Thanks to reader Beth, who spotted this wonderful 1956 split level time capsule house for sale in Newton, Mass., and posted the tip over on our Retro Renovation Facebook page (just hit 27,000 Friends, woot!) The listing agent Eric Glassoff confirms that indeed, this house has been with just one owner, for whom it was custom built. Looking at the interior design, I think that there was some redecoration in the late 1960s or early 1970s — all that lovely chinoiserie and metallic wallpaper. I could be wrong, though — this could just be a very fashion forward 1956 house. Thanks to agent Eric Glassoff for permission to showcase this listing and to photographer David Ward of the The Creative Ward for permission to feature his photos here.
A split level house is considered a variation on the ranch house. I tend to associate split level houses with the 1960s and 1970s. But, yes, they were around in 1956 — this one proves it.
This is a very handsome house — great curb appeal. I love all the stone retaining walls and the mature shrubbery.
Let’s head into the living room — simply stunning.
The sofa is amazing, and the fireplace wall is spectacular… I love how the chunky pendant lights accentuate the fireplace…
…and my goodness, what is the espaliered tree thingie? Woah. In a good way.
This lamp is terrific. Golly, so many adjectives that all basically say, “Wow!” Much of furniture design, I’d call chinoiserie — a style I associate with the 1960s. Furniture like this — with its original lacquer finish — is pretty collectible, I’d say. Chinoiserie is also a style I’d call “timeless,” because you see it used in so many eras.
The wallpaper mural also speaks to the Orient. *Adore*.
A very pretty chandelier. Toleware, I’d say… almost a “birdcage chandelier,” but not quite.
Hold on to your eyeballs, here’s the kitchen. The cabinets look to be laminate veneer. All the appliances — they must be original, though, don’t you think? This photo makes me think — original kitchen. Patrick, can you date the appliances??
Foil wallpaper to coordinate. Yum. Yum. Yum.
I zoomed in to try and capture the pink foil wallpaper loveliness.
More pink. This color scheme makes me think this room’s decor is original to 1956 — which was right at the height of pink-love.
The upholstered … headboard, I guess we need to call it… is amazing!
Above: Pink and black bathroom — with metallic wallpaper on the walls — and ceiling above. I also spy with my little eye, wallpaper on the base cabinet doors. Wicked crazy awesome!
In the way downstairs of the split level (behind the garage part), the party is ready to start.
The fireplace is very peppy. Those wall clocks made to look like wristwatches are wonderful.
Above: This is a cool idea, a glass block bar, note how it’s set on two courses of bricks.
The back of the bar is mirrored — look closely, and you will see the mirror is three pieces. The pieces are set between Knape & Vogt (or KV style) modular shelving standards. This makes it easy to add glass shelves for the booze. What a terrific idea.
What do you think readers:
Is the entire a house a time capsule?
Or was some of it (at least) redecorated in the 1960s?
Want to buy this 1956 time capsule house?
- The listing agent is Eric Glassoff — his cell phone is 617) 233-6210, and his email is eglassoff@comcast.net
- Eric’s website is: BostonRealEstateExperts.com
- The listing is here.
Slide show of the house photos, even larger:
Tips to using the slide show: Click on any thumbnail to enlarge it… Use the arrows below each enlarged image to move forward or back… you can start the slide show from any thumbnail:
Keep those time capsule tips coming readers! xoxo
Pink pink pink!! I love the kitchen and bathroom!!! And the furniture! Does it come with the house or will there be a fabulous estate sale?! Wowee wow wow
It’s beautiful. My favorite room is the living room and its fabulous decor. And the house overall is making me scheme to add more vintage pink touches to my house.
I am so glad you liked it enough to share with everyone! I’m going to the open house tomorrow (3/10) and I’m really excited to see it!
Cool!
open house tomorrow??? what time???
On the Redfin real estate site it says 3-4:30 for the open house today, Sunday, 3/10.
