After we looked at the Alcoa Aluminum time capsule home in Minnesota a few weeks ago, we heard from Steven in Rochester, New York, who owns another of these houses.
He’s decorated just beautifully! The more I look at his interiors – the more I appreciate every detail and the mix of colors and textures. Swoon…
And, Steven has some original sales material and has posted it, along with 50 photos of his gorgeous home, on Flickr.
He says that in total – there were 23 of these “demonstration homes” built around the country – and there’s a list in the brochure.
Steven says about the house:
This house is located in Brighton which is a suburb of Rochester, NY. It was designed by architect Charles Goodman and it is 1 of 23 homes that were built for Alcoa Aluminum’s “Care-free Home” demonstration project.
It was built in 1957 by Fred P. DeBlase.
We moved into the house in June/07 and have spent the last six months working on the inside and outside. The house is not in its completely original state. Over the years the two bathrooms and the kitchen were remodeled. We intend to redo all of them more to period in the near future.
The original national sales brochure was handed down with the house and I have scanned and posted it too. On page 15 there is a listing of the locations of the 23 homes that were built.
And be sure to click here to see all 59 photos in Steven’s Flickr photostream!
Thank you so much for sharing, Steven!
Updating the second bathroom in a 1957 Alcoa Aluminum House 
Steven updates his 1957 Alcoa Aluminum House 
Steven & Michael create the Mondrian bathroom originally intended for their Alcoa Aluminum house – stunning! 
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Stunning! I love the black and white floor – very psychadelic! And the top picture is perfect – you can almost imagine the very people back in the day to be wandering around the house living their lives.
I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I’ve decided that I’m going to name my first born child “Telephone Nook”. Jiminy Christmas. I love the phone nook! It’s all perfect: the dark wood paneling, the olive/gold door, the soft blue table, easter pink phone, mustard chair, fluted lamp… Very nicely done!
I love, love, love the house–but even more the fact that the decor reflects the lives of the people who live in it. These pictures go to show that you can mix eras and styles of furniture and still be true to the original aesthetic intent of a house.
Madison Sarah
P.S. My mom graduated from Brighton High–class of ’49!
Thanks to all for the compliments, we really are in love with this house. We received the pink phone as a house-warming gift at a party that we had the day we closed on the house. For a couple of weeks it was the only thing in the house sitting on the floor. That table was in the basement when we moved in and once we discovered it we couldn’t wait to put it back. Due to the smoky film in that corner I would guess that many a cigarette and martini was had at that table……….
Is that the Little Flower (St. Therese) in your dining room, Steven?? I love the combination of religious artifacts with the modern decor. Your sense of style is fabulous.
That is St. Therese. She was given to my Aunt some time in the early 1970′s and the date on her is 1928. She was handed down to me a few years ago and to be honest at first I wasn’t really sure I wanted to keep her but now I can’t imagine the house without her.
Hi Steven. Deb aka Femme 1 is in a mind meld with me as usual – I was just looking at the same photo and thinking how great that statue is! Hey, that’s my confirmation saint, St. Theresa! Anyway – she is perfect perfect perfect. I have a Stangl Madonna vase and a buddha or two around…but, now I need an entire statue somewhere. OMG, wait til the Mr. sees that come in the house. And yes – you do have a great design eye. It’s so interesting, especially with these contemporaries, how getting the scale, geometrics, colors and punch, and surface material mix just right – really makes a difference. And you’ve nailed it!
Awesome house! That St. Therese statue is a trip–thanks for the history lesson behind it–I was curious.
Hello, We are purchasing an Alcoa home, hopefully all goes well. Our offer was accepted and this should close by the end of January. We are going to have the home renovated, keeping as much as the charm but yet we want to make this more comfortable for our needs. We are removing original interior doors, cupboards, etc. Anyone interested in these items please contact us by our email. colkei@comcast.net . Thanks
Terry, where do you live – where is the house?
Fabulous house! We just picked up a pair of Emerson-Pryne outdoor lights called Space Shape that were made in conjunction with Alcoa Aluminum. However, one of the globes is broken. Since the globe stem is threaded where it screws into the aluminum base, we are lost for where we might have one made. Any ideas?
Heidi, can you send me a pic, I’m ever so curious….retrorenovation at gmail dot com, thanks.
Hello –
My wife and I live in the Alcoa house in Westwood Hills in Maryville, TN. We have been there for 9 years. Unfortunately, much had been done to the house before we bought that was miles away from the original look and feel. We have really enjoyed seeing all of the photos of the homes that have been renovated to reflect the architecture and period. Hopefully, some day we can move in that direction as well. If anyone reads this post and is renovating and has tips or tricks, let us know.
Barry
Great to see another Alcoa House owner surface!!!!! This is a great place to see tips and tricks for renovating. I would enjoy seeIng any pics that you would like to share.
Steve
Any pictures? We are about to renovate our house in MA, perhaps you contacted us a few years back? Nice forum to reunite these houses listed in the original brochure.
What an astonishing place! I’d be very, very grateful to Steven & Michael if they would let me know the name of the auto-body shop where they had their steel cabinets refinished. I’m in Brighton, fellas, and need some neighborly steering toward the right people to work on the Youngstown steel cabinets I recently acquired. – Sara [ edited by pam - pam sent an email to steven to make the connection ]
Here’s the one in Miami. It is endangered.
http://moderncapitaldc.com/2012/01/17/endangered-goodman-alcoa-care-free-home-in-miami-529k/
Here are more pictures of the house in Miami:
http://moderncapitaldc.com/2012/02/05/pictures-of-endangered-goodman-alcoa-care-free-home-in-miami/