I bumble bumble don’t even know how to start. The bedrooms and bathrooms in this 1960 Houston time capsule house — are just blowing my mind. All the glorious, mirrored vintage wallpaper — covering the walls, covering the ceilings… accented with glamorous lighting, raised platform beds, smoked plexiglass screens, yadda yadda yadda sing: We got the funk, we gotta have that funk…”. Thanks to reader JamieAbe for tipping us off to this beautiful home — gold star! And thanks to real estate agent Linda Scarborough for permission to feature these photos — I am showing 9 11 fabulous photos in all, prepare your eyeballs –>
Above: You know I adore the wallpaper, along with the overall layout of the room — amazing. I am thinking those are vinyl parquet floor tiles, though. Not so much likey if they are vinyl, but if I bought this house and they were in fabulous shape, I would probably keep them. I certainly like the look. Much of the parquet flooring in old houses was real, 3/4″ thick wood, cut special to make a parquet design. I have it my dining room. At the time, it was more expensive than tongue-in-groove oak laid the regular way.
House details: 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2928 s.f., on the market for $450,000. Right now the listing says “option pending”.
Fantastic colors. Love the green. You know, there is a lot of vintage carpet h*** bombs being thrown around these days, I think. If it’s in great shape, I say clean it and keep it. In particular, I love carpet in a bedroom and in a family room.
It’s impossible to choose a favorite, because there seem to be new delights behind every bedroom door. This vintage foil wallpaper design is just wonderful…
Sauna alert!
I am not a huge fan of fiberglass shower inserts. But I would keep this. Super cool. Update: I super duper wooper agree with reader/commenter Patty who wants to see the faucet handles. I have just added close ups from two bathrooms, there seem to be two different designs:
Focus on the bathroom faucet handles — glass or crystal or maybe plastic, each bathroom looks to have a slightly different design
Yes YEs YES!
Okay, so now I’m gonna say I like this one the best. French Provincial cabinetry… meets crazy foil wallpaper… my oh my. Note: There is a Joan Rivers video from her 1960s talk show in which she talks about this foil wallpaper, calling it “the new look” or something like that. It was ALL THE RAGE. I gotta go find that episode.
Yes, there is an outside the house. And a kitchen, too. The kitchen seems lovely, but a much more sedate, newer wallpaper there. I would love to see photos from the 60s – I bet there was mod wallpaper in the kitchen, too.
This house overall: YOWZA, Fantastic in so many ways!
What do you think?
Could you live with all this foil wallpaper?
P.S. Even if your answer is “no”, please express your opinion in a nice way, let’s spread luv 
(That is: I’m moderating downers, so phrase it happy-like even this ain’t your cuppa.)
Link luv:
- The listing – shows “pending option” right now.
- Linda Scarborough, of the Reyna Group.
LOVE! And the blue bathroom is probably my favorite room! I would wake up happy every day looking at that floral wallpaper while brushing my teeth. Swoon!
The wall paper speaks for itself. No need for a lot of extra accessories to compete with it. Anyone who likes to collect lots of stuff, hang lots of pictures, etc. would probably not want to live here.
There is a certain glamorous feel to the home. Would be a great place to live. Hope the new owners can keep at least some of the wall paper.
Would love to see a close up of the sink fixture in the blue bathroom.
SHINEY! I’d keep it! Those faucet knobs are intruiging! The pics make it appear as if every room has its own bathroom! I totally dig all the step ups into the bed portion of the bedrooms!
Hey Pam, it was me! I’m so glad you posted these, it was even more fun to look through them with your commentary! I cant decide which is my favorite. I love the green room, but that pink and silver bathroom is FABULOUS! And, thanks for the close-up of those knobs. Maybe we could send those picts off to Rejuvenation with a request for some repros. Lovely, lovely, lovely!
Thanks Pam!
Thanks, JamieAbe! I’ve updated the story! Gold star! Gold star!
My grandmother owned a beauty salon in the 60s-70s and put gorgeous foil wallpaper in it. I still remember it and how much I loved the look. While not a fan of the colors in this house, I’d never, ever disturb the beauty of the wallpaper. Gorgeous! Keep!
