Gabriel and Amanda own a stunning house, designed by architect John Erwin Ramsay, in North Carolina. “Own” may not be the right word, though: To me, Gabe and Amanda clearly have taken on the role as “caretakers” of this house with so many original features. Above: Holey Jetsons, one of my newest favoritest kitchens ever. Continue on for the story and 27 more photos of this beautiful home.

Gabe writes:

We spent about year looking for the perfect house, and in 2007 while working out of town Amanda did an internet search for a nearby county.  As soon as she saw it she called Gabe and told me she’d found our house!

We weren’t looking for midcentury, but it was looking for us.  It screamed “Nicholson”.  During our first visit we were surprised to find the door was unlocked.

We stayed for hours planning out exactly what we would do once we owned it.  We had to have it!

Luckily we didn’t have the money to do all the renovations we wanted right away, because we ended up falling in love with many of the original aspects that we had considered changing.

During the five years we have lived in our very original, mid- mod we have fallen in love with this house over and over.

We can’t imagine living anywhere else.

With the help of George Smart of (trianglemodernisthouses.com) we located our architect and discovered our house plans were stored in the N.C. State University School of Design Archives.

Since this discovery we have worked to locate and document other works by the same architect, John Erwin Ramsay AIA, of Salisbury, N.C.

We started immediately collecting pieces from the 50’s 60’s and 70’s. This passion for authentic pieces has continued to grow.  We eventually sold all our furniture and accessories to be replaced with vintage pieces.

Yes, everything has to be vintage… even the can opener, umbrellas, and pot holders. We love going out as close to period as we can on everything! and even have a closet full of vintage clothes, purses, jewelry, hats, ties, etc.. p.s. even a pink ’62 Caddy and ’60 Ford truck.

(The 1962 Caddy is Amanda’s, and it is a mostly original survivor car.

And it is the original factory color, ”Laurel”. Elvis would just call it pink!

The 1960 truck is ruff but it has such character! I have enjoyed it so much more than anything new!…Rust Rules!

(BTW the dogs are “Ellie” (white) and “Lucy” (black).)

We were always drawn to old, simpler times as well as simple clever design… I’m an artist and a musician so I’ve always been enamored with interesting lines, colors and the practical / impractical Design for the sake of Art and usability.Some specifics about the house..   it was built in 1954, it is 4 bedrooms, 2 ½ bath, 3000 sq feet and sits on 5 acres.  We purchased it from the original owner and had the privilege of his sons visiting us a few years ago.

We learned so much about the house from this visit, including that the terrazzo flooring was laid by 2 men they flew in from from Italy …..

How do you even begin to do that without the internet?????

Check out my house sign I made and custom mail box stand my dad helped me make out of steel tubing!

The mailbox is period, I just took it apart, restored it and painted it to match the house.

The stickers on the bathroom tile are original and feature teams from the 50′s and their old logo’s some aren’t even around anymore like the Washington senators!

The boys who stuck these on as kids ended up visiting us and checking out what we’ve been doing. (They posed for photo during their visit, above, from left: Barry and Mark Levin.) They remember sticking them there.

Some other great features: Check out the Thermador double ovens and warmers.. Original CRAZY wallpaper overhead in the background!!!!

… the Herman Miller desk and drawers set..

Big umbrellas by the pool.. (pool unrestored but a whopping 25′ x 40′.

We love living with and using our mid century pieces every day.  It has become so normal to us living this way that it is sometimes funny when someone starts commenting on one of our period staples like the double Thermador ovens or the vintage toaster. It makes you stop and think about the fact that some of that stuff and this house is approaching 60 years old! Boy they don’t make ‘em like this anymore.

Portaits of Gabe and Amanda: By Kyle Pierce Photography

Wow. Gabe and Amanda, it is clear that you are Livin’ the Dream. Thank you so much for sharing! xoxo

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Jen’s *new* mid mod home in Florida has a beamed ceiling… she needs to add insulation… and writes in for advice: Does she need to keep the beams?

Jen writes:

Hi Pam,

I just recently found your blog and love it already! You’ve got tons of great info, and I’m desperately hoping that you and/or your readers can help me out with some advice. A few months ago my partner and I purchased a unique, mid-century home in St. Petersburg, FL. It has tons of great features and even more potential, but we’re having difficulty making design decisions. And so far, we haven’t been able to find anyone with an MCM mindset locally (designer, contractor, etc) to help.

