Mukilteo ‘glass monstrosity’ draws a lot of attention

MUKILTEO — The house has been called “psychedelic,” “a glass monstrosity” and a “crazy wormhole.”

Jan and Rick Wanzer have laughed off all the criticism of the home where they have lived for the past 14 years. The attention, whether positive or not, is a good thing, they said.

“I don’t mind,” Rick Wanzer said. “It’s kind of like movie stars. Any attention is good.”

That’s because the couple is selling their $1.89 million home at 9716 58th Place W.

Walk through the entryway of the Wanzers’ house and you’ll find yourself in the middle of an open glass hallway with columns made of vertical grain fir. Natural light pours into the space from the 140-foot arched glass ceiling that extends in opposite directions throughout the home.

Their 1979 home attracted worldwide notice last month when a real estate blog called Curbed Seattle described it as a “glass house nightmare.” Then London’s Daily Mail newspaper picked up on it for their online edition calling it “Washington state’s most outlandish mansion.” More Web buzz followed.

“It’s really been so interesting how it’s picked up attention,” Jan Wanzer said. “People from Sydney and Spain and all over the world have been commenting on the article about our house. It’s just been crazy the interest in it because it is so unusual.”

Everyone asks about the hall with the glass ceiling, added Jan Wanzer, 59. The couple asked their own questions about the feature before they bought the house. “It was our biggest concern and in the 14 years that we’ve lived here we’ve never had to clean it,” she said. “It’s self cleaning when it rains and it’s never leaked.”

When it comes to cleaning all those windows that provide a courtyard view of the Puget Sound and Olympic Mountains, they created their own solution.

“We’re bad glass cleaners so we just hire somebody,” said Rick Wanzer, 58.

Everett architect Bob Champion remembers designing the house for a relative of the owner of Nord Doors, a business along the city’s waterfront that closed in 2005.

He was asked by the homeowners to design the glass hallway so that they could wrap the house around a backyard pool, said Champion, 83.

“They liked the idea of bringing skylights into the home,” he said. “I designed the house with one end of the skylight looking out on the water and the other end ending up in a bedroom. It seemed like a circulation path around the swimming pool would be good.”

The swimming pool was never built, he added. The home’s exterior and interior brickwork was well done and the wooden columns were the result of modernizing Grecian architecture, Champion remembers. A consultant was hired to produce stained glass windows on both ends of the home.

“It’s one of the features that I think is pretty attractive,” Champion said.

The Wanzers, who own Traxx Indoor Racing on Chennault Beach Road, said they updated parts of the kitchen, dining room and family room but changed little overall about the house. The home also includes a master bedroom with a fireplace and bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub and heated floor. One of the four fireplaces is made of brass and nickel and is at the center of a formal living room.

“The focal point of our living area was right here when the kids were growing up,” Jan Wanzer said. “This was like our campfire. We all just sat around it and put our feet up and checked in. It was just really fun.”

The Wanzers bought the house from its original owners so it’s just the second time it’s been for sale. The house has been on the market for about 100 days. Last month, it earned the title of “House of the Day” from AOL Real Estate, which called it a “totally trippy mansion.”

Champion said he doesn’t mind if there are negative comments about his work.

“Architecture can be laughed at,” he said.

The house is scheduled to be featured on the Travel Channel in January, Jan Wanzer said. A crew filmed at the home three weeks ago for a segment on unusual vacation homes in Seattle and the San Juan Islands, she added.

“It could be some millionaire’s vacation home but it’s not a vacation home for us,” she said.

After raising their three children, the Wanzers are now empty nesters and plan to move into a smaller home. A houseboat may become their next home, Rick Wanzer said.

The Wanzers will take with them plenty of memories of parties at their unique house celebrating soccer and cheerleading teams, high school musical casts, and family milestones.

“We’ve really enjoyed it,” Jan Wanzer said. “I’ll miss it but we’re just ready for the next journey.”

Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491; adaybert@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.