The home, located at 961 Pierce Court in the Boise foothills, was built in 1976. The floor plan was popular in the 1970’s and can be seen in almost exact copies all around the Foothills East area. It is built in a split-level, ranch style, which was a common design at the time, as can be seen by the similar houses in the neighborhood. A split-level home was meant to efficiently divide the house into three levels. The main level would be in the middle, usually holding the kitchen and living room, as seen in this house, and the bedrooms and less formal living rooms would be in the upper and lower levels. Some split-level homes also included an attic at the very top.
Since it has been built, the house has been remodeled twice, with special attention on the bathroom and kitchen. The bathroom has recently been altered to put in more modern appliances and to redecorate the walls from the previous 70’s design it had originally. The old wallpaper that had decorated the bathroom depicted nude women performing various bathroom activities: showering, brushing their teeth, and combing their hair. Also showcased on the wallpaper were small boys using the toilet and taking baths, depicted in a tin-foil-like material. Interesting wallpaper was found in other parts of the house as well, such as in the master bedroom, which was papered in a bamboo print, a print that is now coming back into style. In the smaller bedroom, a peach/pink paper graced the walls, and the room had no carpet.
The original flooring throughout the house was of very dark, hard wood that had matched the rest of the house’s wood furnishings. There were also originally saloon doors that lead to the kitchen, and Spanish tile in the walkways. The original carpet changed as one entered different rooms to match the different color schemes of each room, and was longhaired and plush (another signature 70’s style). The carpet and wood floors were accompanied by a gold transition lining in a patchwork style.
Interestingly, the original owners of the house put in a playhouse that was self built in the backyard. However, the present occupants decided to remove it due to the dangers it presented in the form of rusted nails and sharp edges. The home was built on lands that were previously used by ranchers, who would drive their cattle through the foothills. The backyard has remained original, furnished with junipers and large, old trees. The dark wooded deck remains original, as does the hot tub and hard cover.
The occupants of the house have done much remodeling of the original design, such as replace the wallpapers and redo much of the carpeting and wood floors. The brick fireplace was not centered originally, and the bricks that it was composed of held the tints of yellowed gold, which was redone to be centered and more suited to the style of the house now. The ceiling is low, as was fashionable in this era and since it was easy to heat, and used to be in a popcorn style, but was redone to be smooth. The shutters on the windows were in a plantation style, and were also removed in the remodel.
The poor insulation of the house, especially basement, were part of the cause for the remodel because of the energy crisis. The remodel saw a change to the floor plan to knock out walls that would make the house more open and allow airflow, unlike the original 76’ style, that had each room closed off from one another.