Lynn recently bought a 1960 ranch house and asked me whether I thought her wood parquet floors (small photo to the right) were original. Almost without a doubt I answer: Yes. The lead photo above is my dining room floor. This floor is original to my 1951 colonial-modern ranch. The parquets are each 12″ wide. They are made from fullsize pieces of wood flooring — this is not a thin veneer. In fact, somewhere in my travels I have heard that parquet flooring like mine was more expensive to purchase and install than the more common long runs of oak tongue-in-groove flooring. Wood parquet was more complicated, more fussy, and therefore, more expensive. The adjacent, step-down living room, by the way, got wall-to-wall carpet.
How about another example of hardwood parquet? The photo above is from the ravishing Tennessee time capsule house (see the amazing kitchens and bathrooms). This floor was installed in 1956.
Here is the foyer of the same house. We have explored recently what color stain is most appropriate for your midcentury hardwood floors — the mass, we believe, were done in “natural”, like mine. But it’s also great to see this darker stain. It is so rich and beautiful. Note, when I talked to the owner of this house who did the 1956 restoration, Mrs. Starling Davis, she explained that in 1956 “everyone was putting carpet” into the principal living spaces of their homes. This dovetails exactly with what we learned from Emily Morrow of Shaw Floors, when we learned about the history of wall-to-wall carpeting. This 1956 time capsule house was decorated top-of-the-line back 55 years ago. Parquet was used in key, “show off” places — the dining room and foyer — that functionally, could not be carpeted. Hence, I deduce: Wood parquet flooring was not only original and appropriate to midcentury homes, it was a top-of-the-line flooring choice.
I’ll remember that “top-of-the-line” business when I cough up the big bucks to have all my parquet floors refinished. They’re due but my bank account’s not ready!
I agree! Our 1st house a 1955 butterfly roof ranch had those same floors and an orange preway fireplace in the den!
My mom is a real estate agent and recently sold a gorgeous mid-mod house with this floor. I hope the new owners appreciate it!
All the wood floors in my parent’s house (built ’64) were like that.
Here’s our solid-tile parquet in our 1957 mid-mod house during our reno last year. They were covered with ugly, filthy carpet and peel and stick VCT tile that we had to remove layer by layer. The glue on them had disintegrated, and they all had to be taken up, hand scraped, and laid back down before they were refinished. I guess I don’t have any ‘now’ pictures, but we love our floors, and the neighborhood is jealous of them.
Wow — Gorgeous!! A reminder to readers that before ripping up old vinyl or whatever – consult with a licensed professional to know what’s in the material and the adhesives and what the environmental/safety issues may be…
Yah, we were lucky enough to have a guy who does floors for a living in our neighborhood, and had done plenty of these parquet floors. So he and his crew took over once we had uncovered them.
oh, yes, our house was built in the 40s, but was expanded in the 60s. our dining room (half of the “addition”) not only has a parquet floor, but it actually has *two* parquet floors.
we moved in in an alarmingly rainy year, and the extreme humidity caused the parquet to buckle. i had to remove some of it in order to open the back door, at which point i discovered that the floor that had been parqueted over…was a parquet floor.
not the strangest remodeling decision we’ve found in our house.
Beautiful, beautiful floors – all of you. Parquet is so elegant, so classic.
Is that an Astro toy I spy on the braided rug in your dining room?
I live in the DC area. These floors are really common here — especially in older apartments.
Came here to say the same! I lived in two separate Colonial Revival-style garden apartment complexes built in the WWII era in Arlington, Va that had parquet floors. They had great black-and-white tiled bathrooms too. Unfortunately, 50+ years of Mid-Atlantic humidity meant that the parquet was gappy and loose…great for catching debris.
My 1962 ranch has parquet floors in the living/dining room and all of the bedrooms – pretty much the whole main floor. 12″ squares (not strips – just big squares. The floors had NEVER been refinished (they had carpeted over them in the bedrooms) and they were a golden yellow color. I had them refinished when I moved in last summer and they are now BEAUTIFUL! We did them in a natural, light oak color. It looked like that was the original color before the varnish aged. It’s only in the homes in my neighborhood that I’ve ever seen parquet like that. BTW – it cost $$$$.$$, but it was way worth it. Now I’d really like to know what’s under the press-on vinyl tiles in my bathroom and kitchen!
My folk’s home was built in 1961 and did not include parquet but they added them to the foyer in the 1980′s.
Can anyone recommend some good original flooring for a 1963 ranch house in Arizona? We had wanted cork, but we want it in the bath and kitchen areas too and I read where it isn’t good in wet areas. Parquet is out of the question too. I lived in too many Air Force base houses in my husband’s career that had those. Please! All suggestions are welcome!
I think large cork tiles is a great idea. You could do tile or refinished concrete in the kitchen and bathrooms.
We had thought about ceramic tile, but our concern is being unable to match the white tile on the back splashes and countertops and make it look right. It is original 1963, I wonder how hard that would be. There is wood in there now, but we were trying to give it that “special” look. I love ceramic tile.
Don’t match — compliment.
As for original, I’d suggest a terazzo tile, or a decorative concrete mixed with glass for a terazzo look (if you have enough room to pour a new layer).