Love, love, love, in all its odd, awkward, effusive, over-the-top awesomeness – just LOVE it.
Interesting. I’m wondering if all the foil is really original from 1960? It just looks more 70s than early-60s to me. I lived in a house in Dallas in 1976 that was newly built when we moved in and had the foil treatment. Awaiting the verdict of those more expert, but my vote here is that the house was extensively redecorated in the early 70s and not changed since.
Crazy what excellent condition everything seems to be in. And at first I wondered why people in Houston would want a sauna, but maybe the *dry* heat would feel pretty good with all their humidity down there.
I love it and am terrified at the same time.
You read my mind. I don’t think I could live with all the wallpaper (I’m not a “print” person.) It’s a bit too much for me.
However, I admire the single mindedness of the house, and completely get it.
Ha ha, same here!
This house may have been built in 1960 but it looks to have had a major overhaul a decade later. The interiors scream 1970′s.
Not sure. I think that wallpaper could have gone in, in the 60s…
Gotta agree; that house has 70′s all over it (literally).
Does not look like 1960 to me
It does kind of scare me, too.
Kinda groovy, like an acid trip, man…..
For sure, utterly an acid trip. But a good one, ya know. From an “it’s art” perspective you have got to love it. It is so far beyond time capsule and heading into museum territory. Cool beyond words. Would anybody, besides Pam of course, buy this house and leave the wallpaper up? Seriously doubt it. I would love to see the looks on people’s faces when they wander in for the open house. Now those would be some fun pictures. I wish the kind real estate person would walk around with a hidden microphone.
I love it, I would keep it, just no flash photography please.
Ha!
I’d have to vote for early 70s – but I LUV it!!!:)
Too much of a good thing. One or two rooms would be OK, but the whole house? I’d lose my mind.
Holy cabooses! I want this house so badly! Yes, it’s over-the-top, but in such a wacky, fantastic way. As a visual artist, I love to be bombarded with visual stimuli. This house would definitely do that! No greige box for me. I certainly hope that the buyers treat that treasure nicely.
Wow! That’s a little much for me, but I love that animal print and the blue bathroom.
I remember my mom putting up some foil wallpaper in the late 70s or early 80s. I don’t think the foil trend could have lasted 20 years. I’d bet this house got a thorough redecoration in the 70s and all these foil papers were put up then.
With the right furniture — I’m thinking Art Deco, old Hollywood — I could really like the green bedroom. Just think what it would be like at night with candles.
I can’t even begin to imagine how much skill it would have taken to wallpaper the ceiling in the green bedroom.
I does require quite a bit of patience, and is definitely easier with two people.
I think it’s all fabulous. Especially the ‘rumpus’ room (?). Love it all, and I’d tend to leave it alone, though some of it is not my taste (powder blue bedroom). I adore vintage foil paper and have coveted some for a spell now.
I’m having tachycardia right now, might heart is racing!! I haven’t seen so much foil wallpaper fabulousness in one house, EVER. All the details are just perfection. I would put on my palazzo pant suit and just glide from room to room reveling in my reflections.
If you find that Joan Rivers episode, do share.
xo, suzy
I want this house! It is very similar to a spectacular 1970s home I once owned. All that foil wallpaper gives such a shine to everything; especially in flickering candlelight. Thanks for sharing!
I can deal with the bathrooms, but it’s just overkill in the bedrooms. It would have driven me crazy in the 70′s and now. Sort of like a bad acid trip.
Ooooooooh. I can just see me living here, converting my entire wardrobe to lamé and slinking around with a drink in hand for the rest of my life. So cool and serene…love it!
Like
I guess I’d have to say it is too much stimulation going on for me, esp. the ceiling…and, I love color & pattern, but also negative space to rest my eyes. I guess I’m not much of a fan of the foil wallpaper…’tho my SIL bought a house with black/silver in a bathroom and it looks good in that room with the black/white tile…she likes it but her dh doesn’t. I know there were some bathrooms I’d been in in the 60s or 70s that had the mod foil wallpaper..it went hand in hand with the gold-veined stick on mirrors.
