Frank Lloyd Wright home in Okemos is for sale

OKEMOS - The Goetsch-Winckler Home, one of only four houses in the Lansing area designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, is on the market.

Owners Audrey and Dan Seidman bought the house, built in 1940, in 2007. It sits on just under three acres on Hulett Road.

The home's sale listing was posted Wednesday on www.thegoetschwincklerhouse.com, a website that's dedicated to the home's history.

"Frank Lloyd Wright’s 'favorite small house' can now be yours," it reads. It's listed at $479,000.

The one-story house, with red brick walls and brick-colored concrete floors, and textiles throughout, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

It's one of seven Wright properties listed as for sale in the U.S., according to the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy's website. The Chicago-based nonprofit works to facilitate the preservation and stewardship of buildings Wright designed that still stand.

The Seidmans said the architecturally significant house will attract a buyer who values what makes it unique.

"With a house you get a house,” Dan Seidman said. "With this house you get a house and a story to tell."

Restoring a piece of history

Wright designed the home for Alma Goetsch and Katherine Winckler, art professors at what would become Michigan State University. 

At approximately 1,400 square feet its the second of Wright’s "Usonian" house designs. The term is a play on the abbreviation “U.S." and was designed to be affordable, livable and simple. 

Audrey Seidman said the home's previous owner had worked with the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy to preserve it.

Had that not happened, there “was a good chance it would have been razed," Dan Seidman said.

"She got it functional and livable again," Audrey Seidman said.

The Seidmans restored several homes before buying the Goetsch-Winckler Home, including an 1899 Victorian house in Pennsylvania.

They spent 13 years continuing work at the Goetsch-Winckler Home, fixing drainage issues on the property and maintaining the historical features of the house while updating its heating and electrical systems.

Wright designed homes "in harmony" with the natural environment around them, the couple said. The Goetsch-Winckler Home, which has two bedrooms and a bathroom, features built-in furniture and natural light through ample use of glass windows.

Its design, Audrey Seidman said, lets the homeowner be part of the landscape.

"You’re in there in the winter and you can see the snow falling outside and yet you're walking on a warm floor," she said.

The home has been their second residence. The couple lives in Southern California, where Dan Seidman works as a regional admissions counselor for Michigan State University.

The decision to sell it wasn't easy, the couple said, but their work restoring it is done and they're looking at other historical properties they'd like to conserve.

"It’s about the doing for us," Dan Seidman said. "We pretty much feel like we’ve done what can be done with that home and we enjoyed it. This project is done and we’d like to maybe work on another project."

House offers something 'historic, unique'

The Seidmans said the home's studio space, where they keep a Steinway piano, and its master bedroom, which features glass doors that open onto the home's lanai, have been some of their favorite areas of the house.

"In Wright's homes you feel like you and the home are one," Dan Seidman said.

They are selling the Goetsch-Winckler Home themselves. They listed it on Tuesday, sharing it on the home's Facebook page and through its website, along with several photos of the home's exterior and interior.

 Audrey Seidman said the couple has received a few inquires about the property.

"You’re going to have to appreciate the fact that it’s an opportunity to be involved in something historic and unique," Dan Seidman said.

Contact Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ.