Thoughtful, colorful, harmonious, exuberant, impeccable — today’s time capsule — a 1980 ranch house in Shorewood, Minnesota, listed for sale by realtor Diana Davis — is absolutely stunning. This is one of The Most Beautiful time capsules we’ve ever shown — all the more so, because it appears to be in immaculate condition, as if the finishing touches were completed last month, not 34 years ago. Prepare your eyeballs, you are going to be amazed.
Built on the cusp of the 1980s, this home’s decor straddles the funky 1970s and glitzy 1980s effortlessly. We are reminded of interiors from American Hustle. In fact, we bet this story makes it to all the most retro-conscious set decorators in Hollywood, who will go gaga for this beautifully decorated and maintained time capsule house. Hi, Hollywood! Hire us to be consultants, will ya? Thanks to the fabulous photography — 47 photos! — by Nathan Treanor via the team from SpaceCrafting, we can all take in and learn from the many impressive design details in this stunning 1980 home.
- Price: $648,900
- Year Built: 1980
- Square Feet: 5,470
- Total Bedrooms: 5
- Full Bathrooms: 2
- 3/4 Bathrooms: 1
- 1/2 Baths: 2
One of the largest court yard homes in Amesbury. Gorgeous 5 Bedroom/5Bath luxury home with main floor master suite, sauna, den, and amusement room. End unit with Cul-de-sac with pond. New upgrades and remodeling.
If I had to venture a guess, I’d say this home was decorated with the help of a very skilled interior designer. The house employs an analogous color scheme over all — analogous, referring to colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel. White paint and lacquered pieces punctuate the scheme throughout the house.
Most of the house is decorated in a green/yellow analogous scheme, with the two taking turns playing the lead role. In some rooms though, like the dining room above, the designer used just one of the colors monochromatically. Think you can’t mix patterns? This designer did — to stunning effect. This green shade reminds us of our 2013 color of the year, Broyhill Premier Chapter One Rich Lime Green. This color was also popularly matched with white lacquer paint.
The color scheme in other rooms shifts slightly away from either the green or yellow towards orange or blue instead. These slight shifts add interest while still feeling a part of the greater plan. One such room is the study above. The wood adds a warmth to this room that isn’t present in the rest of the home’s stark white furniture and walls. Instead of having the green and yellow analogous color scheme in this room, the designer shifted slightly on the color wheel to make a blue and green analogous palette. The study has a slight 70s vibe, but also exhibits some trademark decor choices of the 1980s — such as the collection of 29+ ducks sprinkled around the room — a characteristic of 1980s decor discussed in our post 1980s design and decorating trends.
The presence of the green carpeting and repetition of shapes in patterns and furniture combined with the harmonious color theory used throughout the house allow the home’s decor to all feel related, creating a pleasing effect.
Pam and I chatted at length about this property and decided on some of our favorite design elements. First off, is this fabulous spiral staircase covered in orange carpeting.
Yes, even the walls are carpeted. Amazing.
The circular bathtub in the master dressing room is gloriously over the top. Not only is this a round tub with a very cool faucet, but holey cow — those mirrored tiles, that chandelier, the candles.
Then there is the wallpaper in this bathroom. Hippy dippy flower power acid trip — in the 1980s. Pam is in love, which does not surprise me as I suspect she is a flower child at heart. Also of note: Is that a mid century jewelry Christmas tree on the wall? waaaaant
Another fun detail — the iron hanging swing chair in this bedroom. Sweet!
Who doesn’t love an enclosed courtyard — a feature typical of California ranch homes — in Minnesota. The central garden area would be the perfect spot for a vegetable or herb garden. No bunnies or deer would be able to stop by for a snack and the location right off the kitchen is optimal for picking fresh herbs to add to dinner. This is one feature I’d love to have at my house [just make sure you plan for proper drainage off those three rooflines all pouring into one u-shaped area, Pragmatic Pam warns.]
Link love:
- Mega thanks to Realtor Diana Davis for allowing us to feature this stunning home. We sure hope you find an appreciative buyer!
- And thanks to photographer Nathan Treanor and SpaceCrafting for the wonderful photos. We love you all!
Tips to view slide show: Click on first image… it will enlarge and you can also read my captions… move forward or back via arrows below the photo… you can start or stop at any image:
Robin, NV says
I’m imagining that the original owners were from California and wanted an exuberantly colorful house to combat the long, dreary Minnesota winters.
My favorite thing has to be that light fixture in the kitchen (over the island). But the master suite – gah!! How awesome would that be to wake up to? I love every room in this house AND it has a sauna!
pam kueber says
Yes: A sauna!
I really want to buy this house!
Michael says
Exuberant! This home made me happy just looking at it.
ann says
This place is simply amazing! I could look at the pictures all day. Remember that shade of green…not easy but they did it perfectly. Wow! It just blows me away. Sure hope buyer appreciates it. Thanks for posting.
Sara says
I turned 6 in 1980, so this house really reminds me of my childhood! Of course no one we knew had a house anywhere near this fabulous, but the overall feel of the place reminds me of my childhood home and the homes of some of my little kid friends. I love the bathroom wallpaper! And the entry. Really pretty house and a great way to start my Friday morning!
JP says
I’m a fan of green carpet. It always makes me think of summers on the grass–which makes me so happy during long winters. It works so well with the sunny yellow rooms and pops of white.
virginia says
Crazy! Brilliant use of the color orange amongst all the greens and blues. The rooms look very spacious and open. Would have to be to withstand the color assault — say that in a good way.
Steve says
Just amazing! It’s funny because so many people still like to denigrate that era (late 70’s-early 80’s) in home design, and yet look at how absolutley beautiful this home is. Being that’s sheltered, I think you could easily get six months of use out of the courtyard. Minnesota isn’t Siberia (although you would never know from this past winter).
Mary Elizabeth says
What a happy Friday sort of house! Don’t you think you could end your work week by coming home to such a place? Love how the green plays off different colors in different rooms.
Hmm, how many months of the year can one use a courtyard like that in Minnesota, though?
Great story, Kate. The only thing I disagree about is that the ducks have any relationship to the 1980s decor ducks. They look to me to be an extensive high quality collection of decoys and wood sculpture waterfowl that could comprise an individual’s collection over many decades. Somebody who loves the lakes and waterfowl in Minnesota displayed these, not a decorator. The 1980s ubiquitous “country ducks and geese” we more like folk art and would appear in wallpaper borders, cookie jars, wall plaques, etc. This is the kind of stuff I’m talking about:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Forever-Friends-Country-Duck-Goose-Magnet-Country-Style-Heart-Shaped-/121084704083?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c3135f553
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MALLARD-AND-WOOD-DUCKS-GREEN-TRIM-WALLPAPER-BORDER-/121327580106?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c3faff3ca
We don’t see anything like that in this house!
Kkmk says
An amazing house and furniture! I wonder if the seller would consider selling the furniture alone with the house.
Thanks for the primer on analogous color schemes.
Mark says
Wow!! What a beautiful home – I would not change one thing.