Futuristic home called ‘coolest house ever built’ in Sacramento area heads to auction

While it was being built, a futuristic Folsom home with vast views of the downtown Sacramento skyline drew tens of thousands of likes and shares on social media along with a steady stream of cars driving by for a look.

The hillside home can be seen from Highway 50 (if you’re a passenger, look to the north side of the freeway after you pass East Bidwell Street and the Palladio shopping center). The luxury house first hit the market in July 2023 for $2.395 million.

Now listed at $2.495 million, the residence will go to the highest bidder in a no-reserve auction. Bidding starts Friday and ends Feb. 23, 2024. Starting bids are expected between $750,000 and $1.75 million, according to Concierge Auctions, which will be handling the event.

A no-reserve auction means the house will be sold regardless of price.

“Space luxe is here — the future is now, and this is the coolest house ever built in Sacramento,” listing agent Kim Pacini Hauch of Re/Max Gold told the Sacramento Bee last year. “It’s very forward-thinking.”

Pacini Hauch gave the Sacramento Bee the exclusive first tour of the home when construction was completed.

The modern home spans 4,000 square feet and has four en-suite bedrooms. The focal point of the architecture is two cantilevered bedrooms that extend well beyond the main structure. The bedrooms have long decks offering views from Folsom to the valley.

Folsom is about 23 miles northeast of Sacramento, California.

Cantilevered deck

At front center of the property is an expansive deck that is partially cantilevered 40 feet above the ground. An open-concept kitchen and large great room with walls of glass lead out to the front deck, a dramatic space designed for large-scale entertaining and taking in city views at sunset. A loft, set up as an office space, above the great room has a direct view of the Sacramento Valley.

“The construction of this house is a marvel. The owner-builder of this house deliberated for many years in the design of it, and then he created his vision of something very unique and out of this world — and he succeeded,” Pacini Hauch said

The sophisticated steel-frame home was a “labor of love” for owner and builder Doug Cummings, she said. Cummings was the “mastermind-creator” of the house, while architect Bruce Whitelam “brought his vision to life.”

“I’ve always liked contemporary architecture,” Cummings said in an interview at the property before it hit the market. “I don’t see many examples of contemporary architecture in Sacramento, so I said, ‘I would like to build a house, a contemporary house,’ my swan song, sort of, because I’ve built two houses before.”

The lot sits on nearly one-third of an acre on a hillside at 312 Tobrurry Way. There is a spot where a swimming pool could be built in the back of the lot, but the house is orientated toward the street for panoramic views as the eye can see. A four-passenger elevator going from the garage to the second story was part of the design. In addition to the four bathrooms, there’s a powder room near the front door.

A long driveway leads to a tandem, five-car garage. From the driveway, a curving, red steel stairway leads to the entry —which is actually around the back of house.

“It’s very unique,” Pacini Hauch said about the design. “It’s all steel-frame construction, it cantilevers. It has commercial-quality glass, minimalistic on finishes, so everything is just white and bright.”

The house has eight individual mini-splits for flexibility with heating and air conditioning. Each unit, or zone, has its own remote control. heat pumps heating and cooling trend.

The framing of the house is far from standard, Cummings said.

“The structural engineering in this house is amazing, requiring commercial-qualified engineers,” he wrote in a description of the property.

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