Thanks to Betsy for sending along this wonderful 1962 time capsule house, she writes:
Check out this beautiful plaid kitchen! But oh, the fireplace….
I love this kitchen not only because it is bold and uses my favorite color, orange, but also because it shows how you can combine wallpaper patterns effectively. Yes: You can mix plaids and flowers; the key, I think, is getting the “scale” and of course, the colors, right. This kitchen also does a fantastic job of using wallpaper to tie together the harvest gold appliances and the orange countertops. And even the kitchen cabinets have a yellow cast. I wish we could see the floor.
I spoke to the listing agent Bill Livingston by phone this morning. In addition to giving me permission to feature a few photos from the listing, he was super appreciative of efforts today to recognize and preserve the quality of midcentury houses. He said he’s been in the business 42 years, and in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area where he does business, he’s seeing the desire to maintain well-made original features of vintage houses “coming back around.” That’s great news!
This house, which is for sale for $150,000 in a suburb about 25 miles north of Harrisburg, is a one-owner home. It was built by a builder, for himself, Bill said, so you can imagine it’s well built. It’s also quite the groove palace — with a two-way fireplace, cool built-ins and… a kitchen of my dreams.
Thanks, Betsy, for the tip, and Bill, for being an appreciative agent.
Bright on!
I wouldn’t update a THING! I think it’s *already* the nicest home on that block.
Agreed!
Very cool! I have also let friends of mine who live in the Harrisburg area know about this house, how neat would it be if someone I knew actually got it? I asked them for the tension lamp in photo 8
in the early 1970s when my mother redid the bedroom that I shared with my sister, it was very much like this kitchen, with yellow, orange and lime green being the predominant colors (and they’re still my faves) – one wall was wallpapered with stripes, there was a wallpaper border across the top of two other walls that had those groovy looking cartoon mushrooms on them (and my mother hand cut the green bottom of the border so it looked like grass) and the other walls had a combination of paint and wallpaper. It was quite the mod scene especially for our staid Colonial house.
Hope someone truly appreciates this home!
Very interesting combination of early 60′s and early 70′s decor. You can tell in the kitchen that cabinets are original to the house but that the kitchen appliances wallpaper etc were updated sometime after 1968 which was when GE introduced the color Harvest (GE never called it harvest gold).
Oh, that kitchen. I wouldn’t change a thing – just move in my orange, yellow, and green Fiestaware and be done. In fact, I’ve been trying to figure out how to undo the cherry-and-forest green kitchen remodel by my house’s previous owners into something quite like that. And my gold vintage sofa and blue chairs would be perfect in that turquoise living room, too. Sigh.
Unfortunately the description on the realtor’s site says “in need of updating.” Hopefully the buyers have more sense. The orange/gold combo isn’t really my taste, but I certainly appreciate it. I love the pink bathroom (needs a different vanity, of course) and turquoise walls.
There are 3 references to updating in the description.
Honestly, Bill really seemed to “get it.” I think he is just have to reflect the marketplace in his listing… He seemed really interested in our RR site — maybe he can use our force to help sell the house on its original charms.
I like how he says that “someone with vision” could make the house a masterpiece, though.
By reading that listing and seeing that it’s being sold “as-is”, I would assume the references to needing updating might be on a more functional level rather than cosmetic. Like it might need a new water heater or furnace. Or the appliances might not work well, even if they do look cool.
I wouldn’t change a thing. This is about as close to perfect as it gets!
I loooooooove that house! I wish that realtors wouldn’t put “needs updating” on listings like these though. It helps keep that myth going that everything period should be updated.
Drooooool…….
To me the appliances seem to be yellow with a harvest gold highlight. I don’t remember ever seeing that before. I would bet they are original to the house. The appliances are not the same harvest gold color of the 70′s. I love looking at this, but I think it would a bit too much to live in!
They may have faded. I have seen a harvest refrigerator that faded to beige.
I bet you’re right, Lynda! Our house was built in ’65 and our oven & range hood are green with avocado highlights. *I know they’re original, as our stick-built cabinets were constructed to fit the 27″ drop-in oven, without a filler piece in sight.*
I love it! The website also has a nice picture of the bathroom with it’s pink tile. Great use of color!
Love the Tiffany Blue wall color, but I don’t believe I would have painted the cabinetry with it too.
That looks like a KitchenAid dishwasher – maybe from the 70′s? Our 1977 model was original to our home (which we purchased in 1993 – also when I painted over the avocado green front) but it finally died about a year ago. Loved the “look” but it started making grinding noises, quit cleaning very well and had to be replaced. Before it completely died, repairmen would marvel at it when they made service calls.
