Retro realtor Ed Murchison just forced us out of our vacation week with this fastball in the form of this 1955 Fort Worth, Texas midcentury modern ranch house stunner listed for sale just hours ago. Right away it’s clear that this house is another home run. It is packed with gorgeous original features including amazing sculptural concrete walls, carved doors, miles of terrazzo flooring, floor-to-ceiling windows, a guest house and a pool that would make anyone feel as though they lived at a tropical resort. The home — like this 1967 ranch we recently featured — is another home built for the Brandt family — makers of A. Brandt Ranch House Furniture.
- Price: $238,000
- Year built: 1955
- Square footage: 3,581
- Bedrooms: 3
- Bathrooms: 2
This is one amazing Mid-century Modern estate. Built in 1955 for Paul Brandt and his wife, the design was based on a Lars Bang home built in Houston that won an award for the best Modern Small Home. The design of that home was expanded by adding a guest house wing that connects to the main house via a glass atrium. As you step through the front doors, you enter into the entry courtyard featuring an incredible decorative sculptural screen that separates the entry from the garage. Through the double doors, you enter into a generous entry hall that leads you into the bright and spacious great room featuring terrazzo floors and a wall of floor to ceiling glass affording views of the pool and expansive lawn. The open concept kitchen features the original cabinets, granite counters and stainless steel appliances. The carpets have been removed from the bedrooms and are ready for the new owner to finish to their liking. The guest house has been taken to the studs, rewired and has new sheet rock. This space is ready to be finished-out how the new owner wants to use this part of the house. It would make a great guest house, mother-in-law suite or could be a income producing rental property. From the design of the house to the nearly two acre site, this is truly a one-of-kind Mid-century Modern estate. Come take a look and just image what you could do with this place. Cool and interesting original architectural details abound…don’t miss the decorative glass wall along the front of the house and the metal screens that connect the main house and the guest house…beautiful! A good deal of work has been done…it is now ready for you to take it to the next level. This home is one of the outstanding modern homes built by the Brandt family. Paul Brandt’s father was the founder of Ranch Oak furniture and Paul founded Ranch Oak Farms.
Texture is the name of the game in this property. While the home’s color palette itself is neutral, elements such as exposed brick walls, glass block and the gorgeous cement screen wall — shown above — insure the home is anything but ordinary.
On the exterior, decorative ironwork adds loads of interest to the home’s simple facade.
The main living area of the home is open and airy and the kitchen retains many of its original features including the mocha wall ovens and gorgeous terrazzo flooring.
Could there be a more timeless bathroom than the this? The simple, sleek lines of the vanity and the yummy blue and white coloring of the space feels just as fresh and clean as it must have in 1955.
The home’s other bathroom follows a similar style with warm peachy tiles. I love how the laminate top folds around the front of the vanity and helps conceal the drawers, don’t you?
An then, just when you think this property can’t get any more fantastic, there’s this beautiful pool. Just heavenly!
Mega thanks to our friend and retro realtor Ed Murchison for sending us this fabulous property and to the photographers at Shoot2Sell Photography for taking such great photos.
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:
Elizabeth says
This house is in my neighborhood and I have loved it for years and years. I will be so thrilled if someone will buy and give this house the love it needs. It is gorgeous now but could be SUCH a showplace. To answer someone’s comments up-thread about cost-the house is located in East Fort Worth and, for whatever reason, that is just not the most popular part of Fort Worth. I don’t know why. In terms of driving time (not actual location), we’re about equal distance between downtown FW and downtown Dallas. I can only assume it has to do with some of the poorer neighborhoods that are in East Fort Worth. Our neighborhood is great-the houses and yards are well-maintained and the trees are mature and gorgeous. Historic Meadowbrook and Handley are both nearby and they’re really charming. I guess it’s good it’s less popular, because you can get a LOT of house for much less money in East Fort Worth. If this house was west side or even located near TCU, they’d be asking for twice that even with the amount of renovations a new owner might want to do in order to fully update it while still maintaining all the gorgeous original architecture.
