Many thanks to reader Jamie, who alerted me on Saturday that the home that Adrian Pearsall designed and built for his family outside Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1962-1964 is coming on the market for sale for the very first time. In fact, I reached out to the agent — Mr. Pearsall’s son Jim Pearsall — immediately, and found that the MLS listing for the house only was going online yesterday, May 1. You read it here first! What an AMAZING house!
Here is more detail about the house, which is listed for $1.5 million, from the real estate listing:
In 1962, at the height of mid-century furniture designer Adrian Pearsall’s career, Adrian created an atomic age masterpiece. Mr. Pearsall realized a dream by designing his family’s new home, nestled in the Lehigh Valley. Educated as an architect, Adrian incorporated every available modern convenience into a 10,000 s.f. ranch.
Finished in 1964, his six bedroom home was complete with an indoor pool, floor to ceiling glass, interior stone walls, custom fireplaces, multiple courtyards and a spectacular reflecting pond to mark the dining area.
Unusual amenites include a full-sized ice cream bar & fountain, atriums, photo dark room, enormous indoor pool area, extensive skylights & indoor/outdoor pet area. Regulation fenced tennis court and large enclosed rear yard provide year round enjoyment for all sorts of activities…
This is a dream house, and the new owner will own an amazing piece of Atomic Age history.
What an amazing house… such an important part of mid century design history. Thank you, Jamie, for the tip. And thank you very much, Jim Pearsall, for giving me permission to feature these photographs.
Readers — there are 25 photos in all on the real estate listing — but it is still “populating” and is not universally visible yet. I will add it here when it is “live” meanwhile, you can see photos of the house here:
–> Read more about SEE A BUNDLE of house photos … read more about Pearsall… and see a catalog of some of his designs – at AdrianPearsall.com. And, you can see the Adrian Pearsall coffee table that I let get away for a song in this story.
The link takes you to a login and password page. Bucks County is one of my favorite areas.
oops. Reading my email from Jim Pearsall, I see “it will take some time for the listing to populate.” Hold your breaths…. I’ll add it as soon as I get it!! Consider this a sneak peek!
Wow. If only I had $1.5 million and lived in PA. I see a bidding war on that!!! Just gorgeous. The concrete hearth is just breathtaking!!!
Wow. That is quite a house, and $1.5 mil actually sounds like a bargain to me. There are ridiculous, souless boxes around this neck of the woods that go for more than that…
I agree!
Wow! If only I’d won the lottery last week……….gorgeous!
When I bought my modest 1959 ranch, there were a dusty, moldy, sofa and two chairs in the garage.Because of their clean lines and cool design details I cleaned up the sofa and reupholstered one chair. The other I ditched. After the sofa had been sitting in my LR for five years, I spotted some similar sofas by Adrian Pearsall online. Mine is design number 2000. Aren’t freebies great?
What an exquisite house. I found it on line once before and really appreciate the heads up. And I’m not even bitter that most of my whole house would fit in their kitchen and living room. Really.
Oh if only I still lived in New Jersey — this could be my weekend house! At least if I won the lottery….
Wowee!!!!
Been lurking on your site for sometime as respite to other not-so-modest MCM zones. We are HUGE Pearsall fans at our house. What a dream to see his home.
Hubby has several Pearsall chairs from his parents that he has restored. You can see one of them here on Flickr…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93018283@N00/2635551514/in/set-72157605072678202
Unfortunately, I am a person of size, and some of the Pearsall chairs are a bit fragile for my large tuscsh. They are so, so gorgeous, though.
I love the green finish on that fireplace, but the indoor pool is like something I dreamed of as a child.
Thanks for sharing this-made my day!
LOOOOOVE the orange chair in your picture! Beautiful.
What an amazing piece of American history.
What a gorgeous house! I see some of the design ideas that went into my two early 60s houses, but the scale here is so magnificent! My 1964 colonial has a fieldstone fireplace with a similar cement hearthstone, but much shorter, like maybe 1/5 that length. When you take things to the max, what an impact.
Thanks Pam for publishing the pictures of my parent’s home. It truly is a spectacular place, with every room inspired by the same creativity and timeless design that my father created in his furniture.
