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.
I'll admit it's more rustic than I'd like and it looks more like a place I stayed in Alaska for tourists with all those bunk beds than a home but it has character and that deck is amazing. Absolutely needs some refinement and with that kind of money I'd also be ready for any snow storm with a basement supply storage room, generator, and backup fuel supply.
The only thing that allures me to the Chicago house is the kitchen. I could spend the rest of my days in there sipping vino making new dishes but most of the house is just too sterile for me and lacking personality while promoting arrogance.
To each his own.
Yeah, that's a nice kitchen.
I think another nice thing about the Chicago house is that the master suite is on a separate floor than all of the other bedrooms. That's nice for guests, but it's also nice for my lifestyle. My wife and I have very different sleep schedules, so it's nice if the one who's awake and active is on a different floor than the one who's asleep. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
I was curious what your choice would on this. What's that Chicago neighborhood like?
Its pretty great. Its this pocket in the city that's a 100% walkable but the streets are quiet enough that it feels like high end residential and not like you're smack dab in the middle of a major city.
Think a less dense, b-side version of NY's upper east side. [Reply]
If I thought about it I could think of a worse location for a multi million dollar mansion than the Chicago house but it would take some time. Idaho is the choice here even though the interior is not what I was hoping for. That lakeside cabin look is great for a smaller space but they just went with it too much. [Reply]
I'd rather be in Chicago than Philly, but it's pretty far down my livable list of the biggest cities. It's such a great home though IMO, and that extreme frontier crib in ID doesn't vibe for me. Beautiful spot, imagine a lot of people would prefer it. Choice is a bummer. [Reply]
I normally don’t have a strong opinion these, but Idaho all the way. The surroundings are just stunning and the house may keep my interest for life anyway. [Reply]
Originally Posted by eDave:
What I've found about water is that you eventually don't even see it anymore.
Fishing, swimming, fly fishing, laying out on the tube catching a tan, kayaking...
There's been times over the summers I haven't showered for weeks (from being in the water so much) and looked like I just returned from the Caribbean while living in PA.
I was glorious. But as said; to each his own. [Reply]
Both these houses need to fire their interior designer.
Idaho on the first few pictures then I was like WTF? Chicago it is. Then some of those choices, office included, are pretty bad.
Both places I’m going to have to use the proceeds from the sale of my house to refinish the interiors so it’s Idaho.
And please, morherfuckers, don’t hang tack on the wall. It is cringier than about anything you can put up there.
Or maybe I’m missing the boat. Maybe I just need a category 4 hitch, a hydraulic cylinder and some parallel linkages and hang that shit on the wall. Ya fucks. [Reply]
Walked within a block of the Chicago house about 6 weeks ago.... absolutely love that neighborhood and the area. I've stayed at Hotel Lincoln just north of there and across the street from the park.
As KCU said, those neighborhoods are quiet and very walkable... and you have a gigantic park to the north and along the shore of Lake Michigan.
It's pretty damn awesome, actually.
And it makes me sad that it's going up against 43 acres in the Pacific Northwest... I was trying to nitpick stuff on that house just so I could vote Chicago, which should tell me something. :-) The pics probably don't do it justice, as it looks cramped for such a large house, and I didn't understand why it had 7 bathrooms until seeing the 15 bunks downstairs.
Bye-daho, could be the only one I choose that's in the middle of a city and you don't get like 20 acres around you. <3 [Reply]
