It's a nice example of MCM and appears to be in pristine, unremodeled condition. Honestly? I wouldn't change much at all. I'd leave the baths as they are -- you'll not find someone to do that kind of tile work today. The kitchen looks to have quality slab cabinets. I wouldn't get mad at you for taking down the cabinets over the peninsula if you want to open up that area, but those are probably site-built custom WOOD cabinets. Don't touch the fireplace.

The carpet may have some age on it, and swapping it out for cork or hardwood could be nice. As for the garage, I'm not sure about how to address that. I know I wouldn't tamper with the carport -- it's part of the massing of the house and should stay. My thought would be to build a garage behind it, in the backyard. Drive through the carport to get to the garage. Or extend the carport forward, toward the road. Wall off the rear section (old carport) for storage, and park the cars in the front section. If all of your garage items are stored safely in the closed in rear area, you don't need doors on the front section where two cars are.

There are plenty of ways to decorate an MCM and have it work. It doesn't have to be all Eames lounge chairs and Nelson clocks. You can go soft contemporary (think Candice Olsen) or collected eclectic (think the Novogratz' bunch). You can also go towara the newer, softer Hollywood Regency I'm seeing more of.

But if you're one who really dislikes MCM and can't see how it can work for your, say, traditional aesthetic, I wouldn't do it.

For decor I can totally see rustic or rustic modern, esp in the LR with that great fireplace, I can see comfy leather in a U around the hearth with a great coffee table in the middle for playing games and hanging out.

But I can't imagine how you could remove the carport. If the zoning will allow you to build a garage behind, the carport could be like a Porte cochere leading back to it. And what a handy place to dry umbrellas, stomp off snow, fix the lawn mower in the shade! I grew up in a late 50s-early 60s neighborhood where detached garages were not uncommon, especially after the original attached garage or carport was converted to living space.

Did you notice there's a pullout cutting board next to the sink?

But, umm, the master bath sink has a nice bright window above it...looking right at the neighbor's house.

OT, but my parents have the same kitchen table and chairs, only the chairs have casters and the whole thing is a bit more scuffed around the edges.

I don't hate MCM at all. I actually kind of like it. If things are in good condition I would keep a lot of it. I just don't know how we'd work in a garage. I too thought of keeping the carport and putting the garage behind it, driving through the carport to get to the garage would be fine, but would that look okay? I can't find another example...

What a great house! But I am biased towards mcm. I like the ideas posted above. If you could do a drive through to a garage, the garage might provide also help to screen off some of the neighbors. I'd definitely play around with the design to make sure it will work or hire an architect. I think you could do it though.

Lovely house and very true to the MCM style!

Perhaps this could help you. My in-laws had a classic MCM ranch house with a carport AND an attached garage, both original to the house.

Here's a sketch of their house layout. It isn't to scale, though. The carport and garage abutted the concrete retaining wall of the neighbor's lot which was on a higher level. The wall was about 6 to 7 ft tall. The neighbor planted a row of shrubs along the top of the wall. This way, my in-laws had a secluded patio with a driveway on the side. The oval in the picture is a planting bed in the patio. Also, there were concrete containers along the retaining wall with bamboo planted in them.

The drive-through carport was very handy for visitor parking on a hot summer day.

The house is charming and you say the right price but.....
What is the cost of building a three car garage? You must add that to the price. I think you should keep looking.

Fabulous house!

Check the neighbourhood/municipality rules to make sure a building as large as a three car garage would be permissible.

My take us to stay fairly true to the bones, then decorate how you want.

The kitchen and bathrooms are beautiful. Open kitchens & islands are overrated, IMO. Open kitchens mean noise, mess, & smells are open to the rest of the house, and islands are something you get tired of having to walk around. Just trying to convince you to leave that fabulous kitchen as it is! ;)

Yes, there is so much lovely MCM in that house, you should honor it. By that I mean, don't paint the stone work, don't add things like muntins to the windows, etc. Keep the architectural elements going as they are, or only change that which is easy to change back should you or someone else want to. If you add the garage, do it in such a way that maintains the architectural integrity of the home...make it look integrated with the house...as if it could've been original to the structure. If you can, keep the original tiles and if the kitchen cabinets are in good shape, keep them too. I think they are wonderful. (and I'm not typically a fan of MCM!)

Beyond that though, you should feel free to use whatever furnishings and style you think you might like in your home. You can spin it modern, traditional, transitional, shaker, mediterranean, even deco if you wish. Probably not cottage or victorian though...

I'm amazed at the price...in our area, you'd need to more than double it just for the land...

As mentioned, I would consult the city and an architect about the garage before purchasing. You don't want to buy only to find out a garage behind the carport isn't permissable. A good architect should be able to make it look it was always part of the house.

Totally agree with Awm about islands and sitting on stools is only comfortable for a quick meal/snack. It boggles my mind that this style of seating is so popular....dangling legs, hard for some to climb in and out of, usually a smaller seat than a regular chair.

I might consider removing those upper cabs on the peninsula to open it up a bit though. I've never liked cabinets that hang in mid air and block views.

Other than changing the flooring or carpet, I wouldn't do much either. I like everything else.

Looking at the pictures again, where would you put a 3-car garage that it doesn't completely obliterate your view or access to the back yard? The bedroom L makes the space just behind the house narrower. A garage immediately behind the carport would turn that into a courtyard, which could be fine.

Maybe you could turn the carport into a garage with the right-hand bay tandem (one car parked behind the other). The tandem part could be one bay wide at the back so the patio area is wider. Not convenient if you use 3cars, but great for bikes and tools.

Oh, I'm drooling. That house is amazing. Please don't touch the bathrooms, fireplace, kitchen. OK, don't touch anything. Just decorate. MCM homes take well to any kind of furnishings with simple lines. It doesn't have to be all MCM furniture.

I agree with most of what was said. Build the garage behind the carport creating a more private courtyard feeling in the backyard. With that nice carport, is it possible to only have a single or double car garage?

Do you have enough width on your lot to put the driveway to the right of the carport and drive around the back that way? Then you could have an overhang or breezeway-type connection to the garage so you wouldn't have to go outside if raining to get to the house, just walk under covered to the carport. I wouldn't cover the whole back wall but just have it connect toward the back-right corner (if standing facing the house). Hope that makes sense.

I think the garage should follow the same roofline as the house.

If you don't think you can live there without making major changes, it's probably not the house for you. So many MCM homes have been gutted or major renovations which have removed the MCM character. I'm dealing right now with undoing some of the changes a PO made to my own MCM house. I would cut off my left pinky toe for a MCM home in such pristine, original condition.

My son & DIL just bought a 60s raised ranch with a badly remuddled bathroom. I'm going to show them this house's bathroom photos. Those mosaics are fabulous and would look so right in their home.

It would be almost impossible to try and turn this house into something else and have it look good. I think the garage would be fine if it looked like the rest of the house.

As for furnishings, you can do pretty much whatever you want as long as it isn't over-scaled Victorian, or 2000s stuff that looks like it should go in Hearst Castle. Any mix of styles should work but it's all going to have to be pretty small-scale.

I absolutely LOVE IT! We bought a 1970 house and remodeled the inside and outside to make it look an Early California-Style home, but a little more contemporary. We have an attached two-car garage, and we bought the house knowing we could build an extra detached out to the side and back of house (maybe the size of a 1 1/2 car garage?) WITH a carport in front of it! I HAD to have the carport and as long as it is under the same roof line of the new garage-I have always loved that look! I have to say the carport is my favorite-so I would keep your carport and if possible build your garage onto the back of the carport with a cool garage door-and, with the same rooflines of your house-see, I'm thinking it's already yours! HA! We stucco'd ours and the columns are stucco and all painted to match our house, so even though the extra garage and carport are separate, it's all the same stucco and color. We even put in contemporary bronze windows along the side where our pool is (being built now) so it all looks part of the house. If the carport doesn't have lights in the ceiling-I would add them as that would also dress up your carport and look good at night. Landscape lighting is so important too. Our outside is still under construction, but should be done in a couple of months.

Thanks for all the advice. We are thinking we could do with a smaller garage - we basically need room for a work trailer and some construction supplies. But if we actually park in the carport something smaller is workable. However, it was listed yesterday afternoon and we were the 11th party through it. It's an estate sale and priced to sell quick :/. So no sitting too long on a decision....
It's nothing like we expected to purchase but maybe that's okay?! Buying a home is so stressful! :). So often when we actually go through a house I feel a let down - like the pictures portrayed a better home than the feeling I got when doing a walk through. Not the case with this one. Loved the walk through too and both of us could imagine our family living in the home as is.

This home is amazing, seems to be in pristine clean condition, and what a fabulous price. I agree, it doesn't need much and I would do very little other than remove the carpet. Good luck!

Yeah, I could see myself living there, too. :) Good luck!

I'd buy that one in a heartbeat, wow.

I agree that making changes to the carport area wouldn't look right, and I like the idea of an additional garage (not attached.) I don't know how popular MCM homes are in your area, but in many parts of the country you might be hurting the resale value of the home if you make major changes to the architecture. I think a good deal of the value in that house is it's so well preserved. I love those bathrooms and the fireplace, and would try very hard not to change them.

We are in our tenth year of living in a MCM Spanish style home (not nearly as pristine or beautiful as yours.) We honestly were not fans of MCM when we moved in, but that gradually changed over the years. What we're doing now is slowly adding and changing furnishings as we find them, at thrift stores and elsewhere, to reflect our changing taste. We'll probably sell some things on Craig's List. You really don't have to do it all at once, so don't let that pressure you.

In fact, I have really enjoyed going slowly, because it gives me time to learn about MCM (reading books and online resources) and think it through. I feel like I am still finding my way.

It's obvious that you're sensitive to design or you wouldn't be doing this thoughtful post and asking these questions. If you buy the house, I'd suggest living with it for a while before doing anything. I think there is a good chance that you will find a new appreciation for some of the features of the style as you learn more about it.

We've already made some small changes to our house in the early years, and now I worry we shouldn't have...so I'm trying to help you avoid some of the confusion we've experienced. My heartfelt advice is to take your time.

It sounds odd, but I think we are finally learning to let our house teach us a few things, instead of us forcing the house to be the way we thought it should be initially. We're currently trying to be open to letting the house help us grow and change, instead of the reverse, if that makes sense! I'll bet you could do the same, and you have a much more wonderful starting point than we did. That place is such a gem!

Anyone buying a home with a strong character should honor that character and not attempt to erase it. Modernising a home CAN be done with sensitivity to it's bones, but it does require some thought beyond the current Houzzerization of painting all of the woodwork white and a coat of gray paint. :-O

Will local zoning allow an outbuilding? What are the setbacks? Is there a HOA or other restrictions against business vehicles and trailers being on residential property? What would you expect to spend on a separate garage structure (more than you think!) and are you factoring that into the costs?