This Sculptor-Designed Home in Ohio Is a $400K Work of Art, Rising From the Earth

An iconic piece of residential architecture in Concord, OH, could certainly be characterized as uncommon, but that doesn’t even come close to describing the place.

“The house was originally commissioned in 1970 by a family that was looking for a unique place to raise their eight children,” explains listing agent Jacqueline Ward, with Howard Hanna – Chardon. “After a two-year house search, they couldn’t find anything that fit their style of nature-bound organic.”

So the Charles W. Clear family sought out an artisan to build a sculpture they could live in. The result? A home known as Chant du Cygne, designed by sculptor Wayne Trapp, who died in 2016.

For a buyer in the mood for a house like no other, the quirky abode is on the market for $400,000.

Hewing to the idea of an organic structure, the residence appears to be part of the surrounding landscape.

“The idea for it was it was supposed to look like it came right out of the ground,” Ward explains. “They wanted something that looked like it belonged there. I think they achieved their goals. It does look like it belongs there, and it looks like it is very old even though it’s not.”

Measuring in at 3,597 square feet, the home sits on a pastoral acre. Care was taken to move as little earth as possible during construction.

“When they were preparing the property to put the structure on, they did very little as far as changing the topography of the ground,” Ward says. “They did almost no excavation. It literally sits right there, so it didn’t disturb anything in the natural environment around it.”

The five-bedroom home was built with metal framing, expanding insulation, cement, and paint, all of which requires annual maintenance.

“Because the structure is supposed to look like something organic, it does give off kind of a cave feeling—although it is not small,” Ward says, adding the ceiling height ranges from nine to 25 feet. “It’s really cozy. There are lots of places to sit that are either in the walls or down in the conversation pit in the middle of the living room. Once you put the wood-burning fireplace on, it’s someplace you can spend a lot of time. You can almost picture yourself sitting there reading a book and just loving it.”

The current owners have had the place for more than two decades and used it as a primary residence. Prior to their arrival, it was barely inhabitable.

“It was in very, very rough shape,” Ward notes. “At that point, it had gone through several owners right in a row. [The sellers] did quite a bit of restoration work around the outside in order to make it livable.”

While building the home for the Clear family more than 50 years ago, Trapp used art students as his construction crew.

“Everyone thought that a hippie commune had moved into Concord, and nobody was happy with it,” Ward says. “That road is posh, and it became quite a hullabaloo.”

Some folks in the area dubbed the place the Flintstones House, a moniker neither Trapp nor the owner cared for, Ward reports.

Soon, the place became kind of a local landmark, appearing in numerous publications and on MTV and HGTV shows. Ward grew up in the area and says everyone knows the house.

“Everyone loves it—I think everyone has wanted to get a glimpse inside at one point, and some people were lucky enough to,” she says, noting that she had never been in the house until recently. “When I got the call about representing the property, I knew the address before she even finished it. I’m really honored that I would get an opportunity to be able to represent it.”

Ward believes there is significant potential for the property to be used as a single-family residence, gallery space, or short-term rental.

“I think the perfect buyer is someone who can see how important it is to try and save a piece of artwork,” she says. “It’s not often you find a sculpture that’s meant to be lived in. Oftentimes, you’ll find houses that just look unique, but this is actually art that’s meant to be lived in.”

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