Remember the “other round house” we wrote about when it went on the market last year? The one that’s a curvaceous midcentury modern dream? Roughly a year later, others took note, too. The home, at 3201 Peachtree St. in Sarasota, went viral and set a new record when it was the first listing to earn more than 100,000 likes on the Twitter account for Zillow Gone Wild—a curated list of the most showstopping homes for sale in the country.

Maybe the most perfect mid century home we’ve ever seen in Sarasota FL, currently listed at $899,000. pic.twitter.com/3bOlJOn6UW

— Zillow Gone Wild 🏡 (@zillowgonewild) May 1, 2022

It was also featured in the New York Times real estate section, where it was described as “a showcase for midcentury style.”

Its new owners agree.

The three-bedroom, 1,268-square-foot home has a unique circular layout that places the bathroom at the center of the house. It was inspired by the design of another nearby Sarasota School of Architecture gem with the same unique cylinder format.

Alex Aberle and his partner, Violette Harrington Levy, bought it for $703,201, cash, earlier this month, after it was initially listed for $899,999 in April of last year. Sue Tapia, the homeowner, is also a local real estate agent with White Sands Realty Group, represented herself in the sale, while Robert Krasow of Michael Saunders & Company represented the buyers.

During her time there, Tapia transformed the once-quasi-abandoned, long-time rental hidden in the overgrowth into a bright, “pristine mid-century modern museum,” Aberle says.

Aberle, 31, is originally from New Jersey but went to the Out-of-Door Academy in Sarasota, where he met Levy, 30, who was born and raised here. Aberle then studied urban design and architecture at New York University and is now a full-time realtor.

Today they live in Philadelphia, but still have family here. They weren’t necessarily on the hunt for a Sarasota home, but “we saw it floating around on Facebook, since we're interested in old architecture so we follow a lot of those dedicated groups,” Levy says. A chance Sarasota visit for her father's wedding gave them the opportunity to step inside and “fall in love with it,” she says.

"We met Sue and she told us she thought she was going stay there forever, but re-evaluated that when the market exploded. It’s reassuring to hear that as a buyer—she did things with the intention of staying there, and it shows. It drips with her passion and love,” Aberle says. 

It’s in part an investment purchase for the couple. But, they say, “when we have kids, we’ll have a home for our family.”

This is the couple's first midcentury home. "The house we have in Philadelphia is much older. There are a lot of colonial and Victorian style homes," he says. "This one is so unique.”

Tapia, who bought the home in 2018 for $229,000, is an avid collector of all things midcentury modern and took her carefully curated furniture collection with her. But that’s OK with Aberle and Levy. "Mixing kids with museum-grade furniture probably isn't a good idea,” Aberle says.

However, they do mix well with a pool, which the couple is thinking of adding. Otherwise, they’re not changing a thing.

In the meantime, Tapia is staying local and is still shopping for her next home.