August 2015 — Interior design of the 1970s still gets such a bad rap. And what a shame. Because design from any era, done well — is design done well. Case in point: This 1977 time capsule home in Lebanon, Pennsylvania — a veritable showcase of lovely, livable design from the era. It’s like a real-life Traditional Home magazine cover story from 40 years ago.
Oh — and 37 photos! Many thanks to Annie of Annie M Designs — not only did she photograph the home, but also she recommended the homeowners contact us for this story. Her photographs of this 1960 time capsule house appeared here in 2013. She remembered us, and knew we’d love this house, too.
- Price: $280,000
- Year built: 1977
- Bedrooms: 4
- Bathrooms: 3 (2 Full, 1 Half)
- Square footage: 3,048 Sq. Ft.
Custom spacious home w/quality & character. 1st floor MBR w/en-suite bath, office on 1st floor. See through FP from dining to FR. Abundant closet space, eat-in kitchen w/island & pantry. Replaced windows during ownership, professionally installed water proof system.
From the moment you walk inside this impeccably decorated and maintained home, you just know you are in for a visual treat.
The main living space, made up of the living room, dining room and an office area is beautifully layered — interesting yet restful. From every angle, there are new textures, colors and patterns to explore, yet none of them are an assault on the senses.
You can tell that a professional decorator was consulted for this space. While every piece of furniture and decor has its own unique look, they all blend together seamlessly and create one gorgeous, lavish and lovely room.
Take the dining room, for example: If you stand along the back wall and look towards the living room, you get a sense of warmth and comfort. The warm wood tones of the table, hutch and buffet … matched with soft greens of the (crushed velvet?) sofas … which are paired across the color wheel with rust-meets-coral colored carpet and chair upholstery — together all make the room feel cozy.
Then, when you look towards the back wall of the dining area, you’ll see a more serene white paneled wall and fireplace, bright light pouring in through the windows, soft window treatments and light colored wallpaper and side chairs. This “calmer angle” to the room ensures that the rich decor is not too overpowering and allows the viewer’s eye to rest, bringing a breath of fresh air into the space. Brilliantly designed decor, don’t you think?
Each room in the house has at least one special design element that is out of the ordinary. In the den, the curved brick fireplace creates a nice focal point, while a ceiling fan with clear blades allows the exposed ceiling beams to play an uninterrupted supporting role. And of course, we are totally digging the panelled walls, the lime-washed bricks and those beams. Even the stained glass Coca Cola pendant light — the perfect note of whimsy.
The kitchen has many hallmarks of 1970s style — butcher block laminate countertops with hudee ring cutting boards, dark wood cabinets and of course, more wallpaper.
This kitchen has a country feel, thanks mostly to the plaid wallpaper and the hanging basket gallery wall. We would not change a thing!
The master bedroom has a bit of a French Provincial feel. Oh my: the upholstered headboard, the patterned wall-to-wall carpet, the window valance and of course those built-ins.
For a cohesive look, the wallpaper has been carried into the master bathroom, which has coordinating white tiles with light blue speckles.
Look at the way the designer handled the wallpaper in this bedroom by creating wallpaper insets — very neat!
Lookie all the Ethan Allen Custom Room Plan furniture!
And of course, insane-for-wallpaper Pam adores this bathroom.
Let’s tally up the fabulousness: two coordinating vintage wallpaper designs including a wallpapered ceiling, coordinating fixtures, patterned floor, matching towels and draperies, wallpaper on the vanity doors and drawers. And the color: Our 2013 color of the year Broyhill Premier Chapter One Rich Lime Green. Love love love it all!
Finally, who wouldn’t want to spend their entire summer on this screened porch, lounging on this gorgeous vintage patio furniture? Even the cushions on the patio bench have been carefully decorated with coordinating alternated floral and stripe prints. Fantastic!
