Historic 1961 home on the market for first time asks $385K

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Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Price: $385,000

When Egon and Dorothea Schwarz first wrote to architect Harris Armstrong about designing a house for them for $18,000, Armstrong balked, advising that they invest in a car instead.

But after searching high and low for an affordable home in St. Louis, Missouri, where the family had moved for Egon to start a teaching position at Washington University, they tried again. This time, Armstrong was on board—as long as they agreed to purchasing an irregular lot that was minutes away from his office.

Now the Oakland Historic Landmarked home, which was completed around 1961 (with an addition added in 1966), is on the market for the first time, and it’s a charmer.

Beautifully maintained, the two-story “solar house”—so named for Armstrong’s technique of designing dwellings to most efficiently capture and deflect the sun’s rays—features four bedrooms, three bathrooms, an expanded retro kitchen, great room, soaring vaulted and beamed ceilings, a sunroom, skylights and clerestory windows, wood paneling, and an abundance of built in shelving.

One of Dorothea’s requests was that the residence allow space for a garden, and the property, which occupies a 100 by 150-foot lot, comes with lushly landscaped outdoor spaces. A one-car-plus garage rounds out the special house, which, located at 1036 Oakland Avenue, is offered at $385,000.

Courtesy of Circa Properties (h/t Estately)