Retro Renovation » 1950’s

Vintage Chambers stoves & oven in the time capsule house

pam kueber — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:00:17 +0000

This is a vintage Chambers gas range. I am seriously in love with it, and want it so much that I could burst. For now, though, it is staying in the time capsule house. I am guessing — 60s. Any experts out there who can tell me for sure?

This is the built-in, pop-up griddle. And yes, folks, those are stainless steel (or aluminum?) 4″ tiles behind the stove.

This is the control panel. I am so seriously in love with this stove I cannot stand it.

Here is the vintage Chambers range upstairs. I am dating it 1952 — because that is when the kitchen went in.

Here is the porcelain cover folded down over the burners.

And here is the built-in stove. It’s all so wonderful, and there is still more to come from this house, I’ve barely made a dent.

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14 time capsule wallpapers & floors

pam kueber — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:00:07 +0000

More photos from the weekend’s fabulous time capsule house estate sale — today focusing on floors and walls. To start — this typical 50s slate porch or foyer flooring. I adore this type of flooring, and it is still available today at a reasonable cost, because it’s so old-fashioned.

Yowza, here is the downstairs powder room. You know that I love it. It has very 70s wallpaper — on the walls, the closet doors and the ceiling. It’s kind of interesting to see the mod wallpaper and toilet paired with the classic American Standard 50s sink.

Grey Kentile asphalt tiles in an upstairs half bath. I love how the tile is ‘coved’ to work its way up into a baseboard. I am pretty sure this is Kentile because there was an old brochure in the kitchen. I noticed that even though the brochure called this “asphalt tile” it also mentioned “asbestos fillers” — so be cognizant of this issue in your own homes, readers. Get informed, consult with a professional, and decide how you will handle this tile.

More of the fabulous fabulous kitchen floor.

And more.

The upstairs kitchen again, with a better look at how the “two floors” meet. As I took this picture I was standing here:

The upstairs kitchen dining area. Notice the simple pull-shades on the windows, which themselves are classic picture windows flanked by casements.

A downstairs bedroom / reading room. Mod orange wallpaper with wood trimmed in harvest gold paint. The lighting fixture was all swirly orange-and-yellow-and-white. I have to dig further to see if any of my shots really captured it properly, drats.

Lovely wallpaper in an upstairs bedroom. The color — so pleasing. Perfect feng shui color for a bedroom.

Peek a boo. This featured flat panel mirrors in many, many places. I heard that a fancy New York decorator was involved. Yes, to flat panel mirrors! Outside the door on the right is a porch with gorgeous views. There were lots of porches everywhere, too.

Wallpapered ceiling in the big yellow tile bedroom. Fabulous detail. The graphic mix is perfect, too — the angularity of the tiles countered by the simple floral in the wallpaper. I have been reading my feng shui book again, closely. Trick to achieving harmony: Pairing opposites. As evidenced here.

This garden trellis wallpaper was used on the walls and ceiling of the main stairway.

Last but certainly not least – the blue and gray bathroom downstairs. Ha! Many of you are sick of hearing me say “wallpaper your bathroom walls.” Now I add to the litany: “…and the ceiling, too!” This wallpaper is particularly gorgeous – so light and airy but with just enough metallic gravitas to punctuate the gray tile and royal (navy?) blue trim. The tile, by the way, appears to be old…maybe a kind of rubber…that was later painted. Like, this is the original 50s bathroom – they just repainted the tile and added the wallpaper in the 70s. I guess I’d better show the floor, too:

More Kentile – this time, blue. More of those classique American Standard fixtures. And I must say, I love this color combo. It’s one I haven’t seen yet, and it’s quite pleasing.

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Mid-century Lightolier lighting catalog – 73 pages

pam kueber — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:00:58 +0000

A 73-page mid-century Lightolier catalog — now that is some serious eye-candy for whiling away a few hours on a sleepy Sunday. The awesome Gretchen has scanned this entire catalog and posted it as a set on Flickr. Go take a look, I promise it will blog your mind. Also be sure to check out Gretchen’s Eiclerific blog.

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Hollywood Regency time capsule ranch house in Burbank, Calif.

pam kueber — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:00:21 +0000

Snaps to reader Shaun, who spotted this 1950 time capsule ranch home in Burbank. It looks like it got some Hollywood Regency style updating in the 60s — very groovy. I love the living room – a long, open-concept space properly anchored by a lovely L-shaped sofa. This layout — with the couch facing the window flanked by two chairs — is so typical, inviting, and livable. Lots of great stuff in this house. Like, I want that poker table with the tufted guy chairs in avocado naugahyde (left). One thing I would do differently in the living room if this were my house: Take the pinch pleats and valence all the way to the ceiling to maximize the impression of height.

You know that I love wallpaper. And in the guest bath — novelty wallpaper is even better. Coincidentally (although nothing is coincidental between the retro decorating gods and me), I just bought a stash of vintage railroad themed wallpaper (left). Life is short, people, make an impression!

The bedroom (and other parts of the house) definitely have a Hollywood Regency feel. Appropriate if you live in Burbank, I guess. Thanks to real estate agent David Fogg for the permission to use a few photos of this wonderful house. See 21 more photos on the listing here.

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13 scenes from an estate sale time capsule

pam kueber — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:00:57 +0000

THE ESTATE SALE on Saturday was wonderful. A very classic, brick Cape Cod home, single owner, great quality. Loved. The only things changed out were the kitchen appliances and floor. Above: Vintage “linen laminate” from the kitchen countertop. Grace Jeffers, the historian who restored the Wilson House, told me that linen patterns were the #1 most popular of the postwar era. Yes, even more so than the gold sparkle speckles we all love so much. At the left: That’s me with the first shot of a reader favorite, the Hall-Mack revolving disappearing toothbrush holder. Click on through for 11 more photos.

Photo #3 (above): The Hallmack toothbrush holder starts its rotation.

#4: Voila: Open and ready for the daily business.

#5: Fabulous marbleized Church toilet seats in both bathrooms. I MUST have one of these! (See the Church palette here.)

#6: Vintage Simmons sleeper sofa, origional upholstery. Oh those tufts! Lovely scale, too. Diminutive. $100.

#7: Oh yes, a chair to match. $50.

#8: These short pinch-pleat curtains in the pine-paneled basement were just perfect. Every single room had pinch pleats, of course. I’ll show more later this week.

#9: The house had lovely lights. Again, diminutive. This was in the hall.

#10: In the foyer. Also small.

#11: In the sun porch.

#12: A sweetheart of a doorbell.

#13: And a very very wonderful mill-finish screen door out front. I believe that when you bought these, you specified the insert on the front, it screws on. You occasionally see them with surname initials. I love those best.

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Vintage 1954 yellow kitchen designed by Armstrong

pam kueber — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:00:38 +0000

IT’S TIME FOR ANOTHER INSTALLMENT of a vintage Armstrong interior from my large collection of Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn, Inc. advertising comps. This one: a small, very efficiently designed 1954 yellow kitchen. And the cabinet style shows that authentic retro doesn’t have to be all radius-edge slabs — this is an important reference / proof for even me! In fact, except for the floor and appliances, this kitchen could have been put in place by a designer today… I’m guessing that in 1954 this would have been considered a formal Early American kitchen…today it would be called “country” not particularly “retro.” The kitchen also shows how careful use of accent colors – white, black, red – can make such a difference. Not too much, not little, just right.

Note how the stove is built into the backsplash. What about that wonderful looking washing machine tucked into the adjacent laundry room – with a box of Lux! And don’t miss the baby’s high chair with its little stuffed toy in the left/foreground. My goodness this photo was well staged.

If you’re new to the blog – know that there are two great Armstrong books full of great vintage interiors to ogle and learn from…our anointed retro renovation “bibles”:

And everyone, be sure to check out my Pamazon (tee hee) store now along the navigation bar at the top. Unlike this kitchen, I have not jam-packed the store. These books really are my favorite.

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1952 Willett maple furniture

pam kueber — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:00:24 +0000

I‘M FASCINATED by the midcentury midwest furniture companies. I have this suspicion they were more interested in quality than transient styling. Willett was based in Indiana, and they made some really nice stuff. With real wood. My guy Royal Barry Wills also designed a line of furniture for them…. This Willett ad is from 1952…the 40s period was coming to an end…recall, 1953 started The Fifties. Can’t you just imagine how proud a family was when they bought this furniture? The sofa — it’s such a classic. And it was not cheap: $495. That’s $4,014 today!

