That 70s show home! ‘Time capsule’ house in Indiana with wall-to-wall shag carpets, wood paneling, a purple-and-pink bath tub, and a stove first bought five decades ago is snapped up by Florida couple for $161,000
- Nathan and Alysha Jackson of Orlando, Florida, weren’t looking to buy a home but came across strange listing
- Photos of a house that was owned by architect James Sherbondy in Fort Wayne, Indiana, went viral
- Since 1975, Sherbondy has lived in the home nestled in the woods three hours from Cincinnati, Ohio
- The home features 1970s-era decor, including wall-to-wall shag carpeting, wood paneling, and floating stairs
- There is also oval-shaped pink and purple bath tub in master bathroom lined with wood paneling and carpet
- The Jacksons, former teachers who went on to become Amazon sellers, bought up the home for $161,000
- The house in Shoaff Park section of Fort Wayne measures 2,476sq ft and boasts four bedrooms, three baths
One groovy family from Florida decided to buy a funky house in Indiana that is stuck in time from the far out 1970s.
Nathan and Alysha Jackson of Orlando, Florida, weren’t even in the market for a house when they got wind of one particular home whose photos went viral.
They were so intrigued that they bought the strange-looking offering in the Shoaff Park section of Fort Wayne for $161,000, according to Zillow.
The home had all of the hallmarks of 1970s-era designs, including wall-to-wall shag carpets, wood paneling, a stone fireplace, a purple and pink bathroom, a floating staircase, and more.
James Sherbondy, an architect, owned and designed this home in the Shoaff Park section of Fort Wayne, Indiana
The 2,476-square-foot property in Fort Wayne has four bedrooms and three bathrooms, but that’s not what makes it unique
The interior of the home was preserved in a kind of 1970s-era time capsule with wall-to-wall purple shag carpets in the common room and a stone fireplace
The walls (in the center) are carpeted while the walls on the right are wood-paneled
The kitchen was left as if it were still the 1970s with all of the appliances, cupboards, chairs, table, stove, and oven preserved from that era
The home was sold by Sherbondy to Nathan and Alysha Jackson of Orlando, Florida. They are pictured above with their two adopted children
‘Everything is carpeted, even the bathroom,’ Nathan said.
‘We were struck by the bones of it,’ Alysha Jackson told WANE-TV.
The home on Parkland Drive boasts four bedrooms and three bathrooms.
At 2,476 square feet, it is much bigger than the property in which they lived in Florida.
‘We were struck by the bones of it,’ Alysha Jackson said in explaining the couple’s decision to buy the home. The common room is seen above
The floors are lined with a purple shag carpet and lights that are from the 1970s era
The house comes equipped with a kitchen and dining area that includes a dishwasher
The floating staircase seen on the lefthand side also comes with purple shag carpeting. The furniture on the right is also from the 1970s
‘It’s just such a unique space that we loved it,’ Nathan Jackson said in recalling his reaction to seeing the home
The entrance to the home features a wooden door with carvings in them as well as giant door knobs which were popular five decades ago.
‘It’s just such a unique space that we loved it,’ Alysha’s husband, Nathan said.
Remarkably, the home was well maintained to the point where even the 1970s-era stove and oven work properly.
‘This was super cool because it works really well,’ Nathan said, referring to the oven and stove.
‘It’s almost 50 years old.’
The cupboards and cabinets are in tip-top shape as are the lights.
Remarkably, all of the appliances, including the oven and stove, are working properly, according to Jackson
The retro kitchen was still outfitted with modern technology including a dishwasher
Jackson was amazed with the kitchen and its nearly 50-year-old orange stove that he called ‘super cool because it still works really well’
The kitchen even includes a sliding door with access to the backyard in a woodsy area of Fort Wayne, Indiana
The Jacksons plan to modernize the home and bring it up to contemporary design standards, though they chose to create a photo album celebrating its unique, 70s-era style
The above image shows the extensive wood paneling that was a common feature of interior design more than five decades ago
The bathroom features red shag carpeting as well as a purple and pink bathtub surrounded by wood paneling on the walls.
‘This is another one of those oh-my-gosh-what-in-the-world rooms in the house,’ Nathan said.
Purple carpeting covers the living room floor as well as the floating staircase.
The Jacksons thought people would be fascinated by how the house would be transformed from its 1970s time warp into a modern home with up-to-date renovations.
Instead, they created an Instagram account in which they embrace the home’s old design, dressing up in 1970s-era clothing, and posing in their new abode.
Nathan decided to sport a mustache and allow his hair to grow out while wearing 1970s-era garb like.
Alysha also got decked out in 1970s retro fashion. The couple posed with their kids in some of the rooms and created a photo shoot.
The above image shows one of the four bedrooms inside the home in Fort Wayne, Indiana
The window in the upper left hand side is uniquely shaped as sunlight beams through it in this image
This image shows one of the four bedrooms inside the 70s ‘time capsule’ home in Fort Wayne, Indiana
The shoot, which was arranged with the help of professional photographer Dustin McKibben, was posted on Instagram.
The Instagram handle they created is called ‘the Jackson Fi’. Initially, the account had just a few hundred followers.