But to clarify, this home is near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylania– about a 45 minute drive from the Pocono region. My father and mother are currently living in New Hope, PA.
I hope that a new family will some day create a life time of memories in this house, as we all did.
Sincerely,
Jed Pearsall
Thank you, Jed, for that clarification. And thank you for letting me share these wonderful photos!
Pls clarify, is this beautiful house in Forty Fort? If so could you give me the exact address?
Hi Joel, yes, in Forty Fort. I don’t have any additional info beyond what’s in the listing…
Can someone comment on how common a hearth like that is?
One of the features that I love about my house is the cantilevered hearth on the brick fireplace. it’s about 4 feet long, about 16 inches off the floor and 16 inches deep. It has no supports like the pictured one, but is purely and beautifully cantilevered. I have also seen these referred to as levitating hearths.
It caused us a few palpitations as our son was learning to walk, but we love how unique it is.
Wow! What a treat to see these pictures. That hearth is simply breathtaking!
Pam, from the pictures, it looks like you let an Adrian Pearsall sofa get away at that sale also! How much were they asking for it?
I don’t want to hear this. Call Ron – Berkshire County Used Furniture. Not sure if he still has it. Hey, I have toooooo much stuff anyway.
“Stuff” is such a problem, Pam, you are not alone but whomever came up with the idea of carrying a camera with you that I read about here first has been some help. I said no to a 19 dollar chair at the Sally Anne on Friday night just before they closed. So brave.
Anyway, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, had to get up very early Saturday morning to wait for them to open so I could get it. But I’d never seen a Poul Jensen Z chair in person and I’m not giving it up so I’m left with giving myself points for not taking the high back one that went with it as with a standard base it looks like my orange one.
Stuff, apparently, is the source of all good rationalization.
Gorgeous!
Wow, what an amazing home. I love it when people design their homes for the kid in all of us. Who wouldn’t like a full-scale ice-cream bar & fountain in their home?!?
FABULOUS! Oh, how I wish! …
This was also advertised in the winter 2010 issue of Atomic Ranch magazine.
An absolutely splendid treasure. Lucky is the buyer!
I saw it Atomic Ranch also. Love it, love it, love it!!!
I saw it in Atomic Ranch, too, and was wondering how I could move the family to PA and find a job! I’m surprised the Pearsall family didn’t reach out to you, too, Pam, before now. Sure would love to have a gondola sofa someday.
The MLS is 5879115 in Forty Fort PA. Ah… Wish I had the money…
Come back here Sunday for more info on the house.
that is truly amazing.
OK, the problem is “How does one know when he has something worth preserving?” We all admire those select-few geniuses who kept their mid-century homes in mint condition, but I suspect most of us went with the flow and re-decorated as periods changed. I mean, we, too, had a 1964 home, but by the ’70s, we had to redecorate, because it seemed so gross. Fast forward 50 years, and I would give anything to have that house back in its original condition! (I’ll bet the original GE appliances would still be working!) Maybe it’s that we become smarter with age, or maybe we are just washed over by the wave of nostalgia. Memories do seem to become more important as we get older. Those of us in the retro movement certainly do have a keen appreciation and vivid memories of “back then,” but which of us was brilliant enough not to ever touch a thing and to preserve our mid-century glamour? I mean, pink? Turquoise? Who would have thought?
If we keep everything as it is in our homes today, is it possible that, in 50 years, people will be dying to have what we got? Even as blah as it is? Just askin’ . . .
This is, of course, a question for the ages. Over the years of doing this blog, I am ever-stronger in my belief that there is nothing “wrong” per se with the design / trends of any decade. Everyone is trying to make their homes “beautiful”, defined on their own terms. I think that one of the interesting things about this decade is going to be that actual new-home construction is so very weak – and I bet, likely to stay that way for a long time – that we are not going to see a definitive “2010s design style” that harmoniously combines both architecture and interior ornamentation. This differs from previous eras — that is, 50s houses were “50s houses” pretty clearly both inside and out.. This will be a decade of cosmetic changes only. As to what’s worth keeping? The good stuff. Which is pretty loosely defined, but speaks probably to the old tried-and-true: Quality, craftsmanship, aesthetics, durability, rarity.