50's & 60's Modern Homes

Does anyone know if their are any area's where my wife and I may find 50's / 60's style
modern homes? We are looking to purchase a home and love this type of architecture. Any help would be great!!

Thanks
Josh

Take a look at http://midcenturyutah.blogspot.com/
its a blog out of provo that documents MCM houses in the area. Its a good place to start anyway.

josh -

my experience is that the capital area, the mid to upper aves, emigration canyon, and mt. olympus areas are the best bets for modern homes. some real classic ones. unfortunately they don't come up for sale that much. just not enough of them.

these were the neighborhoods that were developed in those years as slc grew.

all the new development on the west and south sides is tuscan and mt suburban. (for the most part)

contact me for more information.

i happy to help point you the right way.

brent

I might be too late, but I am a local Realtor that specialize in mid-century and today modern homes in the Salt Lake Valley. I have a catalog of over 1000 homes in the Salt Lake area, on my data base includes years,size, owner names, mailing address, photo, and sometime history of the home. I generally know about a home before it is listed and keep a very close pulse on the Utah market. My interest is for the preservation of architecturally significant homes in Salt Lake. Call me at 801-550-7430 or email me at x2mony@hotmail.com

Previously Joshua Jenkins wrote:

Does anyone know if their are any area's where my wife and I may find 50's / 60's style
modern homes? We are looking to purchase a home and love this type of architecture. Any help would be great!!

Thanks
Josh

Josh and All:

Josh and All:

I stumbled across the blog this morning while eating breakfast and listening to my kids fight downstairs.  I am a Professor of Architecture at the University of Utah and am very pleased at the interest in modern sustainable architecture.  To add my advice on finding modern houses in the valley, I would recommend Bountiful.  You mentioned the 50's and the 60's.  California Ranch was started through the case study house movement and then exploited by the Eichler and similar developers who built modern affordable houses.  Cliff May was able to do much for this as well as the houses appealed to mainstream (they included traditional details in a modern package).  Other Palm Springs modern architects also furthered this effort in the West.  THis was all going on in the 50's, but it really was not until the late 60's that modernism in housing caught hold in Utah.  This is the case for most contemporary styles in clothing, and products, including housing, that Utah is about 10-15 years behind.  THe gap seems to be closing as of late, however there are still signs of a lack of progression.  Take for example the unwillingness of the city I live in, Bountiful, to do curb side recycling.  IN fact a recent survey indicates that more than 1/2 of the residents do not want it.  What?  For an extra $40 a year, to have curb side recycling.  I have lived in Phoenix, Tucson, Berkeley, Eugene, downtown Salt Lake and now in Bountiful.  Almost every city in the union has recycling - but I digress.  My point is that Bountiful actually has quite a bit of modern housing from the late 60's, but again it is spotty.  THe FLW house is up here, so make a day trip of it.  The houses I speak of are in my neighborhood above Orchard between North Salt Lake and 1800 South.  Some were simply done by developers from stock plans coming out of Cali, but others were done by architects, hired by developers or hired by the owners themselves.  The latter is the least likely.  Here are some photos of the house we purchased last year and are continuing to work on.  THe next step is the windows, but 18-25K to change out all the glass for insulated units is a hefty price tag.  I currently am working on a number of additions and a couple of houses in arizona.  If anyone is in need of design services at any scale, please let me know.

Prof Arch

 

thanks for the pictures, prof.  i'm actually gathering information on the U's urban planning programme for my grad school considerations, so maybe i'll meet you someday.

 

there's a modernist neighbourhood designed by ron molen in west valley designated "bennion plaza".  at the moment, there's a home for sale there (2449 west 3965 south

)...

 

http://utahhomes.com/Property/propertydetails.aspx?SearchID=345855&PropertyGUID=2860672C-3C20-45AE-89BA-8B891679F6D7&RowNum=2

 

i hope that link works.  good luck in your search!

