Tasteful friends, a Mid Century architectural treasure

It's like a beautiful wood panelled rabbit hutch on the inside. Small, narrow, low ceilings.

Being Oklahoma, it needs a tornado shelter to seal the deal.

I love it. Apart from the zigzag wood detailing on the exterior

I’ll take it. I love wood interiors, and it’s everywhere here. So warm and cozy. The only thing is, it’s in trumpsville.

I live in Southern California. My house is 1/3 it's size. I could sell my house and buy it cash....and then buy another house.

The Oklahoma version of staging is pretty hilarious.

I couldn't live there but it's an amazing house.

It's practically glamorous for Oklahoma.

And so close to all that wonderful shopping downtown Bartlesville!

How could I say no?

It said it was built in 1959.....it looks like the kitchen has the original appliances, even the table appears from that era. I wonder if most of the furniture are the original furniture.

I think it's an amazing house. Love it. Quirky and fun and great private and quiet location there. I would use it as a vacation home. Great price too.

What happens to the assessed value after it sells (currently $15.4k)? Wonder what the annual property tax will be?

The "zig zag" detailing on the exterior, some of the windows and the balcony railing is a bit kitschy and on the nose, but the house is generally stunning and what a steal at that price! That said, I would hate to live anywhere in Oklahoma (and yes I lived in a neighboring state for couple of years and drove through OK often for work). Being Trump country is only one of many miserable drawbacks to this state - there is so little to like. Tulsa is almost unbearable and yet it is the absolute BEST of what the state has to offer (Oklahoma City is really the pits). At the very least Tulsa has some decent dining and shopping and a somewhat nice airport. As this house is located well over an hour from that city - I would have to pass. Nice find however.

The furniture and rugs make me want to slit my throat.

R9: The last annual property tax was $1700. Who cares if it goes up by a couple hundred dollars?

A fairly quiet design by architect Bruce Goff, fairly famous-- for quirkineas than acclaimed for quality. I forget he is from Oklahoma but that is the curse of the place I suppose.

There are some aspects I like, the way over-scaled porte cochere for instance, then the under-scaled entry/stair hall is a nice touch. Mostly though it's awkward: the gratuitous zig-zag panels, the too long and too skinny shape of some important rooms, the ugly pitch of the roofs/ceilings, the cheese grater metal panels in place of stair balisters, the unrelenting narrow wood boards with an orange hue... Whether original or an afterthought, the interior curtains as partition "walls" is terrible.

It could be a fun house for weekends and holidays, but not as a permanent residence.

And Oklahoma. No.

HATE. IT. The sawtooth/zigzag design is rather sinister- mid-century Dr. Caligari. The metal cage screen on the stairs is both sinister and ugly. The rooms are not only badly proportioned, but ignore human behavior. The fireplaces are all at the narrow ends of long and very narrow rooms. One cannot really sit in front of the fire as is natural. The rooms seem to be so narrow that one cannot help sitting facing a blank wall only a few feet from you. (Or bizarrely looking into another room for no reason.) The bedrooms are poorly proportioned. There is not enough room between the beds and the dressers to walk past comfortably. The house would be hell heat in the winter.

It's OK all it needs is a passing tornado to knock down those trees onto the house to take care of any redecorating concerns you may have.

It's worth the price just for the Samantha Stevens oven alone.

Hate the zig zag thing though.

[quote]In Oklahoma for a song.

Depends on the song.

This illustrates one of my pet peeves with architects: pathways should *never* bisect a seating group.

I love everything about it except that saw blade section. That would definitely have to go.

It still has the original pull out stove (under the ovens) that were popular back in the 60s and 70s. Back in the mid 80s I owned a couple of rental units that had those ovens and stoves. I thought they were the coolest things.

Throw out the furniture and I'm in love. It would be a fabulous weekend getaway.

There’s a fortune spent on patio furniture inside and outside the house.

I just adore it. But as R1 said, my second thought was that the first twister would carry it away...

R22, you do realize that if the house has been around for 61 years, that is not likely to happen.

Intellectually, yes, R23.

But every time the clouds thickened I think I'd start bingeing on Haagen Dazs.

I loathe MCM. Yuck 🤢

It's only a 3 and a half hour drive to Lawrence, KS, which is probably the nearest center of civilization.

All of the light futures are beyond hideous and don't belong. The stair railing needs to be changed as well. It has potential, but it's clear the current owner didn't deserve to live in it. They have no taste, and no appreciation for the architectural style or history of the home.

[quote] It's only a 3 and a half hour drive to Lawrence, KS, which is probably the nearest center of civilization.

Hardly. Bartlesville is only 48 minutes north of Tulsa.

Sold for $120K in 2006. That's what it's worth. Some very ugly modifications done since the beautiful original of 1959 (the worst is the stair banisters).

[quote] Hardly. Bartlesville is only 48 minutes north of Tulsa.

You have made my point.

Bartlesville is a very small town of only 36000 people. Without the influence of Phillips Petroleum it would be a dirt road village. The company is no longer headquartered there (moved to Houston) but there are several impressive buildings in downtown Bartlesville built by the company during their time there. I'm guessing most of those buildings are now mostly empty.