Yes – sorry it was until 4:30. The house is not in good shape, so I think that’s what the realtor meant when he said it needs “updating” – actually needs a LOT of repairs. Very neglected
I think the wristwatch may actually be a transistor radio. I have one identical to it. Hard to tell from the photo, so I could be wrong!
WOW!!! Pink heaven!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!! The kitchen is equisite!
*exquisite
Holy Christmas! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this house! Not my style at all, but if I bought it, I wouldn’t change a thing. Maybe I would change the sheets
The pink bedroom is to die for. Here’s to hoping the new owner falls as hard as I just did.
I am not a huge pink person but I LOVE chinoserie and I LOVE that living room. I never would have believed “neutral pink” but that living room, it really does it well. I think because its so soft and silvery.
I am going to say a weird sentence: “I hope the living room comes with the tree.” But goodness. The screen is great too.
AND THAT LAMP. I NEEEEED THAT LAMP.
The dining room Asian mural wallpaper is my favourite.
I actually am surprised I don’t really mind that pink-pink-pink bedroom – an amazing statement in itself, for me. Pretty interesting actually. I think just a different comforter (Asian floral?) could tone the pink down. Maybe darker furniture, though I understand why they went with white, lacquer would be an interesting call-back to the living room. Need
Chinoserie and mid-C (modest or high) go together well for me. I agree Chinoserie is pretty timeless. You have the wheels turning in my head now, I think I need some more!
I’m soooo greedy, Pam. This was great. BUT I WANT MORE CHINOSERIE NOW. [/feed the beast]
P.S. Also, send me that lamp.
Every time I look, I see more neat things! All the lamps in this house are fantastic! I love the two hanging orbs in the living room. And are those gold leaf viney things on the night stands lamps? Amazing!
Holy. Cow. What an amazing house. The decorating might be original to 1956, even though it has that 60′s look. The same could be said of our house, which was a little ahead of it’s time. Either way, it’s just gorgeous. That fireplace! The glass block bar! That pink bathroom! The pink kitchen with original laminate cabinets! To die for!
I think my heart stopped when I got to the kitchen!
Mine, too. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Pam–this begs the question–do you do estate sale alerts???
I’m not sure what you are asking, Heidi…?
Hey Pam, I guess I am asking–do you ever get a line on estate sales etc that may contain mid mod treasures? Is there a way to know if a house like this is having an estate sale?
Golly! I’m decorating my 1960 traditional ranch living room and master bedroom in what I call Vintage Chinese Hollywood Glam and I sure would love a few pieces from that living room, especially those andirons! Also, the pink upholstered headboard/wall is pretty fabulous and is giving me ideas.
You need to shop in my spare room. Military family … three tours in Japan.
Not for me. Can’t stand pink, and white in any house is a smudge factory waiting to happen. Just my opinion of course as I’m sure many will like all the pink and soft whites.
Holy crap! I’d totally live there. The living room is the best; the divider thingy at the left of the top photo and the tree on the fireplace. And that headboard – she wasn’t content with any old store-bought headboard. “Upholster my wall,” she said.
But man, the wallpaper in the kitchen is a bit too much to comprehend. It can’t make it any easier to eat in there.
The basement is so cool, but that TV has no right being there.
Someone grab that penguin decanter for me!!!
I mean old crow decanter! Love it!
It definitely looks like a decorator did the house back then. It seems 1960s but then again many “sharp styles” were earlier than I thought when I look at vintage home magazines. The metallic wallpaper throws me off…I only remember it being big in the ’70s.
The laminate veneer in the kitchen seems odd but then again if it was a “new thing” in the ’50s then it makes sense.
Chinoserie wouldn’t be my style, but I’d sure keep some of the cool vintage elements, like the wall screen & the ste down living room/dining room layout is nice.
That upholstered headboard is almost exactly what I am planning for our master bedroom, except on a smaller scale. It’s cool to know they actually did that then. The pink is awesome, but my husband would hate it.
I would get those twin pink ovens anyway!
As I look closer at the bar I noticed the pretty blue bottle…I wonder if this is the same one that the “I dream of Jeannie” used for her bottle. I remember the producer saying they used a regular liquor bottle at the time.
