more about that house!
The rumor is true: The prize for this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game is being sponsored by that brand-new restaurant on Studewood and 10th St. in the Heights: Robert Gadsby’s Bedford. The winner of this week’s game will get a $100 gift certificate to Bedford, which features “cross cultural American cuisine.”
So . . . got your attention? If this is your first time playing, please read these instructions very carefully: The goal of the game is to guess what neighborhood the pictured home is in, simply by looking at the photos below. Enter your guess as a comment. If you are the only player to guess the neighborhood correctly, you win the prize. If more than one person guesses the correct neighborhood, the prize goes to the player who provided the best explanation for the guess.
Wait: There’s more. If you already know the home pictured here — or if you come across the listing while the game is being played — do not post the answer in the comments, or you’ll likely make a lot of people very angry. Instead, send us an email with a link to the listing, so we know what you’re doing. Then, enter an incorrect guess in the comments, to throw the other players off. Back it up with some convincing explanations. If you do this well — and no one guesses the actual neighborhood — you could walk away with the prize!
Here we go with the rest of the photos:
Time’s up for this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game. And there’s a prize winner to announce!
We had 2 guesses each for Camp Logan, Crestwood, and “near the Houston Country Club.” The rest: Tanglewood, “overlooking Memorial Park,” Spring, Champions, Greenwood Forest, Nottingham, Hudson Bend, Hudson Forest, “somewhere off Gessner,” along Gessner between Briar Forest and Memorial, Tealwood, “near Memorial . . . around Gessner, Fondren or Wilcrest,” the Braeswood-Med Center area, east of 288 near MacGregor and the bayou, along Rice between San Felipe and Westheimer (?), between San Felipe and Woodway off Post Oak Lane, Clear Lake City, River Oaks, near Memorial between Kirkwood and Eldridge Parkway, Bellaire, Sugar Land, Greatwood Bend, “the Plantation-y area around Dulles and Highway 6,” Bayou Glen, Westhaven Estates, near Chimney Rock and Memorial, Lakeside Place, and Lakeside Forest.
The winner of a year-long membership in the Rice Design Alliance? MariaO, for this entry:
I wonder what this place looked like before the staging? What’s up with the pool cues without a pool table?
Obviously 70s construction, built-ins and bathroom cabinets are the giveaway. Brick floors and no carpet down, so most likely is near water, maybe backs to a bayou? I’d say Memorial but it can’t be or they would have done a Subzero fridge instead of that generic thing. Must be outside the Beltway and south of the bayou, Lakeside Forest or Lakeside Place.
Congratulations! The runner-up this week is CK, who was drawn to Wilcrest. And an honorable mention goes to the amazing through-the-web olfactory talents of JPSivco, who was able to sniff out both a bayou and golf course nearby. Only it was the wrong golf course:
Guys, I can’t believe you can not smell that Bayou in the backyard of this place!!
I like the second floor loft.
All of the windows argue a view of something.
Since Houston is flat…with views of nothing…I bet it is along Buffalo Bayou
it is a big place, with a pool and lots of renovations (floors, kitchen) so near HCC. it might even be on a golf course if it is not the Bayou. Maybe i just smell a retention pond.
Talk about a great nose for real estate!
A special shout-out goes to Lisa, who wrote in that she knew the listing, then submitted this great head-fake:
Painted paneling and flagstone fireplace place this as built around 1975. The poor little kitchen looks neglected. Not upscale enough for Memorial, Tanglewood, etc. The bathroom looks like the ones in the 1970’s homes in the great NW area. The yard is small so it’s a subdivision. I think that it’s a older home in the Champions area. Maybe Greenwood Forest or Nottingham.
And now . . . the reveal!
Wanna take a peek at this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game? It’s here — and there’s another prize to give out. A one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance will go to the winner!
Let’s review the rules: You look through the home pictured here. You put together the clues. You guess what neighborhood it’s in, and enter it in a comment. You guess right, you win! And if more than one of you comes up with the correct neighborhood, the prize will go to whoever provided the best explanation for the choice.
Do you know this home already? Then hold on: There are some special rules for you, and for anyone else who comes across the listing while the game is being played. First, don’t ruin the game for everyone by blurting out the answer. Instead, send us an email with a link to the listing, so we’ll know what you’re up to. Then enter a wrong guess, but give a really good explanation for it. If you do this well, it’ll help confuse the other players, and you’ll win special recognition for your obfuscation. And if nobody guesses the correct neighborhood, you could end up winning the prize!
That’s all . . . on with the photos:
We’ve got a prize to give away!
Here are the neighborhoods you guessed in this week’s game: Walnut Bend, Crestwood, Sugar Land, Katy, Spring, Kingwood, Willow Meadows, the Memorial Villages, Bellaire, West U., the Houston Country Club area north of Woodway, Clear Lake, Boulevard Oaks, south of Memorial Dr. between Beltway 8 and Wilcrest, Southampton, Southgate, and Hunter’s Creek. Plus: 2 each for River Oaks and Memorial. And 3 guesses for Tanglewood.
JPSivco, ears glued to the photos, wins a year-long individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance for this dead-on but airplane-obsessed entry:
I can’t believe you people don’t hear the jet planes flying over this place!!!
Whoosh, there goes another one. This sucker is right under the Hobby flight path.
Rooms are really big. The “master†bedroom looks like it could be on the second floor since EVERY room on the first floor has low cielings except the gabled window. I bet it is 2 stories, with all of the ceiling fanned bedrooms “up†as the Realtors(r) say, making it really big, 4,000 sf or more.
Soooo…….Southhampton/gate …somewhere near Southgate over which they execute a slight turn for final approach.
Congratulations! A very close second was tcpIV:
I’m going for an ‘old money’ Boulevard Oaks. There’s plenty of room for chic 70s/80s vaulted additions. The kids, a boy and a girl, have been gone for a few years. Daddy just sold his partnership in the law firm so he and mother are packing their Storehouse stools, English windsor chairs, mahogany sideboard, Harris Sanders upholstered pieces and heading off to ‘the camp’ on the Guadalupe.
So where is this home exactly?
Here’s another chance to win a membership in the Rice Design Alliance! This week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game is just like last week’s . . . except the answer’s different. And, uh . . . so are the photos.
You play it the same, though: Look through the pictures and try to figure out where the house might be. Then enter your guess as a comment. If you get the neighborhood right, you could win that one-year individual membership in the RDA! If more than one player guesses the right neighborhood, the prize goes to the player who provided the best explanation.
Again, if you know this property already — or if you come across it while the game is being played, please don’t blurt out the answer. Instead, shoot us an email with a link to the listing, so we’ll know what’s up. Then enter an incorrect guess, but masquerade it well with a convincing explanation. If you do this well, you’ll earn recognition for your dastardly efforts — and if no one guesses the correct neighborhood, you could win the prize!
On to the pictures:
