For this 1961 time capsule house, by architect John Polivka just outside Minneapolis, I’m pulling out all my favorite adjectives, this house is: Stunning, spectacular, amazing, jaw-dropping, drop-dead gorgeous. Thanks to selling agent Jacob Smith of Sotheby’s International Realty for giving us permission to feature this house, and to reader Dan, who sent us this tip! Pictures tell this story, so move along, we worked overtime this Friday night to load up a slide show 66 beautiful photos — taken by Mike McCaw of Spacecrafting — who clearly had immense fun capturing the gorgeous linearity of this house on camera.
According to the listing, this house was built in 1961. Covering just over 4,100 s.f., it has four bedrooms and fours baths. It sits on fully recreational Sweeney Lake and is just five minutes from Minneapolis. It is for sale for $1.25 million. A hefty sum, yes, but just keep lookin’ and you will understand.
Alas, we have rushed these photos to the blog so fast that we do not have information on the architect. The house seems to be a study in linearity. It also appears to have been impeccably maintained.
Update: Thanks to Retro Love Affair, who told us that the architect was John Polivka – you can read his biography here (link now gone, alas).
Take a look at a quick selection of shots, then head to the gallery below:
Note the restrained palette — a rich warm brown brown, light colored brick, black slate tile and beams:
And pay attention — the two kitchen photo aboves — that is LIGHTING underneath all those beamed panels on the ceiling. This lighting design is repeated in bathrooms and throughout the house — that is, minimal use of “ceiling fixtures”, upstairs especially. The vintage refrigerators are Revco, I’d guess — see this story.
And, oh my my, take a look at the staircase: Again, linearity is the rule of the day:
In the bathrooms, note the use of small square mosaic tiles — this is EASILY REPLICATED today!
The house is situated to enjoy the vista across Sweeney Lake:
Yes, we like to show lots of mid century modest houses here on the blog — because they are wonderful, too, and we do not want them to get lost in the shuffle of the seemingly ever-onward aspirations in our society today. That said, we ADORE a gorgeous, architect mid-century modern masterpiece as much as the next person. Golly heck, we adore this house!
Repeat of link love:
- Listing – 1961 time capsule house [link now expired]
- Thanks to agent Jacob Smith of Sotheby’s International Realty for permission
- Super thanks to Mike McCaw of Spacecrafting for the photos — he sent us all these high-resolution photos to feature!
- And thanks, Dan, for your tip. Readers, we love you! Keep those tips coming!
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:
Wayne says
Beautiful home which I could never afford, but love getting the inspiration! As a consolation, my laundry room cabinets have the same pulls as pictured in this kitchen.
Leslie says
Holy smokes!! How do I get to Sweeney Lake?…..
Cathy says
“Oh WOW!”…That’s all I kept saying! Such a beauty and It looks as if it was just completed by the builder. Great job with preserving/restoring this house-kuddos to the current/previous owners! LOVE LOVE LOVE this, and I agree with other comments: this is by far the best time capsule yet! I really appreciate the homes that, from the outside are so deceiving as to their size. I’m adding this architect to my list of houses to build mine by!
M.A. Steinberger says
So beautiful I would even put up with the awful winters to live in that house in that setting. Even looks roomy enough for our 9 1/2 ft. Bösendorfer, plus string quartet!
Sherri says
Absolutely stunning. Does anyone know what you call that kind of patchwork slate tile? We are putting some flooring in our much smaller mid-century gem of a house and I would love to know if that type of flooring is at all possible.
Panzyzz says
S P E E C H L E S S ! This house is perfect.
Roofingbird says
Gorgeous!
The location and size of yard made me think it might be vulnerable.
I just read on another blog about an idea for individual homes that hadn’t been designated historic.
The idea is to include in the sales contract verbiage that restricts the new owner from demolishing, or modifying the home for 25 years. This time would be outside the normal corp. tax break timeframe of 20 years and might also prevent land banking.
Katie says
I’m curios about this idea of writing restrictions in the sales contract, but I can see a lot of buyers not going for it. I have purchased 5 homes in the past 8 years and have made modifications to every one of them. I do know my last home that the owner did not want to see a single thing changed, but the reality is that a lot of older homes do need some modifications for modern family life. Also, if there were an injury or disability would the new owner be able to modify the home to make it handicap accessible? And what happens when the new owner goes to sell? Would they have to impose the same limits? Or is it just the exterior that can’t be modified? Although I must admit I hope the buyer of this house doesn’t change too much!
roofingbird says
Yes, the idea raises questions. I think the point was that each contract would vary based on the intent of the homeowner. However, the idea would be to follow the guidelines of historic building designations. The restrictions would apply to each successive homeowner, just like an easement. Possible ADA requirements would have to be addressed as well.
It would be complicated, but maybe no more than trying to get the home designated historic.
This home is surely worth saving and ADA compliance looks like it might be minimal along with the addition of an elevator.
Alexia says
Holy crimeny! I. Am. In. Love.
jay says
Splendiferous! What a treat to find this on Sunday! Nice floating staircase, wood paneling and stone work. The house is worth every penny. The house requires a special buyer who can appreciate it the way it is – including the furniture if its original to the house.
Sydcdw says
Amazing, Almost like it has never been lived in.