Bruno Steel House in Ransom Canyon at sunset in this 2017 photo taken by Lubbock Lights Editor Terry Greenberg
The famous Bruno Steel House, looking something like a spaceship peering down over Lake Ransom Canyon, goes up for auction November 12 at 5:30 p.m.
The minimum bid is $250,000. A real estate listing on Zillow valued the home at $1.59 million.
The auction will be in person, but bids will also be accepted online.
“$93,000 in annual Airbnb income makes this one of Lubbock’s highest grossing rentals,” the listing said.
But the taxable value of the home set by the Lubbock Central Appraisal District showed $131,000.
The house, built by artist Robert Bruno, gained a reputation over the years – featured by Texas Monthly, the New York Post, Inside Edition and many other publications.
“It’s an extraordinary piece of art,” said auctioneer Spanky Assiter.
Bruno died in 2008 – leaving the home to his daughter Christina. She sold it in 2021 to Bruno Steel House LLC, which has the same mailing address as Courtney and Blake Bartosh.
LubbockLights.com contacted the couple via Facebook for an interview. After an initial response, they did not respond any further.
The couple interviewed in 2023 with KAMC News.
Blake said in the TV interview, “We’ve been on the lake many times on a boat, with our kids – always adored the house. So, we made an offer.”
The Bartoshes renovated and modernized the home. You can see it during an open house on October 20, 2-4 p.m. or November 2, 10 a.m.-noon.
Taxable value vs. sales price
LubbockLights.com contacted Tim Radloff, LCAD’s chief appraiser, to ask why the taxable value is different from the asking price.
It’s difficult to appraise a property like the Bruno Steel House or a nearby home he called the “Flintstone House,” he said.
State law forbids him from “sales chasing,” he said. He can’t set a taxable value based on a single sale. It needs to be based on other factors.
“I have to have justification,” Radloff said. So, he would have to compare it to other similar houses, but he can’t. There’s no other comparable house.
“Those are the two most unique properties in Lubbock County,” Radloff said of the Bruno and “Flintstone” homes, which are practically across Canyonview Drive from each other.
When asked if Airbnb revenue could be considered, he said yes.
“If it’s an Airbnb we might have to rethink how we appraise it in ‘25. It’s income producing. That has to be a consideration,” he said.
Who was Robert Bruno?
In 1971, Bruno came to Texas Tech to teach art in the school of architecture. He started building the house in the 1970s.
“He was dreamy and unorthodox, and he ruffled feathers at Tech, where the emphasis at the time was on the nuts and bolts of assembling a building … ” Texas Monthly reported.
After Bruno’s death, his friend Henry Martinez acted as something of a volunteer caretaker offering tours of the place. Martinez said Bruno contributed to the “Flintstone” home, but he called it the “Rock House.” That house was inspired by the work of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi.
Bruno also had talent for engineering. He and his wife started P&R Surge which still makes water valves for irrigation systems. It’s now run by Martinez, who worked there for 22 years, eventually taking over the company.
The company caters to farmers and agriculture, doing business in the U.S. and internationally.
“I’m doing it in the same direction he wanted,” said Martinez, who has great admiration for Bruno.
Bruno, in a video interview before his death, said, “I’ve been working on it for about 28 years and hopefully we’ll be finished in about one more.”
“The motivation here is really to do something that has some aesthetic value. I’m not particularly concerned about having a house. I don’t build this to own a home, I build it because I like doing sculpture,” Bruno said.
“As far as the shapes, I’m interested in giving it a somewhat of an organic quality I guess you could say – somewhere between animal and machine,” Bruno said.
More about the house
The online listing for the house said, “The world-famous Robert Bruno Steel House could be yours! This one-of-a-kind home has the best view in Ransom Canyon!”
The home is approximately 2,450 square feet, has three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. The upstairs suite has a walk-out balcony.
“One of the great things about this is it’s a steel home and it’s made from locally sourced recycled steel,” Assiter said.
“Currently the sellers are using it for an Airbnb, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be used for that. … It’s a profitable Airbnb rental,” Assiter said.
Prices vary based on the date. LubbockLights.com found an opening for a little more than $600 for one night.
How the auction works
“The auction is a live on-site auction, which means that myself, the auctioneer, will come down and conduct the live auction,” Assiter said.
However, people can offer a bid online. There will be a live feed to watch, and online bids can be updated.
Assiter will not know the maximum bid someone makes online, but a computer will. The computer will only bid enough on your behalf to beat everyone else’s bid. It will stop when it reaches your maximum bid or when everyone else stops bidding – whichever comes first.
LubbockLights.com asked why the Bruno House, or any home, would go up for auction instead of a traditional real estate listing.
“We’re pretty prejudiced just toward the auction business to tell you the truth. So we believe that it’s a lot more advantageous to a seller,” Assiter answered.
“In what you call the traditional method, the buyer writes all the terms. The buyer says, ‘I’ll give this much, and I’ll put $1,000 down, and I want it subject to inspection. I want it subject to financing. I want it subject to survey,’” Assiter said.
But in an auction, the buyer cannot dictate all those same terms. It does not take a home off the market temporarily while an offer is vetted for financing or other concerns, he said.
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