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From our February relaunch to big multimedia packages like “Starter Homes 'R' Us” and “10 Streets That Define America,” it’s been a jam-packed year on Curbed. In the midst of it all, some stories found particular popularity among readers. If this list of the year’s most-read stories is any indication, then it’s clear people will never get tired of gorgeous, expensive, or otherwise exceptional real estate. Hear hear! Lots more where that came from in 2017.
For the sake of variety, this roundup only includes stories published in 2016 (though plenty of eyes continue to turn to our regularly updated guides to tiny houses and prefab homes ready to order, as well as to one very special Indiana house.)
Here we go!
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↑ 10. Welcome to Disturbia
In this Curbed feature, writer Amanda Kolson Hurley explores why midcentury Americans believed the suburbs were making them sick, unpacking a raft of books about suburban life published in the ‘50s and ‘60s.
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↑ 9. Beautifully restored George Nelson home includes original furniture for $450K
This 1955 design is a true modernist gem—the pictures tell all.
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↑ 8. 5 Tiny Houses We Loved This Week: From the Ultra-Trendy to the Off-Grid
Surprise, people are still interested in tiny houses, so we started recapping noteworthy tiny house news and projects. The one pictured above, the “Artisan Retreat” from Handcrafted Movement, is definitely Pinterest-ready.
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↑ 7. Self-driving buses are now on the road in Helsinki
It was a big year for autonomous vehicles, and Helsinki’s electric-powered driverless bus pilot project caught everyone’s attention.
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↑ 6. Map: The 25 most expensive homes for sale in the U.S. right now
First published in spring and later updated in fall, this map of the priciest homes for sale in the U.S. covers multi-million-dollar estates, penthouses, ranches, and more—and tracked the fate of one Playboy Mansion.
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↑ 5. 101 small ways you can improve your city
In a generally tumultuous year for the country and the world, this list focuses on the helpful things you can start doing for your community, right here right now.
↑ 4. Zsa Zsa Gabor’s Palm Springs midcentury is on the market for $969K
R.I.P. Zsa Zsa :( Also she had excellent taste in houses.
↑ 3. Rare Frank Lloyd Wright house goes on market for first time ever
Frank Lloyd Wright! Original furniture! On the market for the first time! Need we say more? Anyway, this was a great year to buy a Frank Lloyd Wright house simply because there were just so many for sale.
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↑ 2. Marshawn Lynch's Bay Area mansion is the most lavish NFL player house
In honor of Super Bowl 50, we held a tournament of fancy NFL player houses. Former Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, who announced his retirement the day of the game, won with his swanky waterfront home in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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↑ 1. U.S.’s first public solar road will roll out on Route 66
Roads paved with energy-generating solar panels? The future is now and that’s exciting.