The master bathroom is one of two full baths on the second floor of the house.

Harold and Carolyn Salk, in 1972, found the plans for their dream home in The Providence Journal.

“We had been meeting with architects and looking through books. We were disappointed that nothing had fit our needs,” says Carolyn Salk, who wanted a modern four-bedroom. “Then, one Sunday morning, we saw our house in The Journal.”

The Salks mailed off a check for about $25, and a few weeks later, a mail carrier dropped off the plans they needed to build a contemporary house with three levels.

Now that their boys have moved out, the Salks are downsizing and selling for $398,000 their modern digs at 486 Red Chimney Drive, in the Cowesett section of Warwick.

Gallery

Walk through the House of the Week

It sits on a 15,000-square-foot lot with oodles of oak trees, a circular driveway and a two-car attached garage with a walk-in closet in the back. The house’s roof has extra-wide eaves that hang unusually far so that gutters are not needed.

“For the exterior, the builder used three-quarter-inch plywood and then put textured plywood panels on top,” says Harold Salk, the owner of the Warwick’s Salk’s Hardware and Marine. “Usually homes are built with one-quarter-inch so ours has extra thick layers.”

A small porch on the side of the garage leads to the front door. Upon entering the house, a tiled foyer is the bottom of three levels.

To the left are three steps leading to a roomy L-shaped living/dining room. To the right is entry to the den.

When the Salks planned the home with their architect in 1972, they decided to make some changes to the original blueprints. For example, they moved the fireplace from the living room to the den. They figured their family would congregate more in that room, and they wanted to warm it up. The brick fireplace is the primary focus of the room.

The Salks keep the laundry facilities on the same level as the den, and that level also includes a back door into a roomy yard, a half-bath and access to an unfinished basement.

The living room, which is on the middle level, contains a picture window and vaulted ceiling. It lets in lots of sunlight and brightens up the room as does the off-white carpeting. The lack of molding throughout the interior adds to the ultra-modern feel of the dwelling.

Sliding-glass doors in the dining room open to a wood deck in the back yard. There’s a half basketball court that, the Salks say, is popular with the neighborhood’s children.

In 2001, the Salks redid the kitchen, covering the counters with granite, adding a matching granite back splash, and putting in a stainless-steel under-hung sink. In keeping with the modern theme, they outfitted the kitchen with black appliances. A built-in parsons table sits five.

“We had the counters raised about two inches so it would be easier on our backs,” adds Harold Salk.

The cabinets and drawers in the kitchen and throughout the house lack drawer handles and cabinet pulls. The Salks deliberately designed the home without such hardware because, back in the 1970s, Harold Salk notes, “everything was ugly.”

Instead, the cabinets and drawers have a groove on the inside corner that makes it easier to open and close. He adds, “I think the lack of pulls offers a clean modern look.”

The staircase to the second floor is accessed through the living room. The floor has four bedrooms, two full bathrooms and lots of closets.

“I’m told you can see the water from the roof,” says Carolyn Salk, looking out one of the bedroom windows. “I don’t know if it’s true or not. I’ve never climbed onto my roof.”

The four-bedroom, 3,100-square-foot home at 486 Red Chimney Drive is being sold for $398,000. It has gas heat, central vaccuum and a burglar alarm. It’s located in the Cowesett section of Warwick. Taxes are $5,428. Maureen Ridgely of RE/MAX Professionals, (401) 741-9449 or (401) 884-6050, ext. 348, has the listing. An open house is planned today from 2 to 4. How to submit a House of the Week

A different House of the Week appears each Saturday in the projoHomes section of The Providence Journal. The feature tells the story of the house and the people who have lived in it. If you would like us to consider a house for sale as a subject of this news feature, send a photo, information about the house and why it is of interest, to Faye Zuckerman, real estate writer, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902; fax (401) 277-8250; or e-mail pjhomes@projo.com.

For more information,

call (401) 277-7333.

fzuckerm@projo.com