A word with TJ Pierce of Mid Century Homes

The Boise area has about 11,000 homes that were built along classic mid-century architectural lines. TJ Pierce counted them using tax information and other records.

In his two-year-old real estate business, Mid Century Homes by Moniker Real Estate, Pierce only handles homes from this period. These homes are usually ranches or split-levels that were designed for functional family living with features such as indoor-outdoor spaces, low-pitched or flat roofs, and linear window designs.

In making mid-century modern his niche, Pierce, who has a degree in ministry and previously sold copier equipment, is capitalizing on a national movement that celebrates vintage homes, furniture, kitchen equipment, paint colors, and other design elements. The focus is a way to differentiate his real estate business from the 5,000 other real estate businesses in Idaho. Pierce’s five-person company helps people buy and sell homes, and also does interior design, renovations and remodels, all in the mid-century style.

Pierce, 39, said 634 mid-century modern homes in Boise sold last year. He spent some time telling Idaho Business Review about the mid-century real estate business in Boise. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What led you to specialize in mid-century real estate?
The copier company I was working for in Spokane invited me to Boise to be a branch sales manager, and my wife and I landed in Meridian. We just got a big cheap home with square footage while we scoped out the lay of the land.

We were in the home for three years, and it influenced us. We realized we’re not new home people (we hadn’t known that) and in the newer developments, there were not many trees around for shade. We ended up moving to a classic mid-century long ranch home, built in 1954.

Mid-century modern is a way of life. I like the way that the indoor and outdoor integration of a mid-century home allows people to extend their square footage with outdoor living space in a way that is natural to the home. In 1940’s construction, typically you didn’t have a door to your backyard. Mid-century homes changed that because outdoor spaces became more important.

The principles that the architects used forced people to live a certain way. For example, the classic mid-century principals are tiny bedrooms, with larger living rooms that forced people to congregate in the larger living spaces.

Once you have lived in a mid-century home it’s hard to live in anywhere else. We’re talking about clerestory windows that bring in natural light.

Is Boise’s mid-century community exceptional?

We have many mid-century homes that other communities don’t, but we don’t have enough of them.

Our biggest challenge is that most people are looking for the cream-of-the crop mid-century home. I have one listed as an Art Troutner home next to South Junior High. We have homes by Nat Adams, Joe LaMarche, Victor Hosford, Charles Hummel. We have two Cliff May homes, too. We have name-brand architects. Not all mid-century communities have that, but most of our mid-century inventory that is readily available is a little unassuming and not a name-brand architecture. We have to help people understand what they can do, what their potential is.

How do you get the word out?
It was a goal of mine early in the process to partner with other companies that are already marketing to our target ranch audience. Atomic Ranch, a quarterly, has been marketing to my target audience for 15 years. They just invited me to Palm Springs to speak and help people find homes, and then with their next issue the front cover will have the Art Troutner home, and another home in the Randolph-Robertson subdivision in Boise featured on the inside.

Is this a trend that is going to go away?
The furniture trend will probably fade, the trend of mid-century being popular with people who don’t know what mid-century is. But there has always been this very tight-knit raving fan population of people that understand what mid-century is, and that will never go away.

How do you educate yourself on mid-century design?
Like most sales guys do. It’s self-proclaimed and “fake it ’til you make it.” I knew a small amount of information and then my target audience educated me. I asked questions.

Preservation Idaho has done a good job of putting events together that have helped me learn locally what the architecture scene has to offer. Atomic Ranch is a great resource.

What’s next?
We hope to grow our market share in Boise. We have to have a mid-century home involved; if we don’t, it’s not a good fit for us.

We are exploring expansion, and are having conversations in Michigan, Spokane and Seattle with someone who wants to leverage our brand, a mid-century enthusiast who has been following us for a couple of years. Anywhere where there is a decent mid-century community, and someone who understands them, we’ll explore an expansion market.