Haha! In the early 70′s my parents had those smoke glass, gold veined stick on mirrors as their headboard!
What caught my eye was the green chair in the green bedroom, and the blue fan in the blue bedroom. I was thinking too matchy matchy, and then I came to the blue bathroom with the green toilet seat. Now I’ve confused myself. I don’t know if I like matchy-matchy or a pop of some contrasting color better! But I do love the wallpaper. I would have to do it in smaller doses, though, because I change my mind and wallcolors so often.
I like the blue bathroom, and the blue wallpaper colors in general. I’ll admit, although I personally wouldn’t want to live in a house that is pretty much all wallpapered, I do like the looks of this house.
I forgot to add: I really super like the rooms in the first two pictures. Now that is definitely a look that I would like to have my room look like.
yowzah! so shiny- half love- half h*** [edited] -I would love to know more about the people who lived there!
DeDe
WHOA!! I completely concur with the folks who said the decor was 1970s-I was there. That metallic wallpaper screams Disco era, and the blue flowered wallpaper reminds me of the 1970s British store Biba. Art Deco and Art Nouveau were big influences on decor and style then. It was relatively easy to find cool Art Deco, Streamline and Art Nouveau stuff in thrift stores then. The people who got rid of it wanted new stuff, which is what we call Midcentury now. HMMM. Do you think that future
generations might be into the bland beige hotel suite style of the1990s?
Food for thought.
I agree with many above. I love to look at this house and think it is decorated in a 70′s style to perfection. I could not live in this house. I wonder if the new owners will remodel or leave the house as is. The house really has some quality features. The bathrooms are beautiful and even the kitchen in the real estate listing is nice.
Although not for everyone, this house is well done! The pinkish/coral bathroom is beautiful. I’ll go with the 70s vote. My former MIL bought her house in 1977 and I remember she did the foil wallpaper in the bathrooms. I always liked it, too.
Whoa, that’s a lot of wallpaper! I know my mother put foil wallpaper in our house in the 70′s. Although I like it, I would not want a whole house full.
Wow. Wow. Oh wow. A tad too energetic for me, so not my cuppa. Except that blue bathroom – that is beautiful! That shade of blue in the fixtures and the wallpaper is the best!
When we bought our 1958 ranch in 1991, the powder room had blue and silver foil paper with balding men taking bubble baths all over it. Of course, I took it down immediately. Now, I’m so glad at least I took a picture of it. It just makes me laugh to think of it
Balding men taking bubble baths! I wanna see that pic! Can you send to me? retrorenovation [at] gmail [dot] com
Done! You won’t believe it!
Do we get to see the picture, too?
I too am overwhelmed by the wallpaper and know I couldn’t live with it – too busy for me! Hey, most of us WERE there in the sixties and seventies. I can attest that the foils were around in 1967. I tagged a ride home from school with a high school acquaintance so this was before I got my license in late 1967. She had to stop at home quick and I was appalled, even at that age, to see that her mother was having a black and white zebra print foil put up in the KITCHEN of her turn of the century Victorian. I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now. Hope this posts – I tried several times yesterday and it wouldn’t show up. Pam, does the site go off on maintenance in the AM?
Janet, yesterday morning there was a plugin conflict. Now fixed. In general comments should always be working so if you get blocked let me know and I can jump on it. Like you did yesterday! thanks!
Wowee. The house I grew up in had the most beautiful grey and pink floral foil wallpaper. It was such a contrast to the rest of the house which was typical late 60s red, orange and gold. Wish I had pics. I never thought the style would be cool again and my parents sold it a few years ago.
Oh dear God, No! But – I LOVE your enthusiasm!
Thank you Pam! Sorry, the search wasn’t working! I remembered glorious articles on vintage paper (that I’d be afraid of ruining) but not the modern retro-style ones.
Thanks forever, off shopping. oxoxo.
I’ve replied in the wrong thread, that went in Endangered things re: wallpaper.