And we’re not done yet. The actual tipster on this house was Megan, who grew up in the house. She shares:
Thanks so much, Pam and Kate — I love it so much but it’s because of the nostalgia! It was great growing up in the house — adults downstairs, kids upstairs. The master bedroom is on the first floor, and we had an extra TV room upstairs where we spent all our time when we weren’t outside. There is even a crazy, long crawl space where we used to hide. The cedar closet was a great (and weird) place to hang out too. The upstairs bathroom! –straight out of the 70’s. The house has amazing bones — they’re just not built like this anymore. Honestly, though, the best part was/is the neighborhood but I know that doesn’t have anything to do with the house: So many kids to play with.
Thank you, Megan — and for sure, we are all hoping this house finds a sympathetic buyer who recognizes it for the real gem it is!
Link Love:
- See the listing for this house — mega thanks to listing agents Diane Griffiths and Tony Lowe!
- Photography courtesy the wonderful Annie of Annie M Design
Tips to view slide show: Click on first image… it will enlarge up to 1,000 pixels wide on screen… click anywhere to move forward and look for previous and next buttons within photo to move back or forth… you can start or stop at any image:
All material featured in this story copyright Retro Renovation 2015.
Katie says
A house as old as I am is now “vintage” and “retro”. That is all.
Rita says
I love me some 70s goodness, and this is amazing. Homes like this make me feel so sad for the original features stripped out of our 70’s split-entry. We are trying to take it back, a little at a time. Someone recently bought and flipped a house in our neighborhood, and we were so thankful to see that the seller hadn’t white-washed it. They kept the original kitchen cabinets and all the wood trim. All they needed was some cleaning and polish.
Anne says
This so reminds me of my parents’ house. They bought their home in 1979. The beams on the ceiling, the brick walls, the colors – even the Ethan Allen furniture, could have been decorated by the same person. I loved the warmth of the home. When they sold it about 3 years ago the new owners redecorated the whole house. I was disappointed to see it. Thanks for posting this.
Ranger Smith says
The use of wallpaper “panels” in the girl’s bedroom is new to me – very bold and creative. I remember helping my mom wall paper by covering the switch plate and outlet covers with wallpaper. My brother and I had a bedroom set like the one shown here and attributed to Ethan Allen. Ours was not EA but it was very practical for two boys and it looked good. Also, ours had bookcase head boards. I admire the wood in this home’s den. This is an amazingly well-cared for home.
JKM says
Lovely home. For the most part, upper middle-class homes of this era were well-built with properly proportioned rooms and quality millwork. It reminds me of the 1973 home I grew up in Dallas, especially all the wallpaper (even on the switch plates!), tie-back draperies, stained paneling in the den with rough hewn ceiling beams, and built-ins, built-ins, built-ins! I also noticed the cultured marble countertop with integral sink in the bathroom – so ’70s! Good taste never goes out of style.
Jeanne says
Stunning! Absolutely fantastic! I’d want to buy all the furnishings along with the home and not change a thing. I’d say that 70s decor is the 70s at it’s best! So many details perfectly orchestrated.
Rick S says
Pam,
lovely home, feels so welcoming.
The paneling in the Den looks the same as mine in the family room. My house is c1978 and has smooth pine beams to match paneling and a brick fireplace with a “timber” mantle too.
The brass and white porcelain knobs in the kitchen are Amerock. Maybe Carriage House or others are used elsewhere.
I hope it goes to right owner.
rick
linda h says
I often think I should add more 70’s furniture to my 1976 house instead of the 50’s & 60’s furniture that I do have. Big, puffy butterscotch colored leather and chrome swivel chairs for the living room would be great. And of course some bicentennial accessories.
Robin, NV says
I would love to have a skirted couch like the one my mom had in the 70s. We had a big orangle plaid couch that was so cozy and comfy. It’s a look I still love.
Mary says
I’d call this timeless, not a time capsule. I’d also love to know the name of the interior designer–he/she is a GENIUS.
pam kueber says
I totally agree with you! Timeless!
Linda says
I was thinking the same thing! It’s unusual to see an entire house that’s been decorated this beautifully while at the same time not having that “done”, somewhat untouchable look.
ineffablespace says
My favorite rooms are the library/den, and the master bedroom with the built-ins.
My bedroom had the Ethan Allen Custom Room Plan furniture shown in one of the other bedrooms, and when the house was sold after 45 years, the buyers asked if they could keep the furniture in that room.