A Real-Life Simpsons House Was Built for a Contest & It Was a Complete Disaster

Erin Maxwell
The Simpsons family home
©Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection

Back in 1997, one lucky contest winner received a replica of 742 Evergreen Terrace, the iconic home of The Simpsons. The real-life duplicate was meticulously crafted to mirror every animated detail, from the bright yellow-orange exterior to the twin bay windows and a kitchen of purple and orange. It was perfect, and that was a problem.

Unfortunately, perfection didn’t translate to practicality. The much-hyped giveaway turned out to be an epic fail, a promotional stunt gone awry that left both the contest and its prize in limbo. Like Ned Flanders’ ill-fated “House That Love Built,” the colorful dream home proved to be less of a reward and more of a curse.

It might seem strange, but in 1997, the future of The Simpsons was a bit unclear. On the air for almost a decade at that point, the popularity of the first family of Fox animation seemed to be wavering. In an effort to renew interest in Matt Groening‘s animated creations, they needed an outside-the-box idea.

Enter marketing expert Jeff Charney. In an effort to promote what he called “corporate synergy,” Charney proposed that his clients, home builders Kaufman and Broad, construct a replica of the Simpsons family home to give away to a lucky fan. He pitched the idea to Fox, and the network moved forward.

The house was completed in the fall of 1997, and Fox opened it for public tours as part of a promotion for both the series and the sweepstakes. Then, on September 21, 1997, viewers holding contest game pieces tuned in to the episode “The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson,” where the winning numbers were finally revealed.

First issue: Nothing happened. No one claimed the win.

A second drawing was more successful as Barbara Howard, a retiree from Richmond, Kentucky, won the house. And that is when other issues arose.

The house quickly became a logistical nightmare. Howard had no intention of uprooting her life, leaving behind her farm and family for a random property 16 miles outside Las Vegas, Nevada, in Henderson. Meanwhile, the homeowners’ association had no interest in turning the neighborhood into a tourist attraction. In fact, they demanded that the house be repainted.

Other problems soon surfaced. The interior was a near-perfect replica of the animated series, to a fault. Covered in cartoon art, painted in bright, jarring colors, and filled with clumsy, clunky furniture and appliances, it looked whimsical but felt anything but livable. There was no downstairs bathroom. The floors were painted concrete. It was awful.

@khailanonymousLeave the tenants alone tho they have security cameras everywhere♬ original sound – Khail Anonymous

Then came the lookie-loos. Curious fans stopped by constantly to snap photos, peek through the windows, and even attempt to take souvenirs. The constant attention destroyed any sense of privacy for both the would-be resident and the surrounding neighbors, who grew to resent the novelty house even more.

As a result, Howard opted for the $75k option instead of the real-life cartoon real estate.

Without being able to sell the house or give it away, it sat vacant, where people broke in and stole the art and furniture. Without any takers, Kaufman and Broad sold the house for well below market value. “I asked how much, they told me, and so I bought it. As is,” said the future owner about her new home.

“They had put in flooring, but the paint was original, so no two touching walls were the same color,” she said. “The master bedroom had a lavender ceiling, pink moulding, and four different-colored walls. It was like being in a Crayola box.”

Now painted in dull shades of beige, brown, and pink, the former Simpsons home sits quietly on the outskirts of Las Vegas, blending into its suburban surroundings as it attempts to hide its shady past.

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