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.
From 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.
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:
Dan T says
I’m going to be the odd man out and say I really like the quiet, simple kitchen — particularly the light fixture. I am not usually a fan of white-on-white kitchens, but here it works well to highlight the color accents elsewhere. And the greenhouse niche looks like such a lovely place to sit.
I was about to interject that the Corian countertops were probably a later addition — but apparently it was first introduced in 1971! I don’t remember seeing any myself until the late ’80s or early ’90s. Part of me does wonder if there was originally laminate in some vivid hue.
Scott says
Although not my favorite era, this house is impeccably well done.
In fact I’d go so far as to say its so cohesive that it almost has to have been done by a single interior designer or firm and for the most part all at approximately the same time.
denise says
Wow. I love the bathrooms, that wallpaper, that chandelier!
Cynthia says
Oh how wonderful! So well laid out, so well decorated for a gracious and happy life. I agree, décor is late 70s anticipating 80s. Rust color carpet and upholstered pieces are very 70s; color would have called burnt orange or rust in those days. Shade of green is perfect. Round tub is a bit too Liberace-like. Only things I’d change are the mirrors behind that tub, and remove carpet in bathrooms, replace with tile.
pam kueber says
I think that Liberace tub is wicked awesome cool! I would not change it for the world!
Robin, NV says
I really don’t need to see myself naked at that many angles. 😉
pam kueber says
well, yes, there’s that…
Cynthia says
Robin, that’s what I was thinking, too (regarding myself, I mean!). LOL.
Carrie W. says
Hmmm…was thinking how fun for two…with all those great angles!
CarolK says
I’m not a fan of carpet in the bathroom either and to have it around the toilet just seems gross. I hope the men in that family had good aim! I’d replace the carpet with tile with perhaps an underlay of radiant heat. You’d get warm floors without the carpet.
Sebastian says
Love it. You can just tell either this place was built as a retirement home, maybe the “kids rooms” were for grandkids? Or perhaps the kids were off at boarding school while the parents traveled? The place certainly has “warmth” but doesn’t look lived in after 34 years.
Love the sauna. The only thing I didn’t dig was the bathroom with the round tub & the red metal beds in the children’s rooms. I would turn that into an (albeit small) indoor pool!
lynda davis says
I did not know of any house quite this colorful in the 80’s. Early to mid 70’s homes had a lot of color like this house. The kitchen is very 80’s to me. Our house was built in 1977 and we have the exact same white cabinets with the hinges showing. Some of the Euro cabinets in the 70’s had the hidden hinges. Looks like the counters are Corian, which was also popular at the time. Getting all those bright colors to work was tricky indeed and I would say a designer or a very talented home owner decorated this home. Amazing the home is still so pristine. Again, a very fun house to see.
pam kueber says
Yes, it is PERFECTLY done! I think this is my favorite time capsule house EVER. But I always say that!
lynda davis says
I think it really looks like a newly built house that someone was just trying to make it look retro. Maybe that is why you like it so much. Light, bright, colorful, and new looking–what is not to like?? You do wonder how people resist the “urge” to not update over the years. Do it right the first time and love the house you are in.
Valerie C. says
Fantastic furniture and artwork and COLOR! Such a cool home and I have to mention the yellow swatch clock on the wall in the twin bed room – takes me back to my childhood! ^_^
pam kueber says
I saw that — fabulous!
Ranger Smith says
Ok, I’m keeping this story up on my computer today and at that inevitable point when my day becomes stressed, I’m going to click back over here and look at that room with the white rattan chairs and just go: “ahhhhhh”.
Thank you
pam kueber says
yup! And it’s “spring” like too!
Jennifer says
You can tell that the owners decorated the house to their taste – they love green and yellow and they went for it! How could you not be happy living in those colors?
Mollye says
THIS HOUSE IS AMAZING! I love the decor and the use of color. One interesting thing I noticed was the window in slide 19 is the roll out kind made by Pella Windows. My childhood home (built in 1975) had those kind of windows throughout. My mom always talked about how they were high quality. I just remember that the handle would always fall off mid roll and you would have to stick it back on to finish opening the window.
lynda davis says
I think the windows look like Pella casement windows too. Lots of sliding doors and fixed glass windows too–that was also popular in the 80’s.
The architecture of the home and the wood siding were also popular in the custom home market in our area.