Larraine Tutihasi sent me a note that Robert A. Heinlein’s house is for sale in Colorado Springs. Here is the real estate listing. The agent is mistaken; although this is indeed the great man’s address, this is not his house. The Heinleins built a custom home in the Broadmoor area of Colorado Springs in 1950. It was a wonderful design, distinctly Frank Lloyd Wright-ish, with lots of techie grace notes designed by Heinlein himself. The house was supposedly “remodeled” after the Heinleins moved to Santa Cruz, but several people have told me that virtually the whole thing was torn down circa 1995, and the current larger but very ordinary home built on the site. The bomb shelter is apparently still there, as is the very appropriate address of 1776 Mesa Avenue.
I’m floored by the asking price: $650K for a good-sized house on a 1.5 acre lot in the poshissimo Broadmoor is a steal, unless the house has serious problems of some kind. It’s 2.75 miles linear distance from me, but over six miles street distance because of all the damnfool gated communities between here and there.
Oddly, Carol and I lived almost as close to Heinlein’s Santa Cruz home when I worked for Borland, and in fact Carol’s boss’s wife was the listing realtor when Virginia Heinlein sold it in 1988. Alas, I had just been laid off by Borland, and had no clue where I would be working after that, so we didn’t even go see it. I’ve been kicking myself for that idiotic lapse ever since!