Stove: From Dream Stoves
I have been blogging about midcentury home design since 2006, but my very first piece of published writing about home design in 1995 — an article about vintage stoves for the now-defunct Ann Arbor News. Vintage stoves were first becoming popular around then. I have been a fan ever since and today, have a circa-1959 GE Pushbutton electric in my kitchen. When we did a story a while ago about where to get your vintage appliances fixed, a number of readers had suggestions and experiences to share about vintage stove restoration experts. Karl T. also suggested suppliers. I did some additional research and came up with an expanded list — and readers continue to more in their comments, below, be sure to read them — and we now have 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 places to get your vintage stove restored… to buy a restored vintage stove… and to find parts and service for vintage stoves:
Note, before you buy, understand what you are paying for — this includes consulting with a properly licensed professional to assess the stove for environmental and safety issues. Be Safe / Renovate Safe — for more info see our Be Safe/Renovate Safe page.
Restored vintage stoves — West and Southwest
- Buckeye Appliance — Stockton, Calif.
- AntiqueGasStoves.com — Alta Loma, Calif.
- Dream Stoves — Valley Springs, Calif.
- Antique Stove Heaven — Los Angeles
- Aiken’s Furniture — Inglewood, Calif.
- Antique Stove Shop — Ventura, Calif.
- Carolina’s Antique Appliances — East Los Angeles, Calif.
- Savon Appliances — Burbank and Hollywood, Calif.
- Lloyd’s Appliances — Irwindale, Calif.
- Antique Stoves — Culver City, Calif.
- Reliance Antiques — Berkeley, Calif
- Apple Stoves — Oakland, Calif.
- RMR Company — San Diego County
- Homestead Vintage Stoves — Centralia, Wash.
- Macy’s Classic Stoveworks — Houston, Texas
- Tulsa Stove Hospital (no website) — Tulsa, Okla.
Restored vintage stoves — Midwest
- Retro Stove & Gas Works — Chicago area
- Antique Stoves — Tekonsha, Mich.
Vintage stove restoration — Southeast
- Antique Appliances — Clayton, Georgia
- Aircon Vintage Appliances — Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill, NC
Vintage stove restoration — East Coast
- Belgrove Appliance — Westchester County, New York
- Central Range Service — Bayside, New York – NYC area
- Chambers Rescue — Montclair, New Jersey
- Mattera Stove Works — Wakefield, RI
- Andrews Range Service (no website) — Pittsburg, Pa.
- Good Time Stove Co. — Goshen, Mass. — pre-war and earlier
- Antique Stove Hospital — Little Compton, Rhode Island… for folks preparing for peak oil!
Note: Thanks so many readers for the contributions to build this list — keep ’em coming. Also, thanks to Todd at chambers.net for a number of these leads. This seems to be the go-to place for Chambers’ info!
Please know: I do not have personal experience with these resources, so I am not endorsing them…. Please make sure that you do your own research to verify that you are working with safe, experienced, properly licensed professionals with a proven reputation. And, as Lara Jane commented in the original story:
To follow up on Pam’s post, I know a lot of people on other home improvement sites were scammed by a guy restoring vintage stoves (some they’d sent to him, some were advertised on his site). Be careful who you give your money to, and if possible, use a credit card with buyer protection!
Yes, as with any purchase of this magnitude — please do due diligence regarding the companies you are engaging with.
Other stories of interest:
samantha says
Love this,
i want to replace my fancy new stainless convection oven with a vintage stove. i miss my old stove from my flat in san francisco! it was awesome. a 40’s gas tank that was solid and reliable. these new appliances are just crap,( everything has been repaired on mine and i’ve only owned them about two years.) unless you spend 5K , but, then you basically have a vintage stove, a gas tank.
I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, any resources here?
Sheila says
Hi Samantha. I saw your post. I have a 1952 O’Keefe Merritt stove. I use it everyday. I am moving back to Michigan and renting out my house. I don’t really want to put it through the journey. Any interest in buying it? I am afraid a rental tenant would not appreciate it as well as I do. I thought about bringing it with. It is a lovelly stove an original with the house.
pam kueber says
take all buying/selling over to the forum, please: https://retrorenovation.com/forums
Polly says
How much do you want for your O& M stove? I live in Louisiana but have family in Albuquerque. Thanks, P
pam kueber says
take this over the buy/sell forum, folks: https://retrorenovation.com/forums/
pam kueber says
You know, this seems to be a real business opportunity for industrious and entrepreneurial folks outside of L.A. Very few stove restoration places… and the big ones have long waiting times, I think….
Jennifer B. says
I am looking for repair or replacement for a stove that I don’t think can be considered “vintage” necessarily, and having no luck so far – it is a 50s-60s GE range unit consisting of a cooktop (in that copper brown color mentioned on this blog a while ago) with a metal back in same color, connected to an overhead conventional oven. (Tried to put a picture here but it doesn’t seem to work) It works OK, but a couple of the burners don’t heat very well anymore – we had a local repair guy out to look at it (we’re in Maine) and he said he couldn’t fix it. We would love to replace it but they don’t seem to make this kind of unit anymore – any ideas about where to look for a replacement?
pam kueber says
I think that if you keep looking for an electrician with experience and patience, he or she can fix it… See the links at the end of this story, also – go back to those other two stories for ideas.