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A 1953 midcentury modern time capsule in Los Angeles

pam kueber — Wed, 27 May 2009 08:00:45 +0000

SHAUN SPOTTED THIS WONDERFUL TIME CAPSULE, a 1953 home built by architect Eugene Kinn Choy in the Los Angeles foothills. The house, which is currently for sale, is large and expensive by most standards, but even so, I think that there are a lot of design touches on the interior that provide ideas for a retro renovation on any budget. In fact, the more that I look at this house, the more that I love its unpretentiousness. The new American dream, perhaps?

The house has four full bathrooms. All are quite beautiful … featuring, for example, colorful tile and ornamental lattice work … and appear to be original. For this post I’ve spotlighted them. Thanks to real estate agent Jeffrey Young for giving me permission to use the images — and please do check out his complete website about this hous for sale, and featuring 40 images in all. For example, you also will not want to miss the Western Holly double ovens…and catch the Eames womb-sofa and chairs in one of the many rooms overlooking the pool. As Shaun says, ” I love and hope will be preserved by the new owners (whoever ends up buying it).” Thank you, Shaun!

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Vintage 40s and 50s kitchen drainboard sinks

pam kueber — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:00:30 +0000

In response to Friday’s post on the patriotic 40s kitchen, Josh writes:I’m in love with that sink. Do they still make any like that? Thanks for the question, Josh. Unfortunately, not that I know of. But, I have some recommendations:

These porcelain-enamel-on-cast-iron or steel drainboard sinks were UBIQUITOUS in the postwar period, so you can find one if you are patient. Watch your Habitat for Humanity/Restore or local Re-Sell type place, Craigslist, my Postwar Steel Forum, and ebay. The one at the left (no drainboards, though, and in reality a ‘farmhouse sink) was recently on ebay – mint in packaging, never used and it went for about $400. Honestly, if I were looking for one of these – I would hold out until I found one in near-perfect shape.

In addition, watch historichouseparts.com, one of my favorite places. The first sink (below) was for sale on their site for $725, and count on a hefty shipping charge, too. Others shown are sold for the most part, check in frequently and I’m sure they’ll be glad to help:

I also recently found a site, thisoldtubandsink.com that says it specializes in vintage porcelain-on-cast-iron pieces, including refinishing. Honestly, I cannot vouch for the refinishing work – and from what I know about this, it can be truly tricky. But this merchant certainly also seem to have a number of as-is pieces in good shape such as this 42×25 double sink at $635. There are other pieces with drainboards as well:

Finally — I recently saw a couple of vintage drainboard sinks in Rejuvenation’s salvage yard, for those of you in the Portland, Oregon area.

And, don’t forget – that another very viable alternative, are the Elkay Lustertone stainless steel sinks made in the 50s and still available today. While they may not be as “sweet” as the white porcelain, they are probably in reality – more functional, as stainless steel does not chip, is very sanitary, and is easy to keep clean. I’ve done a number of posts on these in the past, click here for the most recent.

If you are looking for a vintage drainboard sink, be sure that the length and width will fit your space – and that the height of the integral backsplash will work for you as well. You’ll also need to “mate” the sink to the adjacent countertops, I don’t have any advice on this…

Again – there were millions of these made. For example, in the immediate (and less affluent) postwar period from 1946-early 50s, the sink cabinet/drainboard sink combo was marketed heavily as a standalone piece to be integrated into farmhouse kitchens — the Mrs. would keep her wood cabinets, only buy the steel sink base and complementary sink/drainboard. There were big names all over this action, too — Kohler, American Standard, Youngstown. That’s why you see so many sink bases ONLY (as in the photos from historichouseparts.com, above) for sale.

Finally, in further researching Josh’s question, I found two reproduction sinks that are made currently – both are very pre-war and are really meant as farmhouse style sinks to stand on legs or freestanding. Note, most cabinets today and in the 50s on, were 25″ deep.

Here’s the Nottingham Brass Sandford sink, it’s 42″x21″ and $969 free shipping from signaturehardware.com:

And here’s a Strom sink sold as Clarion by plumbingsupply.com (and others) at $1599 plus $175 shipping:

This Retro Renovation post was originally published on March 24, 2008.

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New images in the 50s and 60s galleries

pam kueber — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:59:28 +0000

Yesterday I added 60 new images to the 1950s and 1960s home galleries. Be sure to check out the growing archive of vintage inspirational images of midcentury kitchens, bathrooms and more.

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