List Price: $1.29 million
Sale Price: $950,000
The Property: Although its street face is mostly an off-putting wall of brick, the other three sides and the interior of this Glencoe home demonstrate the mid-century modernist concept that a house should contain simple, open spaces with a nearly transparent connection to the outdoors. It’s not a concept that appeals to everyone—as evidenced by the fact that the house lingered on the market for about two and a half years before finally selling in late December at 44 percent of its initial asking price of $2.15 million.

When the house first went on the market, in July 2007, I wrote enthusiastically about the way its architects, the great Keck brothers opened the comfortably spare interior to its surrounding grounds and the golf course next door. Large but—by design—not appearing so, the house was built in 1960 for Thomas Florsheim, who four years later left the family shoe company to build Weyenberg Shoe Manufacturing. (Two years ago, he bought back the family business with his two sons.)

The sellers, Michael and Nancy Schulson, bought the house in 1975; when listing it in 2007, they told me they were planning to move downtown to be near their grandkids. The Schulsons’ sale, to buyers who are not yet identified in public records, closed December 28th.

Price Points: After initially listing the home with an agent who specializes in mid-century modern homes, the Schulsons switched, in January 2009, to Julie Deutsch, a North Shore specialist. She took the asking price down to $1.575 million, and later to $1.29 million. “It’s a cool Keck house,” says Deutsch (who has another of the brothers’ works listed—a home nearer the lake in Glencoe that will be sold as-is). “But these [kinds of] houses just aren’t for everyone.”

Listing Agent: Julie Deutsch of Coldwell Banker, 847-835-6086; jrdeutsch@comcast.net.

Photos courtesy of Julie Deutsch.