Famous Sculptor Robert Bruno’s Legendary “Steel House” Hits Market For $ 1.75 Million

There is a house in Ransom Canyon, Texas known as “The Steel House,” created by sculptor Robert Bruno. The rust-colored house that stands on all fours and looks like a spaceship or an amoeba is hard to miss.

Bruno built the 2,200 square foot house in 1974 which was made entirely from salvaged pieces of Cor-ten steel. It was a lifelong passion and a passion that began in 1973, when he began sketching out plans on scraps of paper, according to critics.

For 34 years Bruno worked on the house, located on a ridge in Lubbock, Texas. Some say it was his tour de force. Bruno said himself that he was in no rush to finish it.

He did the welding and the stained glass. He even built his own hydraulic crane for construction, chinews.com reported.

The interior of the house has many unique twists, such as the stairs that go up and down the three levels. The space includes a kitchen, three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, an office, a sitting area and a living room with a majestic view of Ransom Canyon Lake. Entrance to the house is via a walkway on the second floor.

“Nothing in this house is square,” said Henry Martinez, the house keeper who has worked with Bruno for more than two decades, Chinews previously reported.

In 2015, architecture critic Mark Lamster of the Dallas Morning News published a story about Bruno’s works titled “Unfinished”.

Lamster said Bruno, who was also an accomplished furniture and jewelry designer, will be “forever identified as the designer of the Steel House.”

“He came to architecture by accident and had no formal training in this profession. He was a sculptor by trade and by inclination, ”Lamster said.

Lamster, wrote, “the inspiration for the Steel House was a sculpture Bruno had made two years earlier, also in weathered steel but with a burnt orange patina.”

He said before his death he had the majority stake transferred to Martinez, whom he described as “a loyal employee” who had worked for Bruno’s company since 1986.

“It was a gesture friends describe as typical of his generosity,” Lamster wrote, as recounted by Martinez. “He would give you his shirt on his back.” “

Over the decades, “The Steel House” has fascinated audiences.

Martinez told Lamster the residents were “very suspicious of him but are now proud of him,” he explained.

“Lubbock doesn’t have a lot of nice things other than Buddy Holly,” he said.

Martinez said Bruno, who was also a professor at the Texas Tech College of Architecture, enjoyed doing photo ops at home and liked showing the house to his architecture students and travel writers visiting and writing about the house.

In 2013, the house featured on the cover of Vogue, as part of its futuristic issue, the News reported.

Although “The Steel House” remained unfinished, Bruno reportedly moved into the house and lived there before his death in 2008.

Bruno has previously been quoted as having said his motivation behind the house was “to really do something that has aesthetic value,” Lamster wrote.

“I’m not particularly concerned about having a house,” Bruno said. “I build it because I love to sculpt.

‘The Steel House’, which has been described as ‘biomorphic’, is estimated at 110 tonnes, dallasreports.com reported.

Mark Gunderson, architect, student and friend of the late artist, said the house was Bruno’s “life’s work”, according to the outlet.

Gunderson explained that Bruno “found it ridiculous that the architects designed something and drew it and then gave it to someone else to build it,” he said, “and that all it had to be done on a sheet of paper and you never got a chance to see it again.

Gunderson said the house needed a special caretaker.

“This house deserves a benefactor or a foundation that will give it the care and attention it needs. A loss for the real estate market would be incomprehensible and tragic. “

Bruno’s daughter Christina Bruno, who lives out of state and wanted to keep the house in the family, later overturned her decision, dallasreports.com.

In September, realtors Blake and Courtney Bartosh of The Bartosh Realty Group told Inside Edition Digital that they had the option to purchase the property.

“It was an investment property for us,” said Blake.

Earlier this month, the couple put the house on the market for $ 1.75 million.

“We want to test the waters,” said Blake. “The ideal buyer is someone who would come and do exactly what we want to do and turn the property into a vacation rental, and Airbnb, or a museum.”

He added: “We don’t want to just sell it to just anyone.”

“We want the house to be open to the public,” he said. “The architecture is so amazing, so breathtaking that we just want people to experience it.”

According to a report, the price of $ 1.75 million is higher than any other property in its Ransom Canyon neighborhood.

The assessed value of the house was reported by the Lubbock Central Valuation District at $ 110,273. KXAN reported.

Courtney Bartosh said enthusiastically: “It’s one of a kind. There is nothing like it there. Who else can say they live inside a sculpture? “

“The details inside the house are breathtaking. Everything is made of steel. Everything, “she said.” There is a main view in the living room which is amazing.

Currently, Blake said the couple are doing a cash refinance. “We want to be able to do all of the work that is needed around the house,” Blake said. “When Robert left, it was not over. We will finish it.

Right now, the couple are spending their free time enjoying the house and finding out new things about it which they are sharing on social media.

In October, they created a Facebook group called “The VRBO Robert Bruno Steel House.” On the site, they share photos and interact with other art and architecture enthusiasts.

“When we were cleaning the house, we found a filing cabinet filled with early photos of the house when it was under construction,” said Blake.

Blake said they also found a few plaster sculptures in one of the rooms. One had been locked in glass.

Courtney has also created several TikTok videos showing the interiors of the house with the taglines: “Buy the coolest house in the world” and “Watch the Bruno house come to life”.

When the couple officially took ownership of such an iconic house, they called the feeling of Inside Edition Digital “surreal.”

“We’re telling everyone it’s a godsend,” Blake said. “We love the property. It is just breathtaking. We want people to experience it.

Blake said their two children, ages 4 and 8, are just as excited as the acquisition, as they are. He said they called the house “the spaceship”.

Blake added: “We love spending time at home and dreaming about what is going to become.”

For any information on the house, contact Courtney Bartosh of The Bartosh Realty Group at Taylor Reid Realty at 806-781-9476 or email [email protected]

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