Mansionmania Tournament: Round 5, Heat 1 (Final Four)
 

Mansionmania is near culmination with our final four contestants, as shown in the enclosed map.

You will choose among each pair of houses with the following assumptions:

• The purchase price for you is $0.
• All maintenance, utilities, property taxes, HOA fees, and cleaning is included.
• You must live in the home for the rest of your life.
• You can't travel more than 100 miles from home (via google maps drive time) other than 1 two-week vacation each year.
• You get $250,000 per year as a living allowance
• You get an additional living allowance at the cheaper home, which will be valued at 1% of any cost difference annually. I will note this amount in the poll.
• You get the furnishings. If unfurnished, you get an allowance that will give you mid-grade furniture in every room.
• You get any vehicles in the garage. But only the garage - nothing parked outside.

I encourage you to click on the maps in the listings to see the general location and neighborhood.

Also, I will only enter contestants if they have a sufficient number of photos to judge, as determined by me.

Your entries in this heat are:

Maryland:

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...9_M54526-03101

Colorado:

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...1_M90269-65083

****ing tough one.

If the Colorado house was in Maryland I'd probably choose that one.

Colorado house is just a schoch more my bag.

EDIT: Oof, typed that before the stipend. The stipend tips it. Maryland it is.

The Colorado house may be the most polished house in the tournament. It's superb, and it's in a gorgeous setting, and Aspen is a world-class town. It's tough to beat, even with a lot of snow. I still don't understand how there's no indoor pool, though. That's an oversight. But everything else in the house perfectly balances being both gorgeous and comfortable.

But man, Maryland is a fighter. It needs a bit of updating on style, but it's got great bones. It's more than twice the size of Colorado and sits on a nice 22 acres that's both serenely rural and within easy reach of a lot of cool destinations. It's in a mild climate where I can access the best museums in the world and also head to the coast and walk the boardwalks.

I gotta go Maryland here. I get a nice big stipend for redecorating, and everything else is ideal.

I had to go with the stipend differential. That's a lot of extra smores.

I've only been following this tourney for the last couple of rounds, but that Colorado set-up is top notch. One of the best houses, great views, and in a great state. I'm all in.

Maryland for me.

Yeah, Maryland has been a personal favorite throughout. Gets my vote again.

I just can't get into homes that look like 1770 Colonials. Maryland's location is incredible but I hate the house.

Colorado House looks more like a hotel/conference center but I'll take it over MD

I really hated to vote against the CO property. Had to go with MD though.

No amount of money would get the East Coast stench off me. I had to go CO.

Maryland it is. I can vacation at the CO spot.

Hmmm, I already voted for the CO house, but just noticed something when looking at it on Google maps. The main road that goes to this house (CO-82) is apparently closed Oct - May. That might be a deal breaker for some.

I suppose I will need a snow mobile or similar mode of transportation to get to town for food and supplies?

I can't help but feel the extra cash has been a BIG factor in this tourney. Glad to see the MD house get it this time. That said, I really like the MD house and it's location. That's what a mansion should look like. Plus you have easy access to civilization, not snow 6 months a year.

I looked this up and the part that is closed is a little bit to the south. So access to Aspen is still available.

https://www.cotrip.org/list/events?s...RecordLimit=25

Keep up the good fight, Maryland!!!