Samantha writes:

Hey there Pam! Wanted to share my latest treasure, an original brochure from the builder of my home/neighborhood.

My house was built in ”61, so I’d say this is at least circa 1960. It’s full of fun details, made especially wonderful because I see these exact homes every day! I’m so jazzed!

I also have an original newspaper ad for the neighborhood (which came out of our bomb shelter!), and on my website I’ve transcribed the introduction from this cookbook.  It’s a wonderful description of how things were at the very beginning of the community.

I’ve been told that Mrs. Mathias is still a resident in the same house – she’s also the present of the larger Northside Civic Association. I’ve not yet met her, though! We have a small, monthly community newspaper that has been doing a historical series lately, and San Mateo is supposed to be the next feature. Hopefully they will use some of this stuff as well!

Thanks Pam! I visit RetroRenovation every day – keep up the awesome work!

Thank you, Samantha! It’s very inspiring to see and share all of your detective work.

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Hi Pam, First of all, I have to say how much I love your site. It has helped me move from a rabid collector of retro lamps into someone obsessed with finding the perfect 60s house (and thus giving up my lovely, but labor-intensive, Arts & Crafts home that I have slaved over for six years). My problem is this: I hate the exteriors of most of the houses I am looking at! Whether it’s the flat facade, with the windows and door and garage all in a row, or the cliched colonial brick-and-shutters motif (sometimes with a weathervane on the garage for an extra touch), just can’t see the curb appeal. Do you have any advice on how to either learn to live with the exteriors of these houses, or to enhance them in such a way that they look more interesting? Thanks for any advice you can offer! Sarah (Madison, WI)

Thank you, Sarah. Wisconsin is another of my favorite places – I went to college in Milwaukee. That is one cold place. I heard that this year, it snowed EVERY SINGLE day of the winter. You are hearty souls indeed. Okay, so, the exteriors of modest postwar homes. Here are my thoughts: You know, many of these homes are quite plain. In the first five years after WWII, issues like ‘curb appeal’ were quite secondary considering the incredible demand for functional housing coupled with the very modest tastes following 20 years of economic deprivation. Quite opposite today – people had to be pried loose from their wallets, they were still so concerned following those depression years. By about 1953, though, we began to relax into affluence and real consumerism kicked in, bringing with it a design flair that emanated from (1) Modernism and California Cool and/or (2) neo-Colonial-revival inspiration. The preference for both of these styles came out of the post-WWII desire to invent an authentic American look. While at the opposite ends of the spectrum, one reaches to our possible future, while the other harkens to our historic past. Now – whether you like the looks of these homes is a matter of personal taste. And it’s a taste than can evolve out of appreciation and understanding. When we found our 1951 colonial-ranch here in Lenox, Mass., seven years ago – buying retro had not been on our radar at all. We wanted a quaint New England farmhouse. Fortunately, as it turned out, the house has been great – and inspired this great passion I now have. Initially, our home’s exterior was…pretty awful. In my opinion the trim paint did nothing for the exterior, the trees and shrubs were overgrown… there was a lack of decorative punch. People used to come inside the house – and act surprised at how nice it was – because from the outside, it appeared so “innocuous.” In fact, I came to like this fact. It kind of played to my rebelliousness about “not keeping up with the Joneses.” In fact, this unpretentiousness is basic to the mid-century design ethic. Excess ornamentation is not functional – and it also costs unnecessary money, which would put these homes a little farther out of reach. Simpler=Democratic. Even so, over the years we made a number of changes to our house that made it much more pleasant, and today the house has really nice – colonial – curb appeal. It was kind of like the ugly duckling that we turned into a swan. So, what to look for, in your house hunt?

1. My #1 tip when it comes to buying a house: Location, location, location, like the realtors say. That includes, good schools, a lightly traveled street, and good feng shui. In regard to feng shui, in particular: No roads “pointing” into your house. Someday you will likely want to sell. Not only will best location make it be easier to sell, but your investment will have compounded at a much nicer clip. And, it will be a nicer place to live in the meantime. If at all possible, I would not compromise on location; hold out.
2. After that – look for an interior that has the right scale and room flow. Is it truly truly livable? Can you imagine using each of the spaces to its fullest possible extent?
3. If possible, original kitchen, bathroom, floors, windows – etc. Un-remuddled, and of good quality. Yes, you know I am a fan of time capsules! If original features are of good quality – and if they are safe and environmentally sound (always know what you are living/working with) – they are gems and will save you tons of money in renovation costs. (If you find these time capsule features, do NOT act excited. Most people are not like us. Use this as a negotiating lever, like, furrow your eyebrows and say worriedly, “Well I kind of like it but, oh my gosh, that kitchen hasn’t had any updates since the day they moved in…hmmm”).
4. Of course, you will be getting a thorough home inspection that includes testing for vintage nasties like lead and asbestos. There are lots of things that can go wrong with a house — readers shared some of their experiences in this kind of frightening story. Be sure you know what you are getting yourself into.
5. And of course — a price that is fair considering all these factors… and, a price that you can truly afford.

If these factors are right – you should be jumping up and down in the foyer with excitement.  In your head, not in front of the real estate agent. The look of the exterior would be at least this far down my list – probably farther. Because anything cosmetic — is fixable. I jumped on Realtor.com for Madison, and found several homes, all under $200,000, that looked like nice examples of the era. Of course, I can’t weigh on location, #1. But the four homes I show here all have exterior charm that looks workable – and several of them have “one owner for 35 years” or “needs TLC and/or updating” — codewords to me that there may be original stuff inside. Over the next while, I’ll do some more posts on ways to spruce up an exterior. Now that it’s spring is here in the north, the time is right! I hope this helps, Sarah. I’m a big believer in truly loving your house. I hope you find the one that’s right for you. Keep up apprised of how your hunt goes! Epilogue: Sarah contacted me a few months later and said she’d found a house she was happy with — and was loving her new neighborhood. This post has been updated from the original, which ran on April 15, 2008.

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