Infographic: How much is the ‘Simpsons’ house worth?
We've already admitted to a special weakness for infographics here at Yahoo! Homes -- and we have to say, Movoto Real Estate has really cornered the market on infographics in what they call "novelty real estate." (Their blog tagline: "The lighter side of real estate.") So when they sent along this infographic, attempting to put a price tag on Homer and Marge Simpsons' house, naturally we were unable to resist.
We hope you enjoy it as much as we do. And now, we'll let Movoto do the talking to explain how they come up with this crazy stuff the intellectual rigor that underpins the numbers. Everything that follows is written by Movoto:
Now in its 24th season, “The Simpsons” is among the country’s most well-loved television shows. Since airing in 1989, the show has garnered both rave reviews and legions of fans. Being diehard fans of the show ourselves, the Movoto Real Estate team combined our love for animation and housing to discover the real-life cost of the Simpsons’ house.
After we crunched the numbers, we estimate the Simpsons’ home would be worth $289,060. Of course, this price tag assumes Homer hasn’t thought up a harebrained scheme that ends up partially demolishing the house. With Homer that’s always a possibility.
What you’ll get with this surprisingly average price tag is 2,200 square feet of living space that includes:
• Four bedrooms
• Two bathrooms
• A hidden sauna tucked behind the basement water heater
How’d We Do It?
As with other fictional homes—Sesame Street, Wayne Manor—we needed to pin down two things, the home’s:
• Location
• Size
Knowing these, we were able to find comparable homes to base the evaluation on.
While both of these might seem like daunting tasks, dedicated fans have already delved into these questions.
Springfield Is Everywhere
There’s a myth that Springfield is the most common name for a place in the country—perhaps deliberately spread by Bruce Springsteen. It is, however, untrue. Springfield is certainly popular, but the title of most common place in the country goes to either Greenville or Riverside, depending on your definition of “place.” (If a map enthusiast would like to enlighten us, we’re all ears.)
Still, Springfield is a popular name for cities and towns. According to Wikipedia, Springfield is the fourth most popular name for a place in the country. This list included cities, towns, villages, boroughs, and Census-designated places.
Some of the most popular Springfields include:
• Springfield, Illinois
• Springfield, Massachusetts
• Springfield, Missouri
• Springfield, Ohio
• Springfield, Oregon
Of all the Springfields, however, it was always pretty obvious that the show’s creator based the town on Springfield, Oregon. Show creator Matt Groening grew up in Portland, about 100 miles from Springfield. While Groening didn’t initially admit that he based the Simpsons’ hometown on the Oregon city, he did later cop to it—which surprised absolutely no one. Because of this, we chose Springfield, Oregon, as the real-world location to base our estimation on.
According to Movoto’s January housing data, abodes in the area have increased in value in the past year, perhaps jumping out of the housing slump that’s hampered the nation.
Here are some key statistics about the area:
• The median home price is $215,000.
• Median house size is 1,674 square feet.
How does the Simpsons’ house stack up? While Homer and his family aren’t living high on the hog like Mr. Burns, the size and cost of their home indicates the family isn’t missing any meals (pretty obvious if you’ve seen Homer’s waistline).
A real-life Simpson family home would be both larger than the median-sized home in the area and cost more. How’d we figure out the size? Again, we relied on the show’s fans. With their help we were able to learn the home’s size and number of rooms.
Middle-Class Family, Upper-Middle-Class Home
Figuring out the number of rooms in the Simpsons’ digs is as easy as angering Homer. Even not-so-attentive TV-watchers will notice each of the three children have their own rooms. Throw in Homer and Marge’s quarters and it’s easy enough to figure out the number of bedrooms. Then there are the two bathrooms.
Knowing the number of bedrooms and baths gave us a way to find comparable homes to base our assumptions on. It’s the actual square footage that can be tricky—especially for a 2D home.
Luckily, figuring out the size of a real-life Homer Simpson house was easier than we thought. In 1997, as part of a sweepstakes contest put together by FOX and Pepsi, Kaufman and Broad Home Construction built a real-live replica of the animated home in Henderson, Nevada.
The 2,200-square-foot house cost Kaufman $120,000 to build. The house still exists, but sadly, it is no longer painted tan-orange.
A Ticket to Ride
So if the Simpsons ever decide to take a monorail out of town, now you’ll know how much you’ll need to move into the zany city. Of course, without Homer and the rest, life in Springfield, Oregon, might be a letdown.
