LOST VEGAS: The Real-Life Simpsons House
Posted on: July 22, 2025, 07:12h.
Last updated on: July 23, 2025, 06:51h.
- FOX-TV gave away a replica of “The Simpsons” home in July 1997
- The only problem with their plan, which was designed as a PR stunt, is that the winner of the property didn’t want the house
- Die-hard Simpsons fans can still find the house — looking a little less like its cartoon inspiration — in Henderson, Nev.
In an ordinary suburb of Las Vegas, an extraordinary house is hiding from you. It’s been stripped of the paint that would help you recognize it, and even blurred out of Google’s Street View map.
In July 1997, a replica of the Simpsons’ cartoon domicile was built to give away as part of a national sweepstakes. Though it admittedly belonged in one of the 93 US cities and towns named Springfield, Henderson, Nev. would have to do because Kaufman and Broad (now KB Home) thought of the idea, and their only motivation was to promote a new housing development they were building there.
They named it Springfield South Valley Ranch in honor of the contest.
The company partnered with FOX-TV and Pepsi, which tied a sweepstakes to purchases of their soft drinks, to make 712 Red Bark Lane a replica of the fictional 742 Evergreen Terrace.
The living room was given a lookalike orange sofa and a coffee table littered with empty Duff beer cans, Hollywood production designer Rick Floyd dressed the kitchen with corn cob-patterned curtains, and all four bedrooms were painstakingly re-created — down to the row of identical shirts and shorts in Bart’s.
Mouse holes were painted along the baseboards and the backyard sported Bart’s treehouse. In the walkway concrete, Simpsons creator Matt Groening even drew a likeness of Homer Simpson and signed it.
They did a better job on the interior than the exterior, however. As you can see from this story’s main photo, the Henderson house isn’t wide enough, none of its windows are shaped correctly (other than the tiny one over the garage), and the color is way off. (The Simpsons’ house was pink, not yellow!)
Doh!
The project hit its first unexpected snag when the sweepstakes winner failed to claim their prize. On Sept. 21, 1997, FOX aired the episode “The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson,” during which the winning number was flashed onscreen.
Three months of silence later, it was decided that a new winner should be chosen at random from raffle forms submitted by mail. She was Barbara Howard, a 63-year-old retired factory worker from rural Richmond, Ky. The network flew her into Las Vegas. It was her very first time on a plane. Barbara posed for photos with a ceremonial giant key to her new home.
And then she decided she didn’t want it. Turns out, Barbara wasn’t a fan of the animated comedy and, more importantly, hated the idea of moving to the desert. So she opted for the $75K cash prize instead.
Nobody figured the winner would take the cash, since they could just accept the house and then turn around and sell it for its original value (between $120K-$150 then, $429K today).
Yet Barbara Howard didn’t want to own the Simpson’s house so badly, she paid $45K-$75K for the privilege. And that left Pepsi and FOX without a contest winner to participate in promotions such as touring national news shows around the house.
Instead, the house was stripped of its props and fake mouse holes, and its exterior was stuccoed over and painted to match the rest of the two-story contemporaries in what was renamed South Valley Ranch. (The last part would have been necessary even if Howard had taken possession, to conform with HOA code.)
The de-Simpsonized house finally sold in 2001 to its current owner, a woman named Danielle. To this day, she says, diehard fans still drive by, snapping photos and yelling “Doh!” and other Simpsons catchphrases.
They also send fan mail to Homer Simpson at her address.
“Lost Vegas” is an occasional Casino.org series spotlighting Las Vegas’ forgotten history. Click here to read other entries in the series. Think you know a good Vegas story lost to history? Email corey@casino.org.
Last Comments ( 3 )
How about The Addams Family mansion from the Ocean Software's platform video games?
Hmm. The assessor says it was last sold in August 2000. Maybe she didn't take possession until 2001. I've also lived in the LV metro area for more than 50 years, and I remember Homer driving his car with the boot on it that happened in that episode, but I don't remember a sweepstakes number flashing on it, or any news about the sweepstakes or house. Maybe I first saw the episode on repeat, as I was videotaping shows in order to timeshift and fast forward through commercials, and Sep. and Oct. '97 was one of the times I moved.
That's an amazing story! Although I have lived in Vegas for 50 years I knew nothing about it - but I have never watched an episode of The Simpsons and never aid attention to anything having to do with them. Wow!