Mansionmania Tournament: Round 1, Heat 32

[Rain Man]

Mansionmania continues. I'm going to show you the most expensive homes in every state and a few territories, with a few extras thrown in from the largest states to get the tourney up to 64. It'll be a single-elimination tournament.

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:

Texas:

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...4_M79784-98460

Oregon:

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...3_M97304-10007

[Bowser]

I dig the modern deco of the Houston house, but give me Oregon. I love the rock face and the acreage, but I'll have to borrow the wardrobe that leads to Narnia so I can chuck all the dead critters through to that world. And the cowhide wallpaper in the theater room, too. WTF??

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

2. Seattle - I couldn't find a cool neighborhood at all, and it required far more driving than necessary.

I've stayed close to what is now a hockey arena (formerly Key Arena) and really enjoyed both stays... close to the Needle and not a terrible walk towards Pike Place and things, with some good places to eat and watch a football game in between.

Not sure I'd love living there unless I was out of town a bit, but have enjoyed the city.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

I don't mean to laugh at your experience but that is funny to me in a weird way. I wonder if it was some vestigial part of your lizard brain kicking in or something more.

I bet my distant ancestors faced great danger in a coastal pleistocene swamp that smelled vaguely of petroleum.

[Bearcat]

Oregon, but not really excited by either of them.

I actually kind of hate Oregon though. Portland is an awful mess of homeless people, tents everywhere, people shooting up on the street at 2 in the afternoon, bad traffic for a smaller city.... a lot of big city problems.

Many people are just now learning how to pump their own gas, so you'll overhear conversations like "it'll just stop when it's done, right?" and "just slide your card there, then push that button"....

I got one weird look at a gas station from some guy telling me I could go ahead and pump my own gas... and I was like, uh, yep, on it. I went inside to use the restroom and got another weird look.... oh, the bathroom is outside. The same guy was like, uh, you're not from around here are you?

No, I'm from the future... it's 2018 and people have been pumping their own gas for decades, and restrooms are on the inside of gas stations now! And there are no more Blockbusters!

[Chief Roundup]

Houston is an absolute shit hole. NO thanks

[Zebedee DuBois]

I am glad I am not alone in my estimation of Houston as the least charming city in America.

[MagicHef]

There are some fabulous places in Oregon where I would love to live, Cannon Beach may be the most beautiful place I've ever been, but that ranch does nothing for me.

[MarkDavis'Haircut]

Which one is Clay's house?