Today marks 30 years since the first episode of “The Simpsons” aired. The first episode was the one where Homer brings home Santa’s Little Helper, if you’re remembering.

There have been quite a few changes in the roughly 84,000 episodes since then, but one thing’s stayed the same: the Simpson family home on Evergreen Terrace in Springfield.

Or is that on Red Bark Lane in Henderson, Nevada?

Back in 1997, the show wasn’t quite the hit it had been in its early years, and it hadn’t yet become the longest-running thing in human history, either.

So the powers that be decided to drum up a little publicity by building a full-size, three-dimensional replica of the old Simpson place.

They built a 2,200 square foot house that looked inside and out as close to the house Homer and company called home as real-world physics and building codes would allow.

There were people lined up around the block for tours when it opened, and it got even more attention when the show announced it would give away the house in a contest.

That went less well, as the winner was a woman from Kentucky who didn’t feel like moving and decided to take a cash prize instead of the house.

And the homeowners association in Henderson decided it didn’t want a cartoon house in its subdivision, so eventually the house lost its Simpson decor and turned into more or less a regular house.

But every once in a while diehard Simpsons fans still drop by to check the place out, though hopefully not by driving into the garage.

The Simpsons have long joked about which state their home town of Springfield is in, but the closest thing to the real Springfield is not a Springfield at all.

It’s actually creator Matt Groening’s hometown of Portland, Oregon.

I know it’s not named Springfield, but many of the characters’ names come from the street names in Portland, including Flanders, Lovejoy and Quimby…

So with that, get me two tickets to the state that Springfield is in!

Duff beers, colorful walls and THAT saggy couch: Inside the real-life Simpsons house that was built as a competition prize in the 1990s … but the winner decided to take the money instead! (Daily Mail)

25 things you never knew about The Simpsons (Telegraph UK)

Twenty dollars can back many Cool Weird Awesomes! Explain how! Money can be exchanged for goods and services! 

House photo by R. Scott Jones via Flickr/Creative Commons