Actually, that Bennion Plaza area is interesting... it's not the BEST part of town, but it's pretty well insulated. There is an entrance to the area on 2700 West just north of 4100 south. The gate on the neighborhood says "Westshire". There are several flat-topped houses in there, and I know there are several with large lots and a few with pools, even. The homes are mostly real-wood clad, and many are somewhat run-down, still original. I would think that someone who would be okay with a West Valley City address, and who has an eye for design and renovation could make a go at one of these homes. There are a few for sale all the time - you have to watch to catch the good ones. listing prices go in the low 200's. The houses were built in the middle 60's to the middle 70's, and several have the sunken living rooms with built-in sofas and the usual fireplace as focal point. Open stair cases and vaulted ceilings are de rigueur. The area is well established and well treed. I imagine this neighborhood was quite something when it was new.

 

 

Previously liam. wrote:

thanks for the pictures, prof.  i'm actually gathering information on the U's urban planning programme for my grad school considerations, so maybe i'll meet you someday.

 

there's a modernist neighbourhood designed by ron molen in west valley designated "bennion plaza".  at the moment, there's a home for sale there (2449 west 3965 south

)...

 

http://utahhomes.com/Property/propertydetails.aspx?SearchID=345855&PropertyGUID=2860672C-3C20-45AE-89BA-8B891679F6D7&RowNum=2

 

i hope that link works.  good luck in your search!

 

Hi all,

I ran across this forum while searching for information about Ron Molen. The topic here interests me for several reasons:

- I grew up in the Ron Molen neighborhood called "Westshire" in West Valley City that Liam asked about (although he called it "Bennion Plaza," which I've never heard it referred to). My home was built in 1964 or 65, and my family lived there from 1980 until 1998. When I would tell people where I lived they would say, "Oh, you live in the Research Homes." Apparently when the neighborhood was built, the homes were designed to be "homes of the future." It was a GREAT neighborhood to grow up in and very upscale for the area at the time (Westshire was referred to as the "east side of West Valley City" back then). The homes are all uniquely designed, many with atriums and conversation pits. As the neighborhood began to change, my parents decided to sell our home and move, but I loved living there.

- The pictures Prof Arch posted of the house he purchased in Bountiful is the EXACT floorplan of the house I grew up in in Westshire (updated, of course)! In fact, my husband grew up in the same neighborhood as Prof Arch's house (on Pheasant Way in Bountiful), and I've passed by the house many times, telling my husband, "That house looks like the house I grew up in."

- I have a friend that moved to a house in Cottonwood Heights on Doverhill Dr. about two years ago. His home resides in a neighborhood that consists of two or three streets of Ron Molen homes. It's fun to drive around and see "my" house, as well as several other models I was familiar with growing up. In fact, the house my friend lives in is the same floor plan as the house my best friend grew up in in Westshire! It's like a time warp.

- I currently live in Reston, VA, the first modern, post-war planned community in America developed by Robert E. Simon about 20 miles west of Washington, D.C. It's wonderful here.

I wish I could have had more of an appreciation for my old neighborhood, Westshire, growing up. I always knew the homes were unique, and the people that lived there always had such eclectic and elegant homes. It's a shame the area has changed so much. Hopefully young families today will see the potential there and invest in the area again. The homes are really great. This is similar to what's happening in Reston where I live now, and I'm raising my family here with the same hopes. Good luck everyone!

I live in "The Westshire" as it is lovingly known by us residents.  After spending many years in San Diego, Chicago, Portland, OR, and various other cities around the country, I can honestly say I love the Westshire more than any of my previous neighborhoods.  The design is wonderful with smaller streets, unique homes, and mature vegitation.  I try to get into every house I can in this neighborhood and always find something new that I like.  It is a hidden gem in SLC.  Evidently there is an identical neighborhood on the east bench somewhere and the exact same homes are 2+ million $, when these are in the low $200K range.  We're planning to find this other area and see our twin home.

Ron Molen really knew how to make a neighborhood.