Gosh, if I had that house I'd feel compelled to keep it almost all like that, except the bedroom furniture and the (ugh!) bathroom carpet. It's perfect. But I hated the 70s at the time, too, so I wouldn't have it as a gift.

Oh my. I actually like the staircase and foyer. I think this house would show better if they decluttered a bit. Especially the quilt hanging over the railing.

I enjoy seeing houses that were kept authentic.

That is one eclectic mix of furniture! What is the “collection” in front of the fireplace?

Wow, a blast from the past. That was no doubt the height of elegance in its day in Johnstown, PA. I love the shortie drapes. And oh my, the wall to wall carpet in the bathroom.

I'd say the collection looks to be antique stoneware crocks and jugs, which are still valued collectibles in this area.

I wish there was a more complete picture of the tub surrounded by red carpet

I just took another tour. Even the kitchen has carpet!

Make no mistake I am posting this in admiration, not to mock. Especially that it survived how many decorating trends that have come and gone. I'm a 70s aficionado myself, I currently live in a contemporary shed style home, which I believe is on the verge of having a resurgence, much like MCM is having now. I have my doubts this Johnstown time capsule will survive intact the next owner.

I wonder how they got that grand piano up those steps? It's not my style but it certainly looks like a nice house.

I love the foyer and the front doors, what a grand place. The kitchen and bathrooms look so very dated, but seem well-maintained. I can't believe the price... that wouldn't buy you very much where I live!

I can't think of much, if anything, about 70's decor styles that I find worth preserving.

Melle sacto, how about this place for just about the same price?A time capsule of a very different sort. Sale Pending I have to admit if I was looking to buy in this market, I'd go for the latter too. Both these properties reflect two different coal-and-steel boom times in Johnstown's history

I'd rather have that one, too, OneRidgeOff!

OMG the carpet in the kitchen! And red carpet in the bathroom?!

Thinking it would be very nice minus the decor and carpet - and vertical blinds...

And OneRidgeOff, that second listing you posted above is beautiful - but what's with the muddy walls?

Carol, not sure about the walls! found some historical photos of it, may be original?

Swank house

Love the entryway of the 70's house. Almost Brady Bunch! I also like the rec room, but yes, the kitchen and bathroom carpets would have to go. Personally, I love 50's and 60's more than 70's. Really appreciate the time capsule. Maybe forward it to RetroRenovation. It's big, though, and may have large energy bills. Now assessed $7500 per year in taxes.

The second house, I almost feel I'd need to dress in Game of Thrones cosplay to be in it.

Certain areas of PA seem to be RE bargains.

I'd be all over that second house - so much potential there!

Yes, Johnstown especially suffers from the boom and bust cycle and that is reflected in real estate bargains. Took a recent bust from the death of influential congressman John Murtha. There’s a minor boom now from the resurgence of the coal industry, but this isn’t Hot Topics so I won’t discuss it further here lol.

Heating a place that size would certainly be an expense, with the cold winters of southwestern PA. I did notice it was updated with forced air which helps somewhat. Many homes of this era still have electric baseboard heating which is a huge money drain.

When I expressed my opinion that 70s contemporary style is resurging, I don’t think it will extend to this more traditional-glam decor. But who knows? It reminds me a bit of Goodfellas, when Henry and Karen started “making it big” and did their big reveal of their “contemporary” digs.

The 1976 home - I think if I had a large family it could make sense. Otherwise, that's a lot of 1976 to adapt to. The chateau? I'd take it in a heartbeat. At that price I could afford a groundskeeper and a housekeeper.

Johnstown has lost population in the double digits in every Census since 1960. (It seems that it may be essentially stable at this time)

It's partly a matter of not enough people looking. I also grew up in a county where houses will stay on the market for years. There is not necessarily anything the matter with the houses, just that there's not a lot of people looking at all. My dad was lucky that someone specifically wanted their house.

My thought about the 70s contemporary is that to have been on the market that long there is either a problem with the house or the sellers are of the type that they have to interview the prospective buyers to assure themselves that nothing will be changed or the new buyer are the right kind of people.

The other house the walls are painted that way to mimic the stone exterior and make the inside into a castle look. It would depend on if the paint is texturized or flat how much work would be needed to redo the walls.

