When showcased in the 1956 Parade of Homes, this Glenbrook Valley mod with desert-theme plantings (still in place) earned accolades for its forward-thinking children’s wing and U-shaped kitchen layout (intended as step-saving convenience for the chore-laden lady of the house). Those design details are among the features called out in the vintage promotional flyers included in the listing materials for the home, which popped up on the market earlier this month. The asking price today is $139,000, a few steps up from the $20,000 of its midcentury origins and the $52,250 it went for when it last sold, in 2008.

Since then, the compact-but-comfy home has had its internals updated; there’s new wiring, (underslab) plumbing, roofing, and appliances. Meanwhile, the carport (above right) has been wrapped in a snazzy new wooden-screen skin.

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So breezes still blow through the 2-bay parking area to the patio on the home’s south side (above), which gets a little shade from the roof’s 4-ft. overhang. The listing characterizes the 1,521-sq.-ft. home as needing its cosmetics tweaked now that the redo’s “heavy lifting” is done.

The “front” door is on the north side wall (and not directly pictured in the listing). A walkway to it from the driveway cuts across the home’s windowless wall facing the street.  From inside the home, the foyer appears to land inside a booth located between the kitchen and living room (pictured at right in the photo above). For a little room definition as needed in an otherwise opened-up floor plan, there’s an aqua accordion room divider all racked up and ready to pull closed.

The living room displays some of the home’s exposed ceiling beams, which support a tilted roof and clerestory. Window placement was to maximize flexibility in arranging and re-arranging the furniture, or so read the original description of the home, dubbed the “Texan Americana” by its designer, Mel O’Brien. He was a senior student at the Rice Institute (now Rice University) when he designed the structure; he later built a notable modern architectural practice in Memphis.

The updated kitchen is recent but retro, with wall shelving and high-end appliances:

Its wall of thrice-divided (now screened) window panels looks across the patio and side yard somewhat hidden behind the carport:

From the outside, it used to look like this:

The listing keeps the 3 bedrooms (in a wing at the back of the home) out of the camera’s eye. Here’s a peek into the master bathroom, however. Like the master bedroom, it has been overhauled:

The other full bathroom is still in the pink (above). It’s shared by the secondary bedrooms in the “children’s wing,” which initially included an open playroom off the kitchen:

The home occupies a west-facing lot at the “U” end of a street off Dover St. and across from the track and playing fields of Ortiz Middle School.

Some old flyers included in the listing:

• 7510 Cayton St. [HAR]