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1980 time capsule house — impeccable & fabulous in Shorewood, Minn. — 47 photos

Kate - May 2, 2014, Updated: June 9, 2021

1980s retro time capsule houseTour-a-Time-CapsuleThoughtful, 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. 

80s-retro-kitchen-skylightFrom the listing:

  • 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.

1980s-entryway-hall-wallpaperretro-mushroom-lampIf 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.

flower-chandelier-70sMost 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.

70s-den-retroThe 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.

80s-white-and-green-living-roomThe 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.

retro-carpeted-spiral-staircasePam 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.

spiral-staircase-retro-carpetedYes, even the walls are carpeted. Amazing.

round-bathtub-hollywood-regencyThe 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.

flower-power-wallpapered-bathroomThen 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

70s-swing-chair-retroAnother fun detail — the iron hanging swing chair in this bedroom. Sweet!

retro-courtyard-patioWho 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:

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:


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64 comments

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  2. Michelle Barroso-Grubbs says

    About the great condition of the carpet;
    I just sold my house that was 19 years old. It still had the original carpet which looks great! It was cleaned only twice; and the cleaner was amazed at how clean the used water was!
    I’ll explain: first, I did vacuum every three days. Further, we and most of our family and friends took their shoes off at the front door. I also have a special way to take care of anything spilled or doggie accidents.

    Very important to clean immedietly. Remember there is pad under the carpet making two layers. First, soak up what you can by throwing down an old towel and actually step on top where stain is-use your body weight to force stain up and onto the towel. Next; get a clean towel very wet and squeeze the water
    Out of the towel onto the stain area. Don’t use sudsy soap! I use resolve- lightly spray wet area and use wet towel to rub water and resolve into the carpet. Immedietly after throw down a clean towel and step all over that area. Goal is to force the water and resolve back up and into the towel. Fold towel to get a dry side- and step again! Do this two or three times until nearly dry. You can stick your nose close to carpet-a clean and fresh scent is all that remains!
    The only carpet needing replacement was the stairs, only because modern carpet tends to “flatten”.

    I always buy enough extra carpet to replace the stairs.

    I wonder if the 30 year old carpet was art wool, and I’m sure it was very high quality carpet-fibers very dense and close together.

  3. MSherrill says

    How can 35 year old carpet be in such pristine condition- especially around a bathtub?

  5. Andrew says

    The master bath whirlpool tub faucet is a Kohler Bravura. Very Star Trek. Bought a NOS one for $25 about 15 years ago, but it has since left the building.

    What a great house!

  6. Miriam says

    I remember many of the exact design elements featured in this house from growing up around around that time! Some of the houses my friends lived in had pieces of the furniture and the wallpaper, (but in a more downmarket way ) They never looked as good back then as they do here! This just really shows you that the bones , i.e. the layout and architectural features of the house determine what you can pull off. I’m loving that psychedelic wallpapered bathroom and that tub is so boss! I can see myself relaxing in a bubble bath with a cigar in my mouth like scarface!

    • Ed says

      Not sure about the green carpet, but that tub/electric candle/mirror wall combo is straight out of Scarface

  7. Moe Moe says

    Oh, and I live 5 miles from this home! Grew up here and love it here! Lake Minnetonka is an awesome place and the real estate market is great here!

  8. Moe Moe says

    I am constantly amazed at all the awesomeness MN has to offer! There is so much here and we tend to get glazed over by the bright lights of Chicago. Thanks for another awesome MN feature!