Our immediate issue is in our living room, where we have exposed beams on a high angled/sloped ceiling. There is currently no insulation up there, and it is desperately needed, but I hate the thought of losing the look of the exposed beams. Our current plan is to insulate and drywall the ceiling flat, then add faux beams. We also plan to replace 2 ceiling fans with MCM style pendants and remove or replace existing track lighting, possibly adding recessed lighting instead. If we do faux beams, we need to determine how many and what size. If we do less than the exact size and number of beams that we currently have we can save some money, and it would still have the same effect, but they won’t match up with the exposed beam ends visible on the exterior of the house. Is this a big no-no? It wouldn’t be too obvious since there isn’t a contiguous view of the beams inside to out, but there are 3 high windows that could allow the interior beams to be seen from the exterior of the house. Oh gosh, does any of this make sense??

Please let me know what you think. We’re at our wit’s end, paralyzed by indecision! I’m happy to provide more pics and more info – anything needed. Thanks! jen

Thanks, Jen for your nice comments about the blog, and for sending in your question. I’ll open it up to readers… But this time, I’ll start with my thoughts:

1. Great house!
2. Insulate the ceiling for sure — you must do what you must do, especially when it comes to saving energy.
3. If you want, I think you can get away without recreating the beams altogether — by painting the ceiling and the back part of the wall that is still white. You seem to have that dusty blue going on below – put that on the ceiling and sort of “L” it to the back wall. Leave the white space on the sides (between the beige of the wall and the blue of the ceiling) and around the front windows alone. It think the whole scheme might be quite dynamic… sort of Mondrian, but not too too, because a sky is blue, too. Keep picking up that orange, too, throughout your decor.
4. I don’t have a big problem with the ceiling fans — they are appropriate for your climate. Maybe get them in an antiqued brass base with wood blades, though… to add additional texture to the ceiling if you dispense with the beams.
5. That ledge below the high front windows is perfect for a lighting solution. Is there some kind of uplighting there? For sure should be – would be fabulous!
   
6. With a room that large — and a ceiling so high — I am not sure how good cans are going to do you … Those spots – they’re for the entry way, I get that, I think. Gosh, this whole issue of lighting is a big deal. I don’t have cans in my 45 x 15 living room/dining room — I have all task lighting — lamps. I prefer that for living areas. There are cans in my kitchen, though, because you don’t put lamps there.
   
7. Paralyzed by indecision: We’ve all been there! Trust your gut. Good luck, the house is happy you found it.
   

Readers, what do you think Jen and her partner should do? Beams? No beams? ….  ?

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Cindy writes:

Hi Pam!

Nearly six years after buying my 60′s ranch I figured out what to do about draperies. I would have been perfectly happy without window coverings because I love lots of light, but we’re at the end of a cul de sac and when cars drive down the street the occupants see the entire living room area, so for the sake of privacy I decided to have pinch pleat draperies made of a beautiful fabric I found on www.tonicliving.com after learning about them from one of your reader’s comments. What a great site with so many retro fabric choices!

The fabric I chose is a bold floral that works beautifully with the wall color; as for painting the rods to match…I got that tip from YOU! I was a bit concerned that, given the size of the largest window, it would overpower the room, which it did for about ten minutes. I love it because it feels both retro and contemporary at the same time. I did two windows and three valences to keep the large open area coordinated and also had four pillows made. Although tonicliving.com makes draperies, I had them made locally and was surprised at the cost….the entire project, including the cost of 35 yards of fabric, cost me under $1500. I had another quote from a few years ago for over $4,000!

One valuable lesson I learned is to hire a professional to install such a large rod and draperies. When a carpenter friend offered to help me do it I readily accepted…. six long hours later we had finished, only to discover we had put the rod a bit too low….(a very long story that I now am able to laugh about). The following week I hired a professional installer from a local furniture store to reinstall …. 90 minutes and $75 later they were properly aligned and completely functional. Oh the lessons we learn along the way!

Now on to landscaping….!

Cindy

Love ‘em, Cindy.

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