JKM,
That is a KitchenAid dishwasher. We bought one like that the year we built our house in 1977 and put the white front on to match our cabinets. In 1985 we added on to the kitchen and bought a second dishwasher. We were lucky to find a matching one because the design was changed that year, but I found a floor model. We finally replaced both dishwashers in 2003. The newer one was still working and we gave it to a friend to install in her kitchen. I would say either that dishwasher was not used much or it does not work now.
I just LOVE this house! The only thing I don’t like is- whoever buys this house is probably going to remodel it and erase all of it’s retro beauty with granite counter tops etc…
nice house. the only update I’d do is get rid of loose carpet and look at the hardwood floors underneath.
See, that’s sorta the funky look I’m going for in my kitchen. I WISH Mr. Wonderful were open to at least one wall having some sort of wallpaper. Love the funky flower slammed up against the plaid.
And I found it interesting to see the aqua family/living room starkly divided by the wood dining area (?). Loved it.
Really charming, plus the greenhouse is a nice bonus!
That orange Formica is excellent, and I ADORE the fabulous dining round attached. WHAT a beauty!
Hopefully your post will help it find a Midcentury Lover, Pam.
bummer…I live in Lancaster and my husband & I have been on the hunt for the perfect time capsule house for almost two years now…too bad this is a bit too far north for us
You would HAVE to be in a good mood walking into that kitchen in the morning on a bright sunny day. Orange juice anyone!
This home belonged to my in-laws, Wonderful people. My mother-in-law was a dress designer and my father-in-law was a master builder so they both did everything with artistic flair. The house had one open house when it was originally built and they both decided they could not sell it. They loved it too much.
The kitchen is as it was originally designed. The refrigerator and the dishwasher had been updated a number of years ago.
When the sun comes through the windows that room positively glows with warm, bright light. Everyone always gravitated to that kitchen and it was a wonderful place to sit and visit. What you can’t see is off to the side in the kitchen is a door that leads to a small spiral staircase that leads downstairs to a workshop that is connected to a greenhouse.
I also hope whoever buys this house appreciates it!
It’s so nice to hear from you, bulleteyes, and to learn more about the history of the house. I ADORE IT! Yes, let’s hope the house gets an appreciative new buyer who does not remuddle it.
You are most welcome. It is wonderful to see the house being appreciated!
There are actually two fireplaces. On your bottom picture you can see one in the living room, and in back of that is the aqua colored dining room which has another stone fireplace that opens in the dining room and on the other side it opens into the kitchen.
My mother-in-law was the most wonderful cook. Her kitchen was full of fascinating things specifically picked so they went with the colors in the room. She had bright yellow curtains on the windows, and enjoyed finding richly colored pot holders and dish towels to hang off the side of the island. The stove on the island has the then very innovative flat topped glass burners. The island has a double metal sink and I remember when I first saw that kitchen almost 40 years ago now I was in awe. I had not seen many of the design elements in anything other than magazines.
bulleteyes, I noticed the greenhouse right away. Looked the the outside wall near it had a moisture problem, but that can be dealt with. I hope the future buyer does investigates solutions to the problem instead of going the easy, cheap route of tearing the greenhouse down.
I have a feeling if a bunch of us retro ren fans lived in Harrisburg, the realtor would have a bidding war on his hands, and would end up selling the house at higher than the asking price!
If I didn’t have a 1962 house in Wisconsin (soon to be for sale, if anyone is interested) and one in Texas, I would think about moving to Pennsylvania for this one.
That greenhouse had all of it’s orchids bloom in November the year I got married (so they graced the wedding) and they never bloomed at that time of year again.
Let us hope the real estate agent prints out these comments and gives them to the new owner. What a sweet history of this house!
awesome! the kitchen reminds me of mine when I was growing up. We moved in 1964 from a wonderful small house built in the ’50′s to a huge ranch style house that my folks had built. The kitchen was done in orange, browns and harvest golds. We had wallpaper that was very similar to the flowers — only it was orange, brown and gold teardrop patterns. My mom then put on a border above it that was brown and orange triangles. Loved it!
I hope the real estate agents include the comments as a “sentimental” selling feature of the house.
This house is in my town just a few blocks away from me. I was going to send you a link to this when I saw it. I near about died. It’s my dream home.
I hope that it’s preserved. The market is really tough here right now – not a lot of inventory in that price range.
hehe, this story and this kitchen have been featured on CNBC.com Extreme Kitchens — in a good way! http://www.cnbc.com/id/46605634/slide/6/?slide=6
I had wallpaper almost identical to the plaid in one house. I had roman shades made out of coordinating stripe–quite bold for the time. Then I bought another house with plaid wallpaper. Same colors. I didn’t realize how trendy I really was.