Yes – that’s a blue liquor bottle. I have one myself, I just looked to see what brand, but the bottom just says “liquor bottle”. I do, however see lots of them for sale at antique fairs – reasonably priced too.
Sad to see the Realtor listing it as “needs updating.”
“Needs updating” is like a siren call to me – it means it will be full of retro/vintage goodness. On the other hand, “tastefully updated” is an immediate turn off because it means the house has been greiged into boredom with box store fixtures.
Pam, I am fairly certain those pink wall ovens are original; for four or five years in the late fifties, GE didn’t change them other than maybe the knobs or clock face. Without the model number, there is no way to tell for sure what year. I can’t see if it is the original cooktop but they may have replaced that and left the controls in the front of the cabinet next to the wall oven. The dishwasher is definitely newer as in seventies/eighties. There are alot of those wall ovens showing up on craigslist in all different colors from the light brown to pink to yellow to mint green, and stainless too. They rarely break except for the clock and I think they are a timeless simple look; I don’t know why anyone would yank one out. This house is amazing! There is one just like it, same paint color and all, about ten miles away from here. I remember being amazed by it when I was a kid as we drove by it on our way to church every Sunday, and that was just looking at the outside! It was so different from all the other houses back then and really stood out way up on the side of a mountain.
Janet, I have a set of stainless wall ovens from the 50′s, and I am constantly amazed by how accurately they hold a temperature, and how the doors stay relatively cool to the touch, even when they are both cranked up.
My mother, on the other hand, has a 90′s freestanding range, and that thing is a terror. Temps vary wildly, and it gets HOT.
Sadly, many of these ovens end up in the recycling because people don’t understand the timed baking mechanism, and they think the oven is dead, when all it needs is a turn of a dial.
Beautiful house, did anyone notice under the picture on the beadhead wall it looks like a built in cabinet of some kind or am I becoming pink blind
Love looking at the house. I could not live in it! I think the house looks 50′s. Maybe the lower rec room was furnished in 60′s. I assume the mid to late 50′s could look 60′s for those decorating with the latest looks. Same could be said now about homes. Some people decorate with what is in now and some are decorating with the next trend in mind. They would have been the trendsetters in the 50′s.
Amazing! I own a similarly styled house about 15 years old 30 minutes west of this one in a very nice town. My house was recently appraised at $289,000. This is typical Newton. Save these photos, because someone is going to bulldoze this wonderful home & put up a McMansion! I have no doubt. Those that appreciate it, can’t afford it & those that can afford it, don’t appreciate it. SIGH!
This house is simply amazing. I love the asian themed living room, the wallpaper in the dining room, and the tree decor on the fireplace. I couldn’t begin to know how to decorate like this–it took a talented eye to create it. It’s not even my taste but I appreciate it so very much.
Hey, I didn’t know Jayne Mansfield had a house in Newton, Mass.!
Lotsa pink – I love it!
I appreciate how the living room rug seems worn in front of what looks like the bar. My kind of people
Oh that BEDROOM!!! SWOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!!
Split-levels are popular on non-level building sites. I don’t think it has anything to do with time period, unless, about the time they started building them on California hillsides (there are only so many flat farmlands we can build over) they hit the magazines and movies. At any rate, I can’t imagine anyone creating a slope just so they can split the level.
Also, as a rule, we don’t build basements in California, so the lower level can fulfill some of the same functions.
Our house is built that way- a split level with a basement (that means 4 different floors) in 1960. The builder added a hill around the upper level (presumably the fill from the basement) but the property and the surrounding area is completely flat.
Wowser! This is completely stunning.
I personally am too cluttery to live with Chinoiserie, but have always loved the look. When I was young I referred to it as “Carmel old lady style” but couldn’t really say why. I realize it is unique to a certain income bracket to be this exotic.
And yes, there was something indefinably “Jeannie” about this one.
That kitchen gives me spasms. LOVE it.
Here’s another fervent wish that someone who can afford this will appreciate it in it’s full glory rather than do a tear down/remuddle.
