Houzz TV: Travel Back in Time With The Most Unusual Round House

An Oakland, California, couple’s midcentury circular home is a stunning time capsule from the 1960s

Bryan Anthony 24 August 2017

Comment103

Click "Embed" to display an article on your own website or blog.

Under its zigzag roofline, nearly every vertical surface in this 1967 house curves to form a circle. The windows curve. The panelled hallways curve. The front doors (there are two) curve. “When you close a door, you see a continuous round wall,” says Julian Goldklang, who with his wife, Desiree, have turned the house – and to a degree themselves – into an ode to midcentury design. “Most people don’t get their dream home to be their first home,” Julian says. “I really feel lucky to live here.”

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives there: Julian and Desiree Goldklang
Size: 1,200 square feet (about 111.5 square metres); two bedrooms, two bathrooms
Location: Oakland, California
Architect: Leon Meyer

Architect Leon Meyer is noted for designing a handful of round houses in the San Francisco Bay Area between the 1950s and the 1970s. A prime example of these midcentury circular stunners is this home, called the Nolan House, built in 1967 high in the Oakland Hills. Even the wood floorboards on the front deck are curved.

Watch: Take a video tour of this pristine midcentury circular home

With only two straight walls in the entire house, furniture layout was a challenge. “The outside walls are concave, which is a bit easier to furnish because the walls basically wrap around furniture pieces,” Julian says. “But the central walls are convex, so large pieces jut out from the walls.” To combat these awkward angles, many furniture pieces float in the rooms.

To create what the Goldklangs describe as a “fully immersive effect,” nearly all furniture pieces, art and accessories come from the late 1950s through the early 1970s. They cherry-picked most things from Mid Century Møbler, the couple’s 7,500-square-foot Berkeley, California, showroom of midcentury vintage and Danish modern furniture.

The guest bedroom-study features an assortment of midcentury gems. A vintage portable JVC television set on a credenza and a framed portrait of Julian’s father painted in 1956 (far right) create a stylish time warp. “We’re such lovers of midcentury design and culture that we wanted an environment that engulfs us in the time period,” Desiree says.

The dining area includes a round Danish modern table with four leather chairs. The home has no air conditioner, but many of its floor-to-ceiling curved windows open to the breezes.

These windows also provided a challenge. “When we opened the windows in the summer, it became a highway for an endless stream of flies,” Julian says. “The windows had no screens in them, and Home Depot doesn’t exactly carry curved window screens.”

Worried that fixing the fly problem would cost an arm and a leg, Julian got on his hands and knees to search the crawl space, where he discovered a collection of custom window screens that fit perfectly.

“The kitchen was updated sometime in the 1980s,” Julian says. “Luckily, the layout wasn’t changed, but I really can’t wait to add some linoleum flooring, vintage appliances and maybe some knotty pine cabinets.”

The master bedroom includes original wood shutters to block out the morning sun. “My favourite part of this house has to be the roofline,” Desiree says. “Each of the triangular shapes has a window inside of it, so in the morning, we can watch the sun rise.” One nod to 21st-century living hangs on the wall opposite the bed: A flat-screen television on a vintage credenza provides a great way to watch Mad Men in high-def.

Here, Julian and Desiree Goldklang hang out in their curved living room with their Boston terrier, Teddy. “We were really motivated to live someplace that was special,” Desiree says. “The house is quirky, it’s not perfect and it’s of the era; we really feel it’s an extension of our lifestyle.”

Watch: See how these lovers of midcentury style created a period-perfect home

Comment103

Comments (103)

See 100 more comments

Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo

Harsha Pania

Such a stunningly beautiful home!!! Really admire Julian and Desiree for preserving this wonderful place and for making it look even more beautiful with their amazing personal collection. I love all the wall-clocks. Also, just love the idea of two front doors. Don't know why but it looked great to me!

1 Like 14 July 2018 at 11:45pm

Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo

normpo

I loved that spice rack too! First come, first serve, LOL! Rare Digsmed Midcentury 12 jar spice rack with cork note board | Etsy

Like 10 February 2021 at 2:56pm

Thank you for reporting this comment. Undo

Eleanor Alperton

Amazing home and fabulous decor thanks to two talented young people. I was happy to see that it is in Oakland CA. Oakland has the most interesting collection of different style homes.

Like 31 March 2022 at 4:09am