What about painted concrete? We live in Tucson and see a lot of it. I think it’s beautiful and much easier to care for than wood.
I’d go with ceramic tile. I live in Arizona, and have seen a lot of mid-century houses that have the original tile. Overwhelmingly, the floor tile is eight inch white or off white and from what I’ve seen, in the ’60s they didn’t care if the floor matched the wall or counter tile exactly. Daltile makes some eight inch floor tile that is a very good match for the mid century originals.
Alternatively, finished concrete is also an authentic and attractive option.
Circa 1965-1969 our family lived in a little ranch in Redondo Beach, CA (on Grant Avenue, for any of you locals out there) and the entire Living, Dining and Family area were all parquet. It was quite the challenge for my mother to keep up on, but it was fabulous.
i just purchased a home that was built in 1966. we pulled up all the carpets to reveal beautiful parquet in most every room. each little square is made up of 7, 1 inch pieces of wood! we were shocked that someone wanted to carpet over them but were pleased that they had been somewhat “preserved” under the carpet. there are some worn spots in the dining room that will need to be refinished and a couple of places where the wood has been stained. i spent a good 5 1/2 hours on my hands and knees scrubbing the living room/dining room to removed carpet glue and some weird dirt (dead skin? eew!) traffic pattern. our only problem is that some of the pieces of wood have popped up…what do we glue them back down with? the floor is originally installed directly over the concrete sub-floor with some type of adhesive/cement
Hi Shanna, your parquet sounds lovely. Regarding the fixit, I recommend you get with a pro — also please know, there can be vintage nastiness in adhesives — again, consult with licensed professionals to know what you are working with.
I LOVE parquet floors!!!! Lovely!!
Where can I buy parquet flooring today? Not the vinyl stuff, real wood, or bamboo
Hi – I have the same question. Did you ever figure out where to purchase the original style parquet floors? Thanks!
Not so far but I have not looked hard. I’m kinda interested myself… Not sure how soon I will be able to dive into this research… Let me know if you find anything !
I agree. Our neighbour’s house, built about 1962, is a beautiful big two-storey with original oak parquet flooring in the living room, dining room and hallway. Our house, built the same year, is smaller, much less grand, and has the “usual” oak hardwood on the main floor.
We recently purchased a ranch that was built in 1960. The woman that built it had lived here until just last year, so much of the house was left with the original features. We have parquet floor everywhere but the kitchen and sunroom, and I love it. It’s natural stain as well, but each blocks is only 5″ by 5″. I absolutely love it!
Love parquet floors! Congrats to those of you who have them!
My grandparents had those floors in their 1948 ranch. When I was a kid, I realized some of the individual pieces had come loose, so I tilted them up and used them as jumping ramps for my matchbox cars.
Your dining room looks just like my Mom’s house. We lived in an early 20th century house which she decorated in the 1960′s in a colonial style with some modern danish accents. She had white painted built-in buffet and cabinets with black hammered hardware. We had conventional wood floors and wool braided rugs.
We had parquet just like this in our house. 1/2 inch thick. Then a dishwasher was installed incorrectly, ruining the floor all over the house. Boo. It had to be removed and we were heart broken. Whenever we touch anything water related, we check and double check now.
Here’s my funny parquet story:
We have original 1957 parquet all the way through the main floor of our mid mod ranch. The kind where each square is made up of 1-inch-wide strips. It’s in rough shape with some water damage in spots and many loose pieces…
…One time I was on the phone in the kitchen and my then five-year-old daughter came into the kitchen holding a few of the floor pieces. I told her, no, no, you can’t pull up the floor, but then stupidly kept on talking on the phone. When I was finished and went into the living room, I found large swaths of the floor had been pulled up. My living room looked like one giant almost finished puzzle.
Sigh. It didn’t take me long to put most of the pieces back, but of course, the last few didn’t fit and needed to be sanded down.
You gotta love kids!
My ’57 Fickett has 4″ parquet throughout the house, I have always questioned whether this was the correct flooring for the house. Have you seen any vintage photos of mid-century houses with parquet when the house was new? I haven’t been able to locate any and therefore question whether the parquet is original. I would love to see any vintage pics if anyone has them.
We recently purchased a home with beautiful parquet floors in the dining room and living room. It was a surprise when we tore out the carpet. The kitchen has faux hardwood flooring that must go, but I am not sure what to replace it with. The parquet floor in the adjoining dining room is so busy that anything in the kitchen with much pattern to it will be too much. Any suggestions?
I have Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze right up next to the parquet, love it. See all my flooring posts… in Kitchens/Flooring…
We have an entire kitchen .dining and well lot’s of Parquet flooring concentrated in one area. We certainly think that the flooring is in keeping with our glorious new home BUT they are in ruff ruff shape.
What do all you hipsters out there think of refinishing them and darkening them from their original goldish, oakyish state? Darkish?
These can be refinished just like “regular” wood floors. Me: I’m for natural finishes. Dark finishes are not only *trendy*, they show every speck of dirt. See this post: http://retrorenovation.com/2009/09/13/stain-color-for-195s-1960s-wood-floors/