Pre-Fab, Fifty Years Later

It was the modernist Holy Grail – a prefab, vintage 1958. An aluminum home with wood interiors built by Alcoa and designed by Charles M. Goodman, it awaited at a very possible price. It had post and beam construction, an open plan covered in oak, redwood and cypress. All at 3500 finished square feet. “Do you realize how much this would cost on the coasts?!”

Sure, it was in the burbs, but first tier. Maybe we could transition to no restaurants and a commute… past the micro-ranches. It hadn't make its auction price, but that was clearly because no one understood it.

Then we arrived. And saw what happens when pre-fab ages into less-fab.

The good:

Living areas were almost as great as the well-staged and lit photos
(as for the built-ins: Paging BluDot!).

A welcome welcome.

Mid-century details like this on the aluminum window exterior were seductive.

The bad:

Wear had tear – twisted, tetanus-inducing trim, a raw pipe where there was a bathroom sink, and ghost-residue of ex-decals on cabinets. Then there was the damage done to the otherwise amazing aluminum closet doors.

Hollow-core doors showed what happens when affordable materials get abused.

The carport had a great California feel—but wouldn’t at -10 Fahrenheit.

The fugly:

Purple was an interesting choice.

The kitchen felt like a dropped-in model, with an unfortunate 20+ year-old counter update.

The intact baths felt like a bad motor-inn. The whites didn’t match the creams. The other was the same, in institutional yellow.

The basement had a neglected social hall/failed key-party vibe.

We left with a last, longing look at that lovely living room and closed the fantastically oversized front door. Is there someone willing to sink some serious money into the most expensive house on the block? If so:

Review the listing.

See other pics and hear a third-party audio review of the home.

Photos: front, thumbnail and top Sotheby's

Comments (8)

What a sad story. Hopefully someone with a lot of love, energy, and money will buy it.

Obviously a well-loved home - With a little TLC it could easily be fabulous again.

I hope so too and since it's been largely kept original in many areas, I'm sure one can deduce what the kitchen looked like and replicates it back. I'm sure one can find a way to repair the dented closet doors, hollow core doors can be replaced reasonably easily and without too much money invested and stained to match.

Otherwise it looks like it's in halfway decent shape overall and with a little love and some attention to it, it desperately needs, it'll be back to like new again.

I am sort of house hunting, in a really non-committal way, and I looked at a lustron house yesterday. unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of good. at some point previous owners painted over almost all of the steel, added a really bad addition, and tried to install crown moldings and baseboards. the very few things that they had left alone--the closets and built in cupboards and desks in the bedroom and the light gray steel ceilings were great. it needed a lot of work, and I'm just not ready to take it on. it was sad, because in the neighborhood it is in (lots of traditional 40s cape cods and colonials) I doubt anyone is going to appreciate it enough to invest the time and money involved in fixing it up.

I live 3 blocks from this home and it's a mess the pictures must have been touched up.. the wall of all windows are fogged and all need replacing the purple exterior is very faded!! The good news is that it's in one of Americas best rated neighborhoods... it is on a very nice street of homes from the 50's and 60's that are in the 650,000 plus range but this is a wreck...in my opinion a deal at 350,000 max..

It's interesting how many of the worse elements of this place are in Japanese apartments. The hollow doors and what is called an "intact" bath here (called a "unit bath") in Japan. I guess that's part of what cheap construction is like all around the world.

I live in a version of this house in Portland, Oregon. It has the same purple siding and blue grills on the windows. We absolutely love living with this open plan and vaulted ceilings. Our home is mostly original and in very good shape. The kitchen has been remodeled in keeping with the sleek architecture of the home. There were four of these built that I know of; Perrysburg, OH, Grand Rapids, MI, St. Louis Park, MN and Portland, OR. Here is another story on one of these houses: http://moderncapital.blogspot.com/2007/11/charles-goodmans-alcoa-care-free-homes.html

There were 23 of these houses built around the country in the late 50's. I live in one that was built in Rochester, NY. I agree with cherluck in regards to loving the houses open floor plan and well thought out details. Hopefully someone will pick this one up and bring it back to its intended state. Here is a link to some pictures that I have posted of our house along with the original national sales brochure.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22021175@N02/sets/72157603542788454/