Better Homes & Gardens ‘1958 Idea House of the Year’ by Omer Mithun

Back in the day, actual house plans were widely promoted in the nation’s largest shelter magazines. Today: A time capsule house for sale that was originally featured in Better Homes & Gardens as one of Six Idea Homes of the Year for 1958. And yes, it’s quite a beauty — inside and out!

This beautiful home — a 1960 time capsule home listed for sale in Keene, Texas is fresh on the market from our Retro Realtor friend Ed Murchison. And look at that price: Just $95,000.

We love this one: Despite its modest size, this home lives large — boasting floor-to-ceiling picture windows in the living room that look out over a huge patio — creating a feeling of spaciousness and a blurred line between indoors and out. And, the interior finishes — they look so well made, like they were built just yesterday!

Ed actually had the 1958 Better Homes & Gardens magazine cover to share with us. This house for sale is the model directly under the magazine’s masthead.

From the property listing:

• Price: $95,000
• Year built: 1960
• Square footage: 1,466
• Bedrooms: 3
• Bathrooms: 2

A rare opportunity to own a 1958 Idea Home of the Year!!!  Built in 1960 from Omer Mithun plans, as presented in the 1958, September issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  This gem of a little house packs lots of architectural interest into its smart, compact design.  Set on a large lot, the home opens out to a generous patio and side yard…a perfect place for entertaining.  Step through the front door and into the living room featuring vaulted ceilings exposed beams, cozy fireplace and a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows affording views out to the patio and lawn.  The kitchen retains the original cabinets with a cool floating upper storage cabinet.  The dining room,  just off the kitchen also features a wall of sliding glass providing easy access for outdoor dining.  There is spacious master bedroom with its own bath plus two additional bedrooms and a second bath.  The carport has been conveyed to a game room or would make a perfect home office.  What a great piece of Mid-century Modern history in the quiet, small town of Keene which is a quick 45 minute drive from Fort Worth thanks to the new Chisholm Trail Parkway.

This particular model Idea Home was the smallest one of the bunch at 1,218 sq. ft., but you’d never know it because of the smart layout, handy storage and the large windows, which help to let in the outdoors — and loads of light. In addition, prior owners of the home converted the carport into a finished living space, adding 248 sq. ft. to the home.

You can see how large the living area feels because of the wall of windows as soon as you enter the home.

In a warm climate like Texas, I bet a nice large patio like this would see a lot of use almost year round.

The home is full of lovely midcentury design elements — like the exposed beams that pass through the clerestory windows in the main living room — wow! And how about that gorgeous fireplace!

The home’s kitchen and dining area is also very open, light and bright. Notice the supersized picture window over the sink. Don’t you just love those floating, sliding door cabinets? And the wood used in the cabinets themselves — gorgeous, still today. 

The tall pony wall (should we call a “tall pony wall” a “horse wall”?) between the kitchen and dining area is nice — anyone working in the kitchen can hear and see what’s going on in the dining room, but when the family sits down to dinner, they don’t have to see the mess made from cooking.

Note, it looks like this house got some decorating updates in the 1980s — the window treatments all have telltale shades of peachy-mauve. Even so, we’d be tempted to keep them a long long time — like the rest of this house, they appear high quality — very expensive to replicate today. If they are goodies: Love the curtains you get!

Of course, there’s even a pink bathroom! This laminate really reminds of the pink laminate used in The Wilson House. Considering Wilsonart was based in Texas, we bet it’s the same.

Mega thanks to Realtor Ed Murchison for sharing this property with us and for Shoot2Sell Photography for giving us permission to feature these photos.

Link Love:

• Check out the property listing
• Retro Realtor Ed Murchison
• Shoot2Sell Architectural Photography

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