It’s a classic dilemma for people looking for a home: buying something historic with character versus going for a more modern feel. This property on the northeast side lets you have both.

Built in 1929, the older of the two buildings on this 1.4-acre lot resembles a Spanish villa and was inspired by architect Russell Newby’s trip to the Iberian peninsula. For nearly a century the single-story, three-bedroom domicile sat alone.

Then in 2002, the current owner, Marilene Isaacs Kauffman, an intuitive therapist who is known as a clairvoyant, expanded with an addition where she would host meditation retreats and other seminars.

Instead of hiring a builder and tacking a few rooms onto to the existing structure, she went with a prefabricated Deltec home, more than 4,500 square feet in a heptadecagonal (17-sided) shape. The three-story addition came with two kitchens and two bedrooms.

While Kauffman used the light-filled addition as a meditation center, said Kauffman’s son Merlin Kauffman, the family also used the two bedrooms. Merlin Kauffman, who was in high school at the time the new addition arrived, moved into the basement bedroom, which has its own small kitchenette and bathroom.

“She just kind of treated it all as one big house,” said Merlin Kauffman, whose mother recently relocated to California, leading the family to put the home on the market.

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To help unify the two buildings, Kauffman had the outside of the newer dwelling covered with stucco, to mirror the first. A glassed breezeway connects the two.

The two buildings have very different feels, as one might suspect. The 20th-century home has heavy wooden doors, high beams, some original light fixtures and floors made of Bedford limestone and marble. An indentation in the dining room wall that once held a bubbling fountain still exists, though the water no longer runs.

“To me it’s just classic and timeless, yet very well done and livable,” said Realtor Jane Barretto. Over the past three decades, the Kauffmans did make some improvements to the home, including revamping the kitchen. Now it features a whimsical red booth, evoking a '50s diner.

The kitchen in the newer house sits around a structural beam that looks as much ornamental as necessary. Upstairs, the entire second floor is dedicated to one sprawling bedroom, bath and a spacious closet. Windows abound, making the second home almost feel like a glass house.

With trees surrounding the lot, it’s hard to believe that Westfield Boulevard is zipping by just outside the property, which has Williams Creek burbling past. You can enjoy the view from two patios or – thanks to all the windows – without ever stepping foot outside.

“The whole concept with Deltec is bringing nature in,” Barretto said. “You want to see the view.”

Call IndyStar reporter Shari Rudavsky at (317) 444-6354. Follow her on Twitter: @srudavsky.               

Details: Five bedrooms; six half-baths; three kitchens; 2,800-square-foot deck; zoned 70 percent residential and 30 percent commercial with onsite parking for 20; 6,490 square feet on 1.4-acre lot.

Contact: Jane Barretto; Redfin Corporation; 317-653-6660 (o); 317-586-1665 (c); jane.barretto@redfin.com.