I love this house, btw. It does sort of connect, I need wallpaper!
I’m not a fan of most foil wallpaper, but even I sort of like the blue. Not sure I could live in this house though.
I wouldn’t want to live there, but I would want my best friend to live there so I could visit it often. It is a masterpiece!
Rather than live with the foil on a daily basis, I would love to spend weekends here (or come for weekend parties and drink Manhattans). The safari foil is my favorite!
I would not have thought I would like this much foil paper, but I do! I think it looks great and it really goes with the house. I especially like the bathrooms– I think the wallpaper makes the bathrooms.
The foil wallpapers in this house are definitely 1970s. I worked in the D&D building in NYC and when Decorator’s Walk was moving out of the building in the early 2000′s they gave me volumes of their discontinued wallpaper books from the 1970s (still have them). All of their 1970s wallpaper books featured foil designs and most were of the scale in the home in this article. My parents put up some foil and flocked with foil wallpaper in our 1963 house in 1966 but the scale was smaller and the designs were not as large and few were the graphic stylized geometrics as 1970s foil. Foil had a great following in the 1970s because it paired very well with all of the modern polished stainless steel furniture so popular in the early 1970s. I agree that by around 1980 foil wallpaper was becoming a thing of the past (although I still love it). The 1980s was the beginning of boring in interiors and when 80s interiors were not boring they were horrible shades of mauve and forest green (think of those ugly 1980s JC Penny comforter and sheet sets in Victorian patterns of mauve mixed with forest green…yuck). Long live the 1960s and 1970s..I lived it, I loved it and I stil do!
PS one more thing..I agree with Dee..I think vintage foil is attractive in a bathroom or powder room but it’s odd to see it in bedrooms! My parents had a beautiful, sedate deep turquoise foil with aqua bamboo overlay in our 1963 house in the half bath. They installed it in the half bath in 1966. It was complimented by a Roman mini tile aqua and white floor and white sink with white Formica and embedded gold fleck cabinet. It was sedate and elegant because it was a small room. Large rooms like bedrooms or family rooms have too much wall space to use large patterned papers on all the walls which would most people vertigo!
who makes these wallpapers and where can i get some? this is UNREAL! maybe one of my favorite posts of all time! thank you thank you!!
Did we notice the sconces in the bathroom? How unusual! I say that these people MUST have been in the wallpapering business to 1. AFFORD all that foil paper, & 2. Have hired a pro to hang that stuff-because there is NO room for error with foil…it shows EVERYthing behind it. What an amazing place though. Wow.
Love it! Not sure I could live with it, but it is super kool!
Can’t believe I missed this post the first time around. So much awesomeness in one house! I would never do this to a house, but if I found a house in this condition, YES, I would at least try to keep it this way. It would be great as a second house! Not sure I would be able to leave it all as is if I was going to live in this house day in and day out. But awesome as a wallpaper museum!
My dad was an interior designer and I grew up in the 70s so oy, do I know foil wallpaper! Had many books covered in the samples. Nice memories, thanks.
I’m so glad I found this page! I am fixing up a former home before I move back in. I purchased the house from the original owners in 1985 and they built it in 1960. Tenants have done a number on the bathroom, and I had decided to give up on it and tear down the pink ceramic tile. The previous owners had also trimmed with dove gray ceramic tiles and the tub and commode were the same gray. All accessories were chrome.
Well, the tub and commode have to go, but I was just in the decision process when I came in here today. I had not seen the little pink ceramic floor tiles before. I love shabby chic, so I have decided to look for the additional tiles and go retro with a shabby twist!
Oh, and did I tell you that they had foil wallpaper in there when I bought the place? It was on the upper third of the walls and on the ceiling as well. It was one of my favorite things about the house! It had a silver background, and the very showy flowers were in shades of pink and rose red. The vanity top was pink. And…the base cabinet was exactly as above in the pic…French provincial!! So the bathroom was overall shades of pink and gray or silver. It was gorgeous…and will be again!
Yay. Welcome, Kathy. For replacement tiles, see all our research in Bathrooms/Tile category.