Glorious!
LOVE the bedroom. Can envision is updated with some of today’s popular neutral colors to complement the pink.
Exquisite! Those frightful listing words: “needs u-p-d-a-t-i-n-g”….
Luckily those were the words that attracted us to our house. I too wish fervently that the house will be prized by a new owner who will do minimal, if any, changes.
Oh my gosh, this looks like something my Barbie doll would have lived in. I love love love it!
I went to the open house, and as you can imagine it is even more spectacular in person. Some of what you don’t see in the images: pink upper cabinet refrigerator/freezer (i’ve only ever seen one other of these in my life), MONOGRAMMED shower doors, cocktail table with nesting stools in basement, two more pink bathrooms…a creepy basement bedroom with fabulous furniture and pink linoleum tiles…there was so much goodness we hardly knew where to look!!!
Heidi – I went to the open house too! Where were the monogrammed shower doors? All I saw were the duct tapped doors.
How about the stairs and the duct tape holding down the carpet?
The tile in the scary downstairs hidden room must have asbestos.
I love, love, love this house! I hope whoever buys it keeps it intact furniture and all. It is spectacular. WOW!
I almost swooned when I saw the kitchen!! I would feel like Betty Crocker herself in that kitchen. LOVE!
Ohhh! I love it!! One of my favourite houses Iever wrote about here in Perth was a grand 70s Bel Air-style mansion – sounds a bit crazy, but it was THE party house back in its day and hadn’t been touched since the 70s when I went to visit it three years ago. It was amazing in that way when something is so ugly it’s beautiful. This place is adorable.
Love it! The kitchen is fab and that wall paper is to die for.
Just wanted to chime in, on the Pink GE Appliances in the kitchen..
They are undoubtedly ca. 1956, as my parents had the identical style in their home built from the ground up, and my Mom specified a Pink kitchen…
Marvelous Marin, (Marinwood), North Bay, California.
They bought it for $17K, brand new, back in the spring of ’56.
Sadly, it’s been totally remodeled, but I still have a couple choice pink handled utensils to remind me of days gone by….
Pam, the split level design like this came to Springfield, VA in November 1953, via The Crestwood Construction Corp, and it was being used by other builders all over Northern Virginia during that same time period, so it is definitely a very 50′s design that carried over into the 60s and 70s. This house is beautiful and like most on here I hope that the new owner will love and cherish it as the time capsule it is rather than tear it down or strip all it’s character.
Lord have Mercy – I agree hard to tell forward 50s or redone after a few years. We have split levels in my development – 1956, but I’m in a ranch between 2 of them.
It’s a shame that the one comment said it’s in need of repair, but sometimes as we age we can’t do what we wish we could. Also, it looks like some drapes are no longer hanging in the master – wonder what they were like!?
I agree — we need to be thoughtful in how we talk about these houses. I intend to be a very old granny myself one day, still in my beloved house, and I am sure I will no longer be able to stay on top of everything. Also, many many elderly are on a fixed income and money is tight. May be easier just to use duct tape and continue on.
Yes, I agree as people age they often stop certain things due to health limitations and some people may spend money on someone else to do that if they have funds, or even then if they have the money they aren’t comfortable with that expense or having outside help and would rather just deal with it as it is.
My home compared to my neighbors who had it built and just left last year when he passed are in much different states. His home never changed hands, had the utmost pride in ownership owner and he had funds to do things when he wasn’t able to anymore and he was happy seeing them done. My home did not have that and thus is always going to show it’s past – I’m trying to make up for years of work that needed to be done and some things will never be fixed completely without a gut job, which I’m not going to do.
That said, the new owner of my neighbors house which is arguably one of the best kept in the neighborhood is re-muddling – ugh… another story.
Hi again – sorry if my comment seemed rude. I heard a little about the owner and how she got the house. Anyway, it doesn’t matter, maybe there were other things going on in her life. I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I’ve seen a LOT of homes and this one made me sad because of the condition.
That said, I’m sure the home has seen a lot of GREAT years and I hope, hope, hope the next family can see past the repairs needed and keep the fun 50s and 60s style!!
