An Expert's Take on Mid-Century Modern: Meet Nate Cole

In my last post, I provided a brief rundown of “dos” and “don’ts” when it comes to renovating a mid-century-modern home—or any home, for that matter. But before you can renovate a super-cool pad, you have to get one. And that’s where a cracker-jack real estate agent comes in.

Nate Cole

To land our Rancho, we worked with Nate Cole at Coldwell Banker here in Long Beach. We met Nate several years ago at an open house at one of his listings in Rolling Hills Estates—the Mitchell residence, designed by Case Study House architect Calvin Straub. Not long after that, we ran into Nate at an open house at one of his Rancho listings. We liked his style. And we liked the fact that he’s based in Long Beach and specializes in mid-century-modern properties. So when we were ready to buy, we knew Nate was our guy.

We thought it might be interesting to get a real estate agent’s perspective on looking for, purchasing, maintaining and just-plain loving a mid-century-modern home. So we sat down with Nate for a chat. Here’s how it went:

RR:    How long have you been a Realtor, Nate Cole?

NC:    Nine years.

RR:    What made you decide to go into real estate sales?

NC:    Architecture. I was always obsessed. Everywhere I went, I went wanting to know what was out there. I also wanted to work for myself, to be self-employed. And it sounded fun!

RR:    You’re a fan of the mid-century-modern aesthetic, no? For how long, and why?

NC:    I was probably turned on to it through mid-century-modern furniture. I think a lot of people are. I started to understand where it all fit in, the context of it. I was in my early 20s. I was always interested in graphic design and interiors. I realized I’d been around it al lot. You start to notice what you’re drawn to. I went from not really paying attention to it to being fully immersed in it.

RR:    Don’t you own a fab mid-century home yourself?

Nate Cole's totally bitchin' house, designed by the great Ed Killingsworth

NC:    I do. It was designed by Ed Killingsworth, a Case Study architect. His [own residence] is in the Virginia Beach Country Club near me and his office is right around the corner from my house. His stamp is all over Long Beach. I was very lucky to have Ed Killingsworth at my house the day I closed escrow, along with the original owner, and a friend there filming it.

RR:    I’m jealous, Nate Cole. When we were looking for our house, you told us about other Long Beach neighborhoods, aside from The Ranchos, where we might find a hidden gem. Refresh my memory.

NC:    Alamitos heights—just in from Belmont heights—that neighborhood is pretty chock full of mid-century. Park Estates is, too, but it has association rules about pitched roofs—all the Neutras and Killingsworths have pitched roofs—not something those architects would normally have done. Los Altos—some of them had architects doing custom homes and others were designing tracts like Eichlers—La Marina Estates, Bixby Knolls, Virginia Country Club. The mix is kinda’ cool there. There are Green & Green, federal style, Spanish, mid-century modern—all right next door to each other.

RR:    What advice would you give clients who are seeking mid-century homes?

NC:    Don’t be stubborn about size. Of course you have set bedroom and bathroom counts you need to have, but a 1,300-square-foot house in The Ranchos can feel more spacious than a 2,000-square-foot house that’s a traditional style.

RR:    What are the pitfalls of owning a mid-century home?

NC:    Maintenance. Upkeep. The beams, to infinity. Beams that stick outside the house like at The Ranchos. There’s a lot of upkeep to keep from having water penetrate them and getting dry rot. Flat roofs. If you’re doing work on homes like these there are design aspects and components involved that mean you have to stand there and watch. You can’t just let the contractor go to work. You have to stand over them and make decisions.

RR:    What’s the upside?

NC:    Endless. It’s a way of life. A way of improved life when you’re in your house and you forget to go outside because you feel like you already are. I love it. You become accustomed to living in a house like that. Then you get into a space that’s bad and when you get back into your house it’s, like, ahhhh. You just love it. It’s always evolving, how you live in it. You notice things even years after you moved there. You see how well a space works. I think it’s hilarious when you hear that modernism is out of fashion. I think it’s silly that people look at interiors and houses that way.

RR:    For someone who’s looking to buy (or sell) a mid-century modern house, what should they look for when shopping for a real estate agent?

NC:    Someone who has experience in dealing with homes like these and who knows how to reach the type of people they need to be presented to. Also how to present them. Now it’s so much about how it’s seen online and how it’s presented. Even the way it’s described and, of course, the way it’s photographed. You want an agent who understands what you want, too, if you’re on the buying side. There are a lot of things—it’s not about what I like, it’s about what that person likes.

RR:    Anything else you’d like to add?

NC:    It still baffles me that there isn’t more of a premium on mid-century-modern houses—that really great architecture isn’t given the same kind of premium as art. You’ll see an auction for an object of art—a painting or sculpture—and it sells for an astronomical price. Then there’s a home that you can live in and it doesn’t command that same kind of premium. It’s a piece of art, a piece of history—a piece of design history—and it should be worth more, I think.