Audrey says
You have perfect timing! I recently bought a 1950s O’Keefe and Merritt stove from Craig’s List for a great price. It has some rust spots and the enamel was chipped in a couple places, but the seller promised me it worked. It doesn’t and the seller won’t respond to any of my emails. I love the stove, but I need something to cook on and in, not just a decorative object. I’m in Austin, Texas and have been unable to find local repair people who will work on antique stoves. If anyone has a Texas connection, please let me know!
Polly Boersig says
There is a business in Port Allen, La [ near Baton Rouge, La] called ” Hugh’s” (it’s also the owner’s name); he totally refurbishes stoves such as yours.
Anne B says
Hugh restored our stove 10 years ago. PIcked it up in Dallas, did a full restore, delivered it back to Dallas and installed it. Now I need a little tune-up and wish there was someone nearby. Will have to call Hugh, I guess! http://www.hughsplace.com/
Pam Green says
Go to Macy’s Antique Stove Works in Houston, TX or call Ken Johnson at 713 52100934 or 713 528 1297
Stacy says
In St. Louis we have Remember When Antiques on Cherokee Street. Haven’t visited yet, so can’t advise on prices. Their website has a photo gallery.
http://www.stoves-r-us.com/
Lauryn says
For folks in the midwest, there is a place called Tyson’s in Oklahoma City that seems to have a lot of great vintage stoves, though I can speak to any personal experiences with them. Their website doesn’t have any photos, but I see a lot listed on craigslist (http://www.oklahomacityokappliancerepair.com/#cid=glbc).
The vintage stove issue makes me want to weep … we had additional cabinets built to match the lovely originals we have and built them to accommodate a 30″ stove. Had I known then that there were so many vintage beauties out there we would have proceeded accordingly. Now I am on a never ending hunt for that rare 30″ stove (and am on a waiting list at Antique Gas Stoves, which should give me plenty of time to win the lottery).
pam kueber says
Thank you — Tyson’s added. Don’t know where you live, but my friend Ron in Pittsfield, Mass. / Berkshire County Used Furniture has a gorgeous 30-incher right now. I’ve shown it on the blog…60s-beautiful!
Lauryn says
I’m in Iowa but my family is in New England, so it’s a possibility. Where on the blog is this gorgeous stove??
pam kueber says
Lauryn, it comes up quickly using my search box…
JoAnn says
I just purchased a restored O’Keefe & Merritt from one source you mentioned-Antique Appliance Co., aka Eagle Rock Appliances. It will receive the place of honor in the new kitchen along with 1950’s metal cabinets. I dealt with Peter, the owner, and he was wonderful. He did an amazing job of crating the stove for shipping. It weighs over 500 lbs. When I asked Peter if he had an old stove manuel, he said: “Don’t worry, you won’t need one”. Can’t wait for the installation.
Lindsey Cota says
Luckily, I was able to finagle myself into inheriting my grandmother’s 1950’s O’Keef & Merrit. I have pics of her making tortillas on it in the 70’s.
Unfortunately, I have no where to put it yet so it is sitting in my mother’s garage until I can buy or rent a house.
I have watched many of these sites and love to look at all the old, gorgeous stoves.
Lindsey Cota says
I should probably specify, she’s not dead yet. (Thankfully!) My parent’s just moved her into my Uncle’s home.
(I never expected to get the stove but it was the only thing I asked for)
Ranger Smith says
Another excellent source is Savon appliances in Burbank CA. I purchased a fantastic Wedgewood range years ago – I called it the June Cleaver stove, although it most likely was from the 40’s not the 50’s. The people at Savon are great and they provide repair services as well.
Ranger Smith says
Here is the link to Savon Appliances:
http://www.savonappliance.com/
pam kueber says
Thank you!! Added. Now at 14!
Suzanne says
I got my `40s O’Keefe & Merritt (pictured on this site under “Suzanne’s kitchen”) at Savon, now in North Hollywood, CA & my `60s stacking Maytag washer & dryer from their other store in Burbank. Savon restores, installs & services their appliances. Savon is the place to go in LA.
Ann says
Hi Pam,
There is also Aikens’ Furniture in Inglewood, California (near Los Angeles). I went to him last year to have a burner reporcelained. He did a great job. Also, we got to talking stoves and he said he would try to find me two other burner plate parts that were missing – and he did! Nice people and a great experience. Here is a link to the LA Times story that helped me locate them: http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-fixers-aikens-stoves-20101113,0,240406.story
Ann says
I forgot to mention, after seeing the prior post on stove repair, I had Antique Stove Heaven come out for a house call. They were also very good. Quick, professional, friendly – and fixed the problem easily when the repair people my home warranty company used wanted to replace the entire part.
pam kueber says
Thank you, Ann!
Josephine says
Thank you!