Doris Waddell says
OMG!! This is the house for me. I’m bugging the heck out of hubby right now to move back to Dallas. I LOVE this house!
pam bilbrey says
what’s the address?
Erik Coslik says
What is the address?
pam kueber says
See the link to the realtor’s site, I am guess it is there?…
Chris says
I skimmed some of the comments above… someone mentioned the very minimal, “institutional” feeling. I agree. But then — just LOOK at that square footage! And the minimal quality really provides a clean slate on which to create fabulousness! Fabulosity! 🙂 The more I looked at the pictures, the more I mentally went shopping for midcentury goodies to fill up the place! I hope someone in touch with this blog buys this house — and shares pictures of how they jazz it up!
Marylyn says
My boyfriend & I leased this property back in the late 80’s. Absolutely LOVED this house. It did have a tennis court, batting cage and the pool was heated. Also, doesn’t mention the basement or the wine cellar. Too bad the original refrigerator has been removed, it was hung on the wall like a cabinet. The house is full of beautiful finished wood, floor to ceiling glass walls in great room that open to the pool. The garage door opened like an accordian sideways & you pulled into a tiled floor that joined the atrium. It has a huge backyard and at the time had rose bushes along the fence. It was fabulous & a treat to live there.
Jackie says
Update from husband–this WAS a classmate’s house. The fireplace brick has been painted, and now missing is a GE wall-mount refrigerator (that big open space in the upper cabinetry). The property had tennis courts and a batting cage; don’t see those mentioned in the listing.
I will now eagerly await the listings for my best friend’s house and the one where the best parties happened. Any one of these houses, transported to the West side of town, could command 4-6 times the price!
Janet in CT says
Jackie, How neat that your husband is familiar with this house! I wonder if originally it had a cooktop only where the regular stove is now. I think the wall must have been extended at the end past the pantry cabinet to accomodate a regular fridge. As mentioned, so nice and open and spacey! Great house and thanks Pam and Kate for featuring it – just what we love to see!
Jackie says
I hope that the strong interest in MCM homes can help this neighborhood turn around. The Eastern Hills area has a tremendous stock of amazing houses built in the 50s and 60s. Sadly, by the time I was in elementary school in the 70s, the area was in decline. By high school in the 80s, it was definitely considered a “bad” neighborhood.
I don’t say this to be snarky–my husband and I grew up in the area, we attended the schools down the street, and my parents still live half a mile from this house. This is home. I expect one day to see some old school friend’s house featured here.
Just as interest in Victorian houses sparked a revival in a lot of urban neighborhoods, love for MCM can do the same. We’ll have to be mindful of the same issues of gentrification, too–and that might be harder to see clearly in these types of neighborhoods with large lots and “suburban” feel.
Brian Landreville says
I love the original crane fixtures in the bathrooms, glad those made it through the years. I am still in awe at what you can get a house like that outside of Seattle (where I live)
Gary Morgan says
Have already asked my Realtor to set up a view. As a preservationist nut, mainly in commercial, who happens to be on the hunt for a house right now, I think I just fell in love! Just getting to start some reno work on the Indian Creek House in Westover hills.
pam kueber says
Yay! Let us know if you buy it!
Lisa says
Indian Creek is so beautiful !
Jenny A. says
If you buy this house, you have to send Pam pictures after it’s furnished. I am dying to see this place with furniture in it. It’s absolutely stunning!
Gary Morgan says
Went and did about a 2 hour walk on Saturday, taking off what needs to be done and running quick numbers, the place was hopping so I have no doubt someone is going to take this on as a labor of Love. I hope so anyway. Unfortunately for me, while have a lot of love to give still has to make dollars sense and cant make it work enough so that I can convince the other half. I have a house designed and it dawned me how any similarities it and this house have as I thinking about it later. I’ll be curious to see what it goes for and what happens to it.