Hot Property: This midcentury modern gem could be straight off the set of 'Mad Men'

Step into this midcentury modern home perched high on a hill above Meridian Street, and all that’s missing to make you feel like you’re on the set of "Mad Men" is a cocktail. From the grass cloth covering the walls to the marble pillars to the sunken living room to the backlit bar, this home maintains the charm of an earlier era.

Designed by architect Leslie Ayres and built in the early 1950s, the house has had only three owners, each of whom left their mark.

The family who built the home, Harry Berke and his wife, designed the single-story house with two master suites. He and his wife had one bedroom, and her mother who lived with the childless couple, the other one, said Sharon Doner, a relative of Berke’s mother-in-law.

The Berkes lived formally, which is still reflected in the makeup of the house. The bedrooms, including a third they used as a study, sit on the south side of the house. A spacious living room, dining room and bar area all flow into one another. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer sweeping views of the back yard and plenty of natural light.

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“It was a showplace,” Doner said. “That open concept and all that marble and all that glass, it was quite unique. … It was just a treat to go there because it was so elegant and nobody I knew lived like that.”

After Harry Berke died in 1970, his wife and her mother moved to the newly built Tarkington Tower. A family with three children moved into the house and added on to its north side. That addition included a family room with an exposed-brick wall as well as a sizable sauna.

In the late 1980s or early '90s, Albert Saurini and his wife bought the home, said Saurini’s son John Saurini. That couple added on a large greenhouse in the back, where his father’s wife grew the herbs she liked to use in her cooking. Saurini said his father tried the sauna a few times and then just used it for storage.

The senior Saurini and his wife spent their weekends scouring antique and auction sales and filled the four-bedroom home with their finds. John Saurini has now cleared out the bulk of that, exposing once more the bones of the home.

Over the years, as Saurini and his wife aged and grew frail, they became less able to care for the home, which sits on a 1.5-acre lot.

The house that lists for $630,000 now needs a significant amount of work, including a new roof and repairs necessitated by raccoons, said Realtor Bruce Higgins, who estimates restoring it could cost upward of $400,000.

But the right buyer will recognize that the investment is worth it, said Higgins, who noted there is an offer pending on the home.

“There’s a lot of midcentury moderns, but not like this,” he said. “This is literally one of a kind in the city.”

Call IndyStar staff reporter Shari Rudavsky at 317-444-6354. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter: @srudavsky.

About the home

Address: 6474 N. Meridian Street.

Details: Four bedrooms; four baths; 4,691 square feet; three-car garage, two fireplaces, greenhouse, sauna on 1,59 acres.

Asking price: $630,000.

MLS: 21598701.

Contact: Bruce Higgins, F.C. Tucker,  317-697-3176, bruce.higgins@talktotucker.com.