Untouched midcentury masterpiece on the market for the first time ever asks $950K

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Location: Knoxville, Tennessee

Price: $950,000

A champion of modernism, Bruce McCarty was Knoxville’s most prominent architect and designed some of the city’s most iconic buildings over a career spanning more than a half-century. These include the University of Tennessee Art and Architecture Building, the Lawson McGhee Library, and the Knoxville City County Building.

Now the architect’s own home, which he built for him and his family in 1959 and has been virtually untouched since then, is now on the market for the first time ever. Considered his personal midcentury masterpiece, the time capsule boasts not only a unique T-shaped floorplan, but also clever engineering: The tri-level three-bedroom is built on a 10-foot structural grid in which all the columns and beams are set in a 10-foot module.

Still, it’s the simple beauty of the 3,150-square-foot house that is most striking. Walls of glass, soaring beamed ceilings, expansive common areas, gorgeous built-in furniture, redwood paneling, and more create a living experience that is at once majestic and intimate, elegant and homey.

Architecturally speaking, every aspect of the dwelling is original, including the parquet, brick, and cork flooring, all of the windows including the jalousie levered windows that provided air conditioning in the early days, and the exterior clad in wood and brick.

A double-height, cathedral-ceilinged great room with built-in seating and cabinetry opens up to a three-acre, lakefront site, while an adjacent inglenook forms a cozy retreat. An efficient kitchen with original rattan cabinetry and a dining area are located on the second level and overlook water views. The bedrooms are located another level up, set perpendicular to the common areas, where an open mezzanine office is also found.

The property offers a number of patios, verandas, and other opportunities for outdoor enjoyment, as well as a carport featuring a charming vintage detail: a strip of gravel to catch oil and grease. Located at 1536 Lyons Bend Road in West Knoxville, the extraordinary home is offered at $950,000.

Courtesy of Shannon Foster-Boline