Potential buyers can step back in time in this award winning Great Barr house that hasn’t changed in 50 years.

Montana, so called because it was built in the Canadian style on a slope with the top floor at road level and the lower floor below ground, was designed in 1966 by a local architect Ronald Smith.

The house, which is in Boscobel Road, was so unusual that it caught the attention of the Daily Mail, and it was named the publication’s House of the Year in 1967 in a competition it ran in conjunction with its Ideal Home Show.

Having been built in 1966, it has been owned by the same family since 1967, and they have hardly changed a thing about the interior. The Parana Pine interior, Canadian-style period picture windows, unique exterior spiral staircase connecting the garden of the house to the first floor, and the old style kitchen cupboards all send visitors straight back to the 1960s.

Now this remarkable period piece is for sale for the first time in half a century, and will be going under the hammer at the Pennycuick Collins auction at Birmingham City Football Club on March 2.

It is expected that the property will be fetching bids in excess of £240,000.

Stuart Tullah, associate partner at the Birmingham-based chartered surveyors and property auctioneers, said: “This is an incredibly unique lot and it’s very exciting to see it come up for auction.

“When it was first built 50 years ago, this was a very modern building, but with many of its original features still standing today, it is now a great piece of history.

“We’re confident there’ll be lots of interest in Montana on the day of the auction.”

Apart from its prize-winning design, another selling point for the house is its picturesque surroundings in the district that sits between Birmingham and Walsall, alongside Red House Park and overlooking the lake.

For more information on the house in Boscobel Road, contact Pennycuick Collins on 0121 456 1700 or look up www.pennycuick.co.uk.