Also, COLOR! On a bland, flat-faced split level, a little bit of contrasty color can go a long way to increase attractiveness. It kills me when people paint mid-century houses white, brown or sand/taupe/tan/beige! These houses really pop when they are colorful. And you need a splash of life in a murky winter

Of course, I have to plug doing what you can to go back to some of the original features of the house: retro house numbers, a spiffy porch light, a cool front door, original casement windows (yeah, I know they aren’t energy efficient, but I love them!), diamond shutters or a little scrolly ironwork… The great thing about mid-century houses are the tiny details!!

http://www.flickr.com/groups/411963@N24/

And if you haven’t looked around on Flickr much, there are lots of groups that feature retro houses or interiors or old ads…I could spend all there looking around there (but work calls!).

Because the house has extended overhanging eaves, it always looked a little “California/Japanese” to me; I’ve always loved Japanese gardens, so I designed the front landscaping to look a little Asian-flavored. I’ve used rounded pebble gravel for a winding stream-like path from the front of the house around the side to the back. We had to remove most of the original hugely overgrown yews from the front during a major drainage project (wet basements are a problem in the Midwest). I’ve replanted with dwarf spruces and other shrubs that have a sort of odd growth pattern. I’ve used Japanese spurge for groundcover and I love it…it has a gorgeous gray-green frond-y growth that quickly covers, and you can’t kill the stuff. (I used to try to get it out of the garden, but then I decided to go with the flow!) I also put in a couple weeping cherries (which are just about to bloom).

This summer we are having to replace the privacy fence around the house (we live on an extremely busy corner, and we definitely need it). I’ve researched period fences (and asked on this blog for suggestions), and I finally decided on a cedar basket-weave fence. I used to see these everywhere, especially stained red, but they aren’t around much anymore. The standard panels you saw in the 60s were very flimsy and they didn’t last long, but we’re having a carpenter build the fence himself without using ready-made panels. The basket-weave fence makes a horizontal effect, which feels more MCM to me.

Oh, I also had to search around quite a bit for the square-type lattice that we used on our back 2nd-story deck. All you can find now is the diagonal lattice, which would work fine for the story-book cottage look, but for more streamlined houses, I’d definitely search out the horiz/vert lattice.

This is getting to be a long comment! But as far as landscaping for 50s houses in general, I don’t think that you have to follow any formula strictly or try to copy exactly what was done at the time. Most subdivision houses, unless they were pretty high-end, weren’t very creatively landscaped. You can make it more 50s/60s by choosing elements such as house numbers, patio furniture, and lighting, but if you follow basic good landscaping design, I think you can be fairly free in your choices of trees and plants and just use what appeals to you.

http://flickr.com/photos/telstar/319185297/in/set-72157594414534853/

I have looked and looked since the beginning of the year and have pretty much given up on my dream of finding a cool tri-level that I can afford–apparently, the people that live in them don’t want to leave! I saw a few faux-colonials that had promise (and weathervanes) but, sadly, they had been terribly remuddled inside. Because of my school-district constraints and what’s on the market currently, it is looking as though I will end up in a 40s bungalow that has some, but not all, of the mid-century attributes I was hoping to find. The one I am negotiating on now does have the original linoleum in the kitchen and some updates that are now retro (the first owners were apparently big on paneling of every variety), and it’s a great house, but it’s not the project I was hoping to find (and later post on this site!).

Anyway, I really appreciate Pam’s and everyone else’s time on this and will post pix if I end up with anything relevant to write about!

Sarah

I’ve pasted in a link of our 1958 split level (or Pam you can lift this shot from my site and use it on yours, if you prefer).

http://futuresantiques.com/items/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=6909

When we bought it, the wood was painted Williamsburg Colonial gray (ghag), and had matching fake shutters. Ahggh! Within the year, it was ALL GONE.

Since then we’ve added planters, my wife does most of the landscaping, proper period outdoor fixtures (except I still can’t find a good post-light), and, to a certain degree, plants fashionable for the era.

The interior is basically my territory, but of course not all of it.

Ronn at FUTURES Antiques