Carter Sparks Archive

07/14/2025

Looks like the Fowler House in Fair Oaks has quickly gone *pending* after being listed last week. Congrats to the buyer on this one - we hope they are sympathetic to the house.

Fowler was one of the earliest designs by the nascent firm of Sparks + Thaden (Carter Sparks and Donald Thaden). The plans, drawn in May 1955, also list Clovis McGuire as Associate Architect.

Photos from the listing via Ollie Steinwandt, Realty ONE Group Complete. Snapshots from the plans by Carter Sparks Archive.

01/06/2025

Hear our archivist, Justin Wood, talk about how the archive came to be, and the work behind the scenes at CarterSparks.org. Many thanks to USModernist for the invitation to be interviewed for the podcast on US Modernist Radio. Justin's interview begins at around 31.38. https://usmodernist.org/usmodernistradio.htm

10/25/2024

03/11/2023

Thanks to our friends at the Eichler Network for honoring Carter Sparks' memory. He would have been 100 this recent February 26th.

09/30/2022

The first ever custom designed home by Carter Sparks has hit the market! ✨

The Mahan House in Roseville, CA was built in 1951 and has only had one owner. This is the home’s first time for sale.

View the listing at the link below and learn more about the home on cartersparks.org; First one on the list! 😉

https://redf.in/l6glBb

05/21/2022

Is it a Sparks?

The home at 3428 Paloran Court in Shingle Springs, CA was built in 1976 and exhibits a lot of Sparks DNA. However, some of the details just don’t seem right.

Learn more and see more photos at the link below…

https://www.cartersparks.org/researching/3428-paloran-ct--1976/

05/13/2022

The Fischel House in Carmichael, CA was built in 1975 for Robert and Claudia Fischel and their two teenage kids.

The home overhangs the American River and commands spectacular views. The interior living room, atrium entrance, and hallway of the house are all paneled in mahogany. The exterior of the home was built with redwood plywood. It even made the cover in Redwood Magazine years back (see photo).

Although the home has been extensively remodeled over the years, some signature features still remain.

See more photos and read more about the Fischel House at the link below...

https://cartersparks.org/ongoing/fischel--1975/

02/15/2022

Some quick snapshots of the original plans for the "Residence for Mr. and Mrs. Douglas A Sleeper" in Fair Oaks, CA stamped Dec 2, 1974. Although originally designed for the Sleeper family, it is unclear as to how long they actually lived in it as it probably took some time to be built and the Brown family moving in around late 1977.

Anyway, enjoy these hand drawn plans. Do you recognize the house?

-JW

11/13/2021

The home Carter Sparks designed for himself and his family.

Located in Sacramento, CA & built in 1960, The Sparks House is a boxy home with a low, glass-filled gable. The house has open-beams, oddly place windows, and a simple plank deck overlooking the backyard, which originally had a manmade river.

Photo 2 courtesy of Jennifer Sparks, Carter’s daughter for CA Modern Magazine by Eichler Network
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Learn more about the house at the link below…

https://cartersparks.org/ongoing/sparks--1960/

11/09/2021

The infamous, Fava House built in 1956 in Fair Oaks, CA. “One of Sparks' earliest known works, it shows a sometimes reckless creative ambition that many of his later works do not. FLW's influence hovers like a ghost in the spaces, angles and flow.” The home was built for $12,000 in 1956-57. Unfortunately it burned to the ground in 2016. Learn more at the link below…

https://cartersparks.org/ongoing/fava--1956/

10/29/2021

The Stecher House was designed by both Carter Sparks & Donald Thaden & built in 1960 in the South Land Park neighborhood of Sacramento.

The home was built for mechanical engineer, Leonard S. Stecher who was the engineer on record for Fairbanks Elementary, a Sparks / Thaden designed school in Del Paso Heights.

The home was featured in the SacMod (Sacramento Modern) 2010 Mid-century Modern home tour. Who was there?!

Photo by Donald Saterlee 📸

Learn more: https://cartersparks.org/ongoing/stecher--1960/