That’s possibly part of the problem, Maifleur. But palimpsest has a point too, I don’t see anything wrong with it besides unpopular decor, it’s definitely a good neighborhood. It’s not uncommon at all for more expensive than average properties to languish for years. As the Swank house shows, in that price bracket there are more desirable choices in homes.

I appreciate the 1970s House, its fidelity to its vintage. Not my style, as many here have said. The second one, the chateau, is just gorgeous! Can’t believe you could have so much of such quality and interest for a pittance! Does make me sad to think about the changes in fortune, of people, of communities, of regions.

I no longer live in the area, but was in Downtown Johnstown last week to visit a relative. Definitely still has an air of tragedy and economic downturn about it. (Both of the time capsule houses are well out of the notorious flood zone). When Congressman Murtha passed, a lot of the defense industry jobs he orchestrated went with him. I now live in West Virginia, which despite its reputation as struggling, is actually booming in comparison (mainly natural gas). No way would the same dollars buy me an equivalent home here.

With how little the house costs relative to what it would take to update it, I can't see how it would sell. By the time you changed the flooring, painted the walls and redid the kitchen and bathrooms, you would be out close to 100k. That does not seem affordable in light of the asking price.

It is just over priced. Depending on your choice of a new kitchen I do not think it would take 100K to fix. A few fixtures, flooring, KITCHEN and eventually the bathrooms will with the exception of the basement I didn't think it was that far gone.

I prefer OneRidgeOff's selection, but the first home is okay if the kitchen and bath carpets can be tossed.

Whoa. That is not what I think of as 1976. I was late teens at the time and did not live in a neighborhood that would have a house anywhere near that size. No houses in our hood looked like that. Inside or out.

That's really cheap for 6,445 sq ft. I love the foyer! The 2nd house is charming, I could live there.....between these 2, I might pick the 1st one for the size.

Am I the only one who saw a HUGE jump in 2018 taxes, from 2017? $2149 to $7567- 252% increase?? That's a big, big number for this small of a sales price/valuation. Adds just over $630 a month, to pay for the property. Anybody have any insight?

Was it sold? Locally, our taxes jump when a property is sold.

But I own a piece of property in Central PA and in that county, they did a comprehensive reassessment and my property taxes went up more than 500%. In that case it is because there is no business/industrial base left from which to get taxes. It falls on on property owners. Johnstown has lost industry, perhaps the same thing happened there.

Here, not only when sold but if the owners move out and let the homestead exemption go because they transferred it to their new home.

I was able to get a different sort of exemption because it's not property which could be easily developed, but I had to jump through a bunch of hoops.

palimpsest- It appears to be still on the market. 2018 valuations/property taxes are assessed in my market in January. Don't know about this area, but if it hasn't sold- and the taxes aren't a mistake, given the very small price? Perhaps a problem.

I was wondering if somehow it recently changed hands as part of an estate or something.

Found this on the local online newspaper- it’s subscription so I screenshot it

I would like to point out that the assessed value did not go up just the taxes. Which should mean that there were new taxes imposed or an increase in taxes. An example of this was the library increase that was voted last year. Which means even though the assessment may not have gone up the taxes will.

That area of Pennsylvania has taken an economic beating. Just not a lot there to draw people in, and it's a higher-priced home for that market. My mom was from a coal town not too far from there and it's not exactly a booming area anymore.

Regarding the taxes...well, it's Zillow, so I'd almost guess it's more of a Zillow problem/correction than anything else. I live in New York and for years Zillow only showed a tiny fraction of what my real property taxes were. Then one day they got their heads out of their bottoms and realized there was a whole other bill they weren't accounting for in their Zillow data. If you look at my house today, you'll see a similar huge tax jump.

You’re right,Maifleur, sorry I didn’t look at the Zillow page closely enough. Taxes did go up recently in this county but not by that degree. Bad data from Zillow?

http://www.tribdem.com/news/cambria-county-gets-special-approval-for-high-millage-rate/article_326014fc-0af9-11e8-87b6-1bb90c5308d1.html

I live in a similar area. The house next to my parents sat empty and on the market for over two years. Sellers moved to GA but would not drop price. Didn't seem to make sense, due to taxes and an empty house being marginally cared for didn't seem to be able to keep its value . . . but anyway, it finally sold to a new family who have ties to the area, even though they both commute a lot for work in more prosperous areas.