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Midcentury modern Lexington, Kentucky: Huckleberry’s Chair Fetish

Posted by: • July 20, 2009

pam-kueber-in-lexington

This is not my house. It is the first room in Huckleberry’s Chair Fetish – a midcentury modern shop near the campus of the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Regular readers will recall that I visited Lexington last Thanksgiving to meet up with Sumac Sue aka Judi for a look at her house, her neighborhood, a pink bathroom, an aqua bathroom — and yes, a little side trip to this mid mod furniture shop she had recently discovered. Even though it’s taken me a while to get to this post, it is not for lack of immediate love of the place starting with the name, Huckleberry’s Chair Fetish. First there’s the surname Huckleberry, it goes with Earlene – the proprietress.  Then there’s Chair Fetish. Earlene is calibrated as nutso as the rest of us for this mid mod stuff. Her eyes had that wild look when she talked about her store and all its contents. Fetish. That  just about sums it up. And I bet that putting it into the headline of this post is going to bring me a whole new slew of readers. Oh joy. Heck yeah there is more →

Sumac Sue and her Gardenside way of life – a Retro Renovation re-run

Posted by: • May 16, 2009

My house. Hattie, my cat, is jumping out of the flowerbed, by the way.

The post about Madison Sarah and her hunt for a 50s or 60s home drew lots of comments, including a lovely note from Sumac Sue, aka Judi, of Lexington, Kentucky. Her comments were really moving, so I asked her if I could make a post out of them – and asked if she could send pictures to go with. She kindly did, and even added some more info at my request. A long post – but well worth the time to read and think about. Sumac Sue is a former newspaper reporter – so the girl can turn a phrase! Maybe other readers have similar stories about their neighborhoods that they would like to share? Send in your stories and your “walking tour” photos and I’d be happy to make this a regular feature. Thank you, Judi (Sumac Sue), for getting this started! Heck yeah there is more →

Outrageous Oriental retro lamps and decor spotted at the Louisville Antiques Mall

Posted by: • December 4, 2008
From Louisville Antique Market

On my first full day in Louisville, my mom Fran and I went shopping for mid mod antiques, of course. Our destination: Five floors of eye candy at the downtown Louisville Antiques Mall. I can’t say I saw a ton of mid century modern. But one thread I captured: Outrageous Oriental lamps and such.

Heck yeah there is more →

Willett maple furniture – native to Kentucky, I believe

Posted by: • December 3, 2008
From Maple furniture

Antiquing in Louisville, I saw a bit of Willett maple furniture. Up here in Massachusetts, we had Cushman maple. Both are equally beautiful – and what quality! Another sure-to-be collectible, to be sure!

rbwUpdate Feb 2009: I am in love with this furniture even more – now that I think it might have been designed by Royal Barry Wills. Ad now also attached. Swoon.

From Maple furniture

Sleep in a wigwam — Femme1 vacations at Wigwam Village outside Mammoth Cave

Posted by: • September 19, 2008

Pam,

I’ve been meaning to send you a couple things that I’ve had for awhile. Life is crazy …

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I made a short weekend getaway trip to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. We’ve been meaning to do this for some time, because we haven’t really traveled much in our region, as we’re always making trips to visit family in the East. Of course, being an afficionado of all things vintage and a little bit off the beaten path, we stayed