R16 And this is the song: "You'll be living in that lonesome territory when you see me headed off to glory"

I love the look of wood but not here at the Plywood Palace.

The wood walls are distractingly busy. Some people like that sort of thing, though. I'm not sure what the real estate market is going to be going forward, so it could be risky to invest in rural property right now.

r7, that fridge is brand new. It's a Retro Big Chill, made famous by Rachel Ray. They're very expensive. I've never seen one in a tasteful thread before.

"It's worth the price just for the Samantha Stevens oven alone."

It's a Frigidaire Flair oven/range and they were must have items in their time.

General Electric had the Americana oven/range, another popular seller.

I love every inch of it, but I don’t know if I’ve ever heard two more depressing words in a row that Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

The Big Chill Retropolitan would have been a more appropriate choice for this mid-century house. They're custom made in the exact color of your choice.

looks like a montessori pre-school from the 1950s

Gave me a woody.

Architecturally, I love it. But I personally couldn't live with all of that wood paneling.

Overshare: I have a Big Chill fridge in "Jadite Green."

It would be perfect! I would take it in a minute and get away from all the skanks in the city.

R31's picture is pretty accurate. That prominent brown building on the left Is/was the Phillips building. There is also Bartlesville Weslyan College for those desiring more education. With Phillips gone, I'm surprised Bartlesville has held on this long.

Bartlesville was where Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) grew up. Her father was an orthopedic surgeon there.

As if being in OK wasn't hour enough. It has accordion closet doors!!!!! Sorry, no.

^horror, not hour^

Ree Drummond still lives close by Bartlesville. Her ranch is about half hour away, in Pahuska. There’s a famous Frank Lloyd Wright building in Bartlesville, too. The oil barons built some nice things back in the day, but they’re gone now. I used to spend quite a bit of time in Oklahoma, and it’s succumbed to meth labs in the past twenty years or so. People don’t live there on purpose. The poorer tribal nations living conditions make The Bronx look like Monte Carlo.

I like the house though! They didn’t mess it up with granite counters and hideous cabinets, and it’s in a pretty spot.

[quote] There’s a famous Frank Lloyd Wright building in Bartlesville, too.

That would be the concrete and copper Price Tower Arts Center.

"I'm guessing most of those buildings are now mostly empty."

The Price Tower, one of two Frank Lloyd Wright's skyscrapers that actually was built, is alive, well and thriving in Bartlesville.

And I agree with R46. This house is serving up some MCM realness. It hasn't been bastardized by the addition of granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, walk in closets the size of a football field, and bathrooms that can easily accommodate a football team.

This is a freaking gem. Just some light touches here and there, unclutter the landscape and it is a jewel in a box.

Could one get toilet seats that match the toilets? If not, forget it.

The kitchen is my ideal. I get so disappointed going into mid century houses and they’ve put a 2010 townhouse development kitchen in and torn out all the tile in the bathrooms. I know I’m in the minority, but these renovations already look dated and trashy. It’s better to stick to the original bones of a house.

I agree that clearing out the landscape would be nice, the woods are a bit oppressive. The topography around there is gentle, rolling hills which would suit the design of the house much better.

[quote]In Okl..

PASS!

DREADFUL!

I'd feel like I was living in a former stable.

[quote]and bathrooms that can easily accommodate a football team.

Pics please!

I hate it. I normally like wood paneling, but it's excessive and frankly awful in this house. The spaces are all awkward, as r13 pointed out, and the shag carpeting is hideous, even if it is authentic (but at least that would be easy to fix). All of the funiture looks either cheap or uncomfortable.

The only pleasant surprise is the period original kitchen with that fabulous stove/ oven combo. It looks great and fits perfectly, but on the other hand, it's impossible to use for actual cooking today, if only because you could never ever get it repaired.

I agree R55. The furniture is some of the worst that I have ever seen (although not surprising at this price point) and the kitchen would have to be remodeled immediately. Some of us actually cook - and keeping "period" details that aren't actually functional in one of the two rooms in every home that DEMAND function is just insane. I have to question the reasoning ability of some of the posters here. Gut remodel that kitchen immediately and just choose finishes that work. Period.

Its hideous. And is that chicken wire on the internal divider and stair railings? I dont know Oklahoma, so no comment. Not much of a gay scene I'd imagine?

The setting is nice with all the trees

Too much wood. Not enough light. The zig-zag has to go. The Frigidaire Flair built-in oven with pull out stovetop is a collectable .

Bruce Goff was family and had his office in the Price Tower. He had a pretty eclectic output. Some places look more original than this, which seems like something from a mediocre Wright protege.

Bump

It looks like a Peewee Herman ball pit.

It’s in fucking Oklahoma.

[quote]mid-century Dr. Caligari

I'm making it my mission to find a reason to work this phrase into a real life conversation.

I grew up in Missouri and there used to be a lot of houses just like this, not nearly as grand and on a much smaller scale, but post-war 1950s bungalows in the middle of the woods. I loved them, but I did not love the bugs. A relative's home had a permanent stain on the bottom near the foundation from the industrial spray he needed to keep the kitchen from being full of ants and the closets from being full of moths.