But since posting their 70s-themed photo shoot, they have attracted more than 32,000 followers.
‘Introducing our newest project: Bringing this groovy 70’s home into this century!’ the couple wrote on their Instagram page.
‘We are thrilled to be the new owners of this time capsule that hit the internet by storm a couple weeks ago.
‘We will be documenting our whole process from start to finish, but before kicking things off we had a little fun with a little retro throw back photoshoot.’
Nathan and Alysha Jackson have been married since June 2013. They have two children whom they adopted during the coronavirus pandemic.
The couple was astonished by the master bathroom in the house due to its obviously unique design
The bathroom boasts a pink, purple and red oval tub surrounded by red shag carpet and dark wood paneling
‘This is another one of those oh-my-gosh-what-in-the-world rooms in the house,’ Nathan Jackson said
The above image shows an overhead view of the pink oval-shaped bathtub inside the master bathroom
The Jacksons, who also own a house in Orlando, Florida, weren’t in the market for a home, but were intrigued when photos of the Fort Wayne property went viral
This image shows the entirety of the master bathroom, with the pink tub and wood paneling along the walls
According to their Facebook pages, Nathan and Alysha are full-time sellers on Amazon. They have found success in online commerce after stepping away from their previous careers as teachers.
Nathan is originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and has lived in Orlando, Florida.
The owner of the house, James Sherbondy, is an architect by trade. He built the home in 1975, according to WPTA-TV.
When asked why Sherbondy left the home the way he did, John Lahmeyer, the real estate agent who handled the sale of the property, said: ‘They left it that way because they loved it.’
‘You’re traveling through another dimension, into a home of design, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind,’ the description of the home read on Zillow.
‘A journey into a wondrous home whose boundaries are that of imagination.
‘That’s the signpost up ahead – your next stop, the Sherbondy Zone.
‘Distinctive, one of a kind home designed in 1975 by renowned architect James Sherbondy as the family’s personal residence.
‘The home offers a way of life featuring architectural flair, soaring ceilings and designed utility in every square foot.’
The listing also reads: ‘Privacy and serenity abound, tucked in Concordia Woods on a .66 acre wooded lot that is a nature lover’s paradise.’
When the house was put up for sale, photos of the home and its interior went online and quickly went viral, attracting the attention of the Jacksons.
‘We’ve got carpet here and carpet on the walls,’ Nathan Jackson said, pointing to the purple floor
There’s also a floating staircase with shag carpets on each step connecting the upstairs and downstairs portions of the home
Even the bare-bones railing show just how old the property is and how it has been well-maintained
It is safe to say that when the couple modernizes the home they will choose a new set of furniture
Another factor that makes the home stand out from others is its unusual geometric shape as seen above
The above image shows one of the four bedrooms inside the home in Fort Wayne, Indiana
The upstairs corridor with wall-to-wall shag carpets and wood paneling leads to the bedrooms
One of the three bathrooms inside the home is seen in the above photo. The old decor is evident in the lighting and the mirror
Another one of the three bathrooms is seen above. The sink is a funky green color while the shower stall has retro-style tiling
Another bathrooms shows a sink with a green counter and blue marble
The Jacksons, who were living in Orlando at the time and were not in the market for a house, were nonetheless intrigued.
Nathan was particularly enamored with the idea of moving into the unique house located in his boyhood hometown. He and Alysha then started having some serious conversations.
‘We put in an offer, and by Monday morning it was accepted,’ Alysha told WPTA-TV.
‘I think we just looked at each other and expected to find buyer’s remorse, like “what did we just do?”
‘But we were really just excited.’
Nathan added: ‘It’s really kind of surreal.’
‘It’s been tough with the two- and three-year-old having carpet in the kitchen but we’ve been making it work,’ Alysha said.
The adoptive mother said she was mindful of how her two children were making the adjustment to new surroundings.
‘With backgrounds in foster care, there’s trauma involved and you really want to be careful with how you deal with change,’ Alysha said.
The Jacksons thought people would be fascinated by how the house would be transformed from its 1970s time warp into a modern home with up-to-date renovations. Instead, they created an Instagram account in which they embrace the home’s old design, dressing up in 1970s-era clothing, and posing in their new abode
The couple is seen above with their two young children who they adopted during the coronavirus pandemic
According to their Facebook pages, Nathan and Alysha are full-time sellers on Amazon. They have found success in online commerce after stepping away from their previous careers as teachers
Nathan is originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and has lived in Orlando, Florida
‘They’re just like heroes. They’re resilient and have just rolled with it.’
The Jacksons plan to split their time between Orlando and Fort Wayne.
They will rent out whichever property is unoccupied via Airbnb as part of their plan to live off passive income.
‘A lot of times I tell people things are scary for a reason but they usually pay off,’ Alysha said.
Nathan said the couple’s purchase of the property is testament to their ‘think-outside-the-box’ attitude toward life.
‘Thinking outside the box is such an underrated, underutilized skill that isn’t really taught a lot,’ Nathan said.
‘And so showing people how to think outside the box, how to live life a little differently?
‘It’s important to us, and a great lesson to show other people.’
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