<Here's
a house I'm told was built by the Master Builder's Association for the
1975 Home Show in the Kingdome, (reprinted
with permission, Master Builder's Association)
NOTE: several design/home magazines want me to stay on the lookout for any cool houses they might want to photograph, interior and/or exterior. If you know of any house or other building with wildly cool fabulous or outrageous style, or a radical fun exterior or interior, please give me a call!: (206) L-I-B-E-R-T-Y, that is: (206) 542-3789, and thanks! - Tom Holst, licensed associate real estate broker.
November, 2001: Including their word of "special thanks" to me, Tom Holst, seattlemodern.com, the fall 2001 issue of "Wallpaper*" magazine, hits the news stands. The first feature article is a TWELVE page spread on Seattle architecture, their quirky version of the "Seattle vernacular", and modern shopping around town. I enjoyed working with the staff and helping with this story. As I explained to several homeowners as I searched for prospective houses for the photo and interiors editors, the magazine is not about "wallpaper", it's a thick glossy British based magazine, brimming with energy and humor and fun in regards to, not "wallpaper", but "the stuff that surrounds us": fashion, travel, interiors, food, technology, AND hip groovy retro and newer modern architecture and trends, worldwide. It was great fun talking back and forth with the creative director in Paris and London, and driving around the interiors editor and other members of the New York staff when they were out here. Thanks to all of them!
Still active and still going strong, FOR 4 YEARS NOW!, Four years of producing this very same modern website! I've been archiving, showing, and listing mid-century and newer fun unusual cool MODERNIST style architecture that is and/or was recently for sale around Seattle.
Sorry about the
"home movies" tone of some of this, just a little aside
here, I returned in March from a trip to Asia. Here I am (I'm
the guy on the left), 
Here's a wildly
modern single family house I visited in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam,
of all places:
The owner, a friend of my
business associate, drove me around on his scooter, we sang karaoke, I really
enjoyed the incredible gourmet food, the people, the prices, the weather, the
crazy yet practical motor-scooter based lifestyle, the industriousness,
friendliness, and aliveness of the city. I was able to see much off the beaten
tourist path. It was a pure joy...
This site is meant to be a resource to help you pick out a house to go with your modern furniture and modern accessories: 40's 50's 60's, 70's, and newer modern houses, contemporary, mid-century and newer, retro modern, futuristic, modernist style, design, architecture for sale in and around Seattle. This site is also meant to tell you about me and why you should buy or sell your house through me, Tom Holst, an associate real estate broker in the Seattle area for over 10 years, and a rich background in architectural design, drafting, landlording, home building, home maintenance and repair, property management, and more. But the focus of this website is cool mid-century 50's/60's/70's and newer modern or contemporary or radical architecture: individualistic style, houses that stand out, rather than fit in with the generic conservative feel of so many safe boring cookie-cutter subdivisions.
pull up a chair
and prepare:
here's one of the
many "modern" style houses you will find around Seattle: (this one not
currently for sale):
Another one bites
the dust: here's a photo I
took on January
26th 2001, of a home 2.5 miles from the Puget Sound waterfront, and about 9.5
miles from where the Kingdome used to be, this house will be torn down almost as
you read this, just like the ONLY Frank Lloyd Wright house in the entire state
of Oregon is about to be torn down to make room for a "McMansion". The
dumpster on the left hand side of this picture is already standing by awaiting
the demolition. Just look at the cool retro-modern 50's/Asian/Shoji influence in
the wonderful lines of this soon to be gone classic. I love what used to be
horizontal glass on either side of the front door, above the stonework planters,
and the high-up glass between the wonderful stonework and the soaring ceiling.
What a joy this house must of been in its heyday, I am glad I was at least able
to make a final photograph of it, because soon that is all that will be left.
(It's a large image, you will have to scroll it horizontally to see it all):
Back to what this website is supposed to be about, here's some new modern real estate listings for y'all. I'll be switching my update day for the "new listings" section, to each Friday from now on, instead of Saturday, so be sure to check in each Friday for the latest modern listings.
Modernist alert! the following link will take you to the coolest extreme modern house, it's not in Washington state, but it desperately needs a buyer to prevent its destruction, it's one of the few houses not built by Frank Lloyd Wright that he praised, very unusual for him. Here's the link: http://www.jetsetmodern.com/catalano.htm, (also a great website).
Speaking of Mr. Wright, I recently had the privilege of touring one of his homes, built in 1952, in Issaquah, of all places. It was awesome. There are only 3 of his homes in the Seattle/Tacoma area.
There will be no "old world charm" in this website, no brass coach lights, no eastside "McMansions", no French Provincial, not even any "craftsman bungalows" (not that there's anything wrong with them) but for this website, it's just modern and cool, and hopefully reasonably priced, where possible, but no guarantees there. (I thought about compiling a "hall of shame" of bad design, but decided not to risk offending those homeowners.) I am an associate broker, in addition to being a homebuilder with years of hands-on experience designing and drafting for registered architectural firms, and I've also worked hands-on in the construction, building, and landlording fields. Why not bring my experience to work for you. If you are a buyer, I will represent you and your interests, and it won't cost you anything!.......call me to arrange showings, or just call me to chit-chat...my phone is: (206) L-I-B-E-R-T-Y, that is: (206) 542-3789.
The rest of this website is about modernist, mid-century, minimalist, futuristic, shagadelic, kitschy-to-cool clean contemporary design: a website of architecturally modernist real estate for sale in and around Seattle, now updated weekly. Check in every Saturday morning and get addicted to something; a style, an awakening of design interest, a new breath of fresh air from the staid stuffy staleness of traditionalism: I seek out non-boring cool designed dwellings, and accompany the pictures with quick to the point non-boring text for each listing, to save you time and effort.
Can risk-taking design of great buildings as artistic visionary "sculpture" fit in with the more everyday mundane practical world of budgets, mortgages, banks, energy codes, and the world of real estate commerce and me making a living?, I believe so!, buy or sell something from me and let's see! Please help keep this website alive! Your kindly donations of listings of used buildings or other valuables can feed one real estate agent and keep him clothed and safe for months! Operators are standing by for your call! In as much as I try to answer the majority of all the emails I receive, I do tend to answer my phone more often, quickly, and assuredly than email, so, if you REALLY want to reach me, call me at: (206) L-I-B-E-R-T-Y, that is: (206) 542-3789, a much better way to quickly bring my attention to your house hunting needs, or try my mobile phone at: (206) 841-0003, Now back to our regularly scheduled programming:
Hey, I finally input a whole bunch of photos of architecturally cool houses I took on my Palm Springs weekend in May, click the "Palm Springs" button to see 'em and call me for the name and number of the agent down there who showed me around and who specializes in modern.
Remember to bookmark this site! and tell your friends about my site, also email me with any comments or suggestions on how to improve it! Thanks!,
Tom Holst, Associate Broker,
phone: (206) 841-0003,
Western Associates Real Estate, 9020 Greenwood Ave N. Seattle WA 98103 USA. Webmaster: Tom Holst, copyright 1999, by Tom Holst, all rights reserved. Some properties here may be pending sale, sold, expired, or otherwise off-market, if a picture of your property is here and you would prefer it not be shown on this website, please contact me and I will remove it immediately. All data herein including that from the NorthWest Multiple Listing Service is furnished without verification and MLS and Tom Holst assume no responsibilities for errors or omissions, whether occasioned by them or others. Listings subject to price change, correction, errors, omission, prior sale, or withdrawal.