Thanks, Beth!
Beth,
Just commenting on the situation being sad nothing you said!
Jason
Gosh I just love that living room. The artwork on the fireplace is so graceful – yet another way to think about decorating our fireplaces! Although not everything in the house is to my taste, I love it. It’s like a peek into someone else’s heart and soul.
Wow, what a lovely living room! The interiors look to have been lovingly maintained over the years but, like many after a certain age, the house needs a nip and tuck here and there, lol. I hope someone appreciates it as much as we do but, sadly (if that area’s anything like mine), it could end up being scraped for something new and bigger. I’m shocked at the list price but guess that’s the market up there – $799K? Gasp!
Want that metal divider by the front door. Want, want, want!
The wallpaper in the kitchen and bathroom? Not so much!
Check out the Redi Screens by Crestview Door. http://www.crestviewdoor.com They make a wood version of the divider. I’ve been considering one for my living room.
There is a split level down the street from me that was built in 1957-a very similar design that sadly got the McMansion treatment inside. The kitchen looks original to me, I think that this is a house that was very cutting edge at the time it was built.
I personally don’t see anything wrong with noting-kindly, and with empathy for the former residents-that a house is going to need repairs. Most mid-century houses do need some work, and people who love them need to be realistic about that.
Fabulous time capsule. Love it. I think it is a mix a bit… Little 50′s and little 60′s. Not that there is anything wrong with that!
Love Love Love!
TroySF: hi!!
Oh, my goodness! It’s a perfectly preserved time-capsule from end to end!! Retro loveliness and worthy of a family who won’t change a thing!
I hope and pray the “right” buyer who will appreciate all that retro goodness will come along…before someone else who would desecrate all of it’s wonders!
I think the kitchen gave me pink vertigo, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Funny how something so simple can be so clever, the identical barstools in bold alternating colors in front of the glass block bar, wow.
I am also in deep, deep lust for that living room partition.
um i want to move into this house NOW! beautiful, classic, well preserved and on trend!
who was the former owner of this home?! I want to be her friend! i could see us mixing cocktails, being really catty and gossipy and whilst planning our next vacation!
Few people know that an early influence/term for mid-century modern was “Chinese Modern.” That’s what Lucy calls it in one of the I Love Lucy episodes; the one where she has a bet with Ricky that she can be completely honest for a week and has to tell all her friends what she really thinks. Anyway, the living room in this house is a great example of the early influence that the Asian “less is more” aesthetic had on evolving American taste.
oh.my.god. this house is beyond beautiful. whoever gets to live here is the most lucky person. ever.
Hi everyone, I just want to let you know that we got our offer accepted for this house. when I first walked into this house, my first impression was: GUT IT… after seeing your comments, my husband and I are going to preserve its integrity as much possible.
How exciting! Both for your fabulous new house and that you will reconsider gutting it. Pam always says it is best to live in a place for a year before making any drastic changes…things that you thought you didn’t like when you moved in might just grow on you over time. It happened at my house — I’m glad I didn’t jump into anything too quickly — and waiting also let me see how we functionally use the house too.
Please please please do not gut this lovely lady. And I hope you will share the freshening up touches you bring to it with us.
Congrats on purchasing the house!!! I visited during the open house and saw it first hand. How lucky you are to be inheriting all the amazing touches the previous owners made. I hope your last name begins with an “S” so you can keep the monogrammed shower doors!
Congratulations, Ginoos, and welcome to the Retro Renovation clan!
Hi! We just bought a split level almost identical to this one (not a time capsule though!). Do you have any idea where we might be able to get a room divider screen like they have between the front door and the living room?
Take a look at Crestview’s Redi-Screens and tell ‘em we sent you: http://www.crestviewdoors.com/order/redi-screens.html
*disclosure: They’re an advertiser but I’d refer you to them even if they weren’t.
Alternative: Keep an eagle eye out for vintage, especially at your Re-Store… but I’d guess these are rare(ish) to come out of houses intact.