Unique Lakewood Modern Home, Built For Art Collection, Up For Sale

LAKEWOOD, WA - This house might be best described as "divisive." You'll either love it or hate it, depending on your taste. And that's a fact the architect of the home knows well.

Seattle-based architect John Brenneis designed this home for William K. and Barbara Street (William K. Street is the son of William Street, president of the Frederick & Nelson department store and the man credited with bringing global attention to the 1962 Seattle World's Fair). Brenneis built the home to show off the couple's impressive collection of contemporary art, which is why the house resembles both an art museum and a New York City artist's loft.

And while the Streets may love it, the house has received mixed reviews, Brennais said. When the home was completed in 1989, architecture publications declined to write about it. Brennais said that, given the recession at the time, Americans were more interested in comforting, cozy-looking architecture - not the industrial look of the Street home. The house has aged well, however; it would fit in well alongside some of the modernist homes being built in Seattle and Tacoma today.

Brennais told Patch.com that he remembers thinking that the owners might one day have a hard time selling it. But no matter - he made it for them, not anyone else.

"It was done in response to the owners' tastes," Brennais said.

Whether you like it or not, you can't deny that this might be Lakewood's most unique home, if not one of the most interesting in all of Puget Sound. Here are more details from Realtor.com:

• Address: 11701 Gravelly Lake Dr SW, Lakewood, Washington
• Price: $749,000
• Square Feet: 4439
• Bedrooms: 3
• Bathrooms: 3 Baths
• Built: 1989
• Features: This eclectic modern home was designed by architect John Brenneis in 1989 to showcase the current owner's extensive art collection. Inspired by an artist's loft, Brenneis created a wonderfully open floor plan that makes the home perfect for entertaining large groups. The main living space is expansive, featuring soaring 20 foot ceilings, exposed truss joists with museum grade lighting, walls of glass and several seating areas that share a double sided gas fireplace. The lower gallery opens directly to a large patio with a heated lap pool currently used as a pond. A well equipped kitchen, dining area, bedroom and full bath are also on the main floor. Upstairs are two bedrooms including a master suite with a walk-in closet and a large master bath with direct access to a roof top garden and hot tub. The third bedroom is currently used as an office.

This listing originally appeared on realtor.com. For more information and photos, click here.

Images via Realtor.com