Now added to my list of top-10 time capsule houses of all time: This mind-blowingly exquisite 1955 midcentury modern home in Minneapolis — the William and Irma Dale/Victor House –designed by acclaimed architect Carl Graffunder for his sister and family, who were owners of a local tile shop. And their tile shop must have been something indeed, because for this home, they created some of the most beautiful tile installations I have ever seen. Tile is featured in every room — beautifully — complemented by glowing woodwork, including loads of pecky cypress. This house is going on the market today — co-listed by Scott Acker and Bruce Erickson of Coldwell Banker Burnet. It’s not even on the MLS quite yet! AND: Thanks to our wonderful friends at Spacecrafting, we have 69 photos to show you. Get ready — this one is amaaaazing!
- PHOTO VIEWING TIP: You can click on any photos in this story and they should double in size on screen. Keep clicking on the photo you have enlarged and all the photos should play like a slide show.
From the listing for this midcentury modern marvel:
The William and Irma Dale/Victor House
Significant mid-century modern jewel by acclaimed architect Carl Graffunder, designed for his sister and family – owners of a local tile shop. This case study home is a one-of-a-kind property that’s available for sale to the public for the first time in history. Exquisite period details, extraordinary tile work – including vintage mosaics and integrated shuffle board court, walls of glass, post & beam wood ceiling, cantilevered tile wrapped fireplace, hand crafted built-in’s and sweeping views of Diamond Lake. Listed in the AIA Guide to the Twin Cities, this centrally located, meticulous architectural home seamlessly blends the indoors with the outdoors and offers a Zen-like lifestyle.
BEDROOMS 4 BATHROOMS 3 GARAGE STALLS 2 ACREAGE .29 BUILT 1955 FSF 3,242 DIAMOND LAKE VIEWS
The house is on the market for $719,000.
Above: I hereby predict that these kitchen photos will inspire hundreds of kitchen designs across American in months to come!
And remember: This was 1955! Such a forward thinking home!
Above: We can’t even imagine how expensive it would be to replicate a fireplace like this today.
And those ceilings! Not only beautiful, but all that tile could be quite loud — the wood everywhere else soaks up the sound. Tile: also cold. Wood: warm.
Yikes! This is a two story wall of tile flanking the staircase! Can you imagine the patience that would have been required to install this wall of tile!
Above: Here’s the staircase where that two-story wall of mosaics sits!
Above; Again, note the two-story mosaic tile wall (on the left, heading downstairs.) And YES: That is a mosaic tile shuffleboard!
Wow: We love how the accent wall of small mosaics — it reads like a headboard in this bedroom.
Yes, we’d love to see the floor plan. It looks like much of the storage is built in — lovely!
This bathroom: It sure inspires me. Lookie that colorful mosaic in the loo!
Above: Okay, now we are downstairs. I’ll shut up now.
Link love:
- View the listing, co-listed by Scott Acker and Bruce Erickson of Coldwell Banker Burnet here.
- Thank you so much (!) Spacecrafting — photos by Nathan Treanor — for the amazing photos and permission to show them. Mike and Anthony and Nathan, you rock our world!
Hey, remember this Minneapolis midcentury marvel time capsule house from a few years ago? Photos also by Spacecrafting. So far, it has been our most popular time capsule house ever! Big question: Will this tile house masterpiece beat it??
We have 69 photos in all! View the slide show:
Tips to view slide show: Click on first image… it will enlarge and you can also read my captions… click anywhere to move forward and look for previous and next buttons within photo to move back or forth… you can start or stop at any image:
Norma Beaird says
Love all of the natural light, the tile work and the clever built-ins! There are so many places to have a home office with plenty of space and light. This is just fabulous!!!
Plus, I love the fact that there is no carpet and the floors are all tile. It really helps to keep a place clean and immaculate. Living in the hot, humid, pollen-covered and dust-ridden South, it should be a requirement that all living spaces have tile or hardwood floors! 😉 I say that every time I dust or vacuum. This house would be a dream.
Love the tile in the bedrooms, too. I’ve never seen that done before and it’s a very nice touch. The blonde woodwork is also beautiful and gives the home a very modern, almost European twist. The house just screams, “Hang some modern art in here!”
The future owners will truly have a treasure in this MCM time capsule!!
Helen Payne says
I am all but speechless on this one! The home looks like a show room that has never been lived in. I live in the South and would never consider moving to a colder climate, but this house would convince me! I need to go buy some lottery tickets right now!
S W says
I almost forgot about the dark pink bathroom in the basement. It has a tiled shower, using both sizes of tile, and of course tile on part of the walls.
Cynthia says
Simply Stupendous. I hope and pray the buyer commits to keeping it all intact. It should almost be made into a museum of excellent mid-century residential architecture and design! The tile work, color selections, woodwork and built-ins, even the light fixtures were truly timeless when installed in 1955. I could totally move into this house today and not change one thing. PS someone should copy those pull down ceiling light fixtures and begin manufacturing them again! Love that crazy tile shuffleboard court on the lower level floor. Bravo!
S W says
What a wonderful representation of the “50’s. My house was built in 1953. The original owner also owned a tile company. I thought my house had tile…
The wall of tile in the Minneapolis house has both the color and style of the tile in my kitchen and bathroom. My kitchen has white 4 inch tile on two walls and as a back splash. The floor is the small 1-1/8″ inch beige combo. The entryway from the garage also has the 4” white tile on the walls, up about 56 inches.
My bathroom is the ’50’s green with 4 inch tile on the walls and again the 1- 1/8 inch green/blue/beige combo. (see your story dated Feb. 27th regarding random mosaics from Classic Tile Inc) It also has the original wallpaper, shower door, tub, towel racks and vanity with sink.
The first thing the realtor said as we did the final walk through was, “of course you can replace the tile”. NO WAY.
My entry way is slate and in the basement there are two shuffle boards: red/black and beige with the rest of the linoleum tile being beige.
I love my house. Of course I am a little jealous of that fireplace!
Michael says
***>>mind blown<<***
Linda Ellett says
Quite amazing! Where was L’esperance Tile in 1955? Oh that’s right – I was only 1 year old…
Wen says
I ‘Ooohed and Aaahed’ the whole way through as I click on the photos, smiling the whole way through!!! Thanks for sharing this very artistic, one of a kind house!
wanda says
does anyone know how much it cost to build the home in 1955?
Ronda Vallejo says
Oh, my! It is stunning! My favorite thing about this house is the architecture. It is just beautiful. The best things about mid century modern design are alive inside and out! The built-in storage and work areas are fantastic, too. I love the colors, and the turquoise trim on the outside is gorgeous and really pops. And the tile? I think if someone told me about a house with that much tile, I wouldn’t be sure I’d like it, but the way it was done in this home works! The church I went to go growing up was built in 1962, and had a shuffleboard like that, too. Absolutely wonderful time capsule home. I hope someone leaves everything intact. They could definitely enjoy it for years to come. Thanks for sharing!