Two finds . . .

For years I have driven by, but I actually stopped and looked this time. Henry Sprott Long is primarily known for grand historically-referenced designs. But the office is pure MCM. Love the atrium.





And a bit of a find at 5th Avenue Antiques (at the top of the stairs) -- three shallow aggregate planters. $225, I think, for the three. I almost bought them, but then realized I didn't know what to put in them. Now I realize they'd be great with succulents.

New mods on the market for Fall.

I try to keep my eye on available mods in the area, so here are a few that are new to the market over the last few weeks. Some are in the expected areas, but some I hope are a surprise. Like the first two estate homes between Columbiana and Chelsea. Rural mod -- who knew?!

From the early 1970s, these two are a little later than the homes I typically feature. But it is clear they were dream homes when built and still have a lot of panache. For $639,500 you get soaring ceilings, 14.5 acres, a barn and a private pond.
http://tinyurl.com/nfo3wq


If you can find a bit more change under the sofa cushions you can get this nifty Asian-inspired place with 44 acres and a bigger pond! A mere $695,000.
http://tinyurl.com/me7cbp


Now, let's come back into town. This one in Hoover is sort of traditional-ranch-meets-mod. So if you just want to dip your toe into the mod world, but have 6(!) bedrooms in a nice neighborhood, this is the one for you for $326,000. (Check out the mailbox -- it's a scale model of the house!).
http://tinyurl.com/mx4x5s



Now over to Vestavia for $319,500. To me, this one looks like a cover shot for Better Homes and Gardens, ca. 1967 -- landscaping and all.
http://tinyurl.com/m2tl7a


The next two are in Crestline Gardens, which is a city tract from 1958 that was built about the same time Eastwood Mall (R.I.P.) was built (the first air conditioned mall in the South!) It's really the only good-sized mod tract in Birmingham. The houses are small, often 2/1 or 3/1, and there are maybe 5 floor plans to choose from. But they are close-in, convenient to the interstate and have remain reasonably priced. Elder is the main drag through the neighborhood. Get yourself to Montevallo Road and Elder, go South on Elder, and you will be in amongst 'em.

For $209,500, a cute place and the right to say "I live on Cinnamon Street":
http://tinyurl.com/lmy2mn


And for only $149,000:
http://tinyurl.com/noj9vh



I really like this one in Forest Park -- probably the premier city neighborhood (folks in Redmont and Highland Park may argue the point, but . . . they don't have the mods) For $229,900, a deal.
http://tinyurl.com/m4xogp


And just to show that mods often appear where least expected, here is one in Smithfield, a city neighborhood that has its challenges. But this is a lot of hip for $60,500!
http://tinyurl.com/lwdffr

Tour of MCM homes in Birmingham, Alabama - Part 1

Birmingham is, shall we say, no Palm Springs. Traditional is the thing around here, and many MCM homes have been altered or disguised with the trappings of French Country or Old World. But there are still some great examples here. You just have to know where to look. And since there are few "tracts" here like you see out west, I think there are probably a lot of isolated MCM owners in various parts of town. I'm hoping this blog will be the start of a "gathering place" or network.

I started in my old neighborhood, Crestwood. This is a great, progressive, city neighborhood. Lots of young professionals, artists, etc. The north side of Crestwood has a lot of 1920s homes. My former home (ain't it cute? but the stump/stonehenge thing in the front yard was actually a nice River Birch when I lived there):



The houses in Crestwood get newer street by street as you get closer to Red Mountain. 1920s near my old house, then 1940s cottages, then 1950s ranches and MCMs, and up on the side of the mountain, 1960s/70s ranches.

These two are next door to one another, clearly built by the same builder. They are surrounded by traditional ranches:




Here is a particularly nice ranch:


A few post-and-beam beauties:




One of my favorites. But it looked nicer the last time I saw it, with a great spherical fountain out front. It must have changed hands:


This is a great ranch that spreads over 2 or 3 lots. I couldn't even get the entire house in one shot:


Adjacent to Crestwood is Forest Park and there are a few nice mods here. This one is amazing, but hard to see because of the trees. First the front, then the side:





Another nice one in Forest Park:


Stay tuned for more!

Welcome to Magic City Modern

We had a perfectly gorgeous Mediterranean Revival bungalow, ca. 1925. All gleaming hardwoods, tile roof, 8' butler's pantry and four sets of French doors opening onto the terrace. It was our third wonderful home from the 1920s, and we felt we had found our era when it came to architecture. But while we loved our urban homes, we realized we really wanted more space, trees, and privacy for us and the dogs. So I started the search.

What I learned was that it was difficult to find that type of 1920's neighborhood architecture in a more rural setting. I found a lot of plantation-, farmhouse- and cottage-inspired homes, but they seemed to just miss out on what they even pretended to be. There were also a lot of modest 1960s-'70s ranch homes, but there was nothing inspired about them. And the newer neighborhoods of many gables? I was enough of an architecture fan to know I could never be happy in one of those.

And then, there it was. In a glossy real estate magazine in June of 2007. "Frank Lloyd Wright would be proud" it said. Well, I was a fan of Wright (I'd been to Fallingwater twice, and to some Usonian homes), and this didn't look like Wright to me. It looked more like something that had been transported from California and dropped into the woods in central Alabama. I was intrigued.



Not a bungalow. Definitely not from the 1920s. Something altogether different. But it was in the middle of three acres of trees, glorious trees. And it had a driveway that wound through said trees. (That was something I always wanted, a driveway that winds through the trees). So I called. "It's under contract," he said, "due to close the end of the week." (sigh). Well, it was a little far out, and maybe it was too much of a change, anyway . . . Back to the drawing board.

After a week or two of a continued fruitless search (the current leading candidate was next door to a water tower) I noticed that the cool house was still on the MLS. I had my realtor call. Miracle of miracles, the previous deal had fallen through. We got out there the next day.

Wow.

Did I say wow? Wow.



All glass and wood, protypical mid-century modern. The house brought the outside in through the windows of glass. And just in case you missed that, there is a garden right in the middle of the house, complete with zen stepping stones through the center. Of course 90% of our furniture wouldn't work in the house, but somehow I just didn't care. Oh, and it didn't hurt that the husband also thought the place was pretty darn cool. Somehow, in the course of about 20 minutes, I had transformed from Bungalow Gal to Mid-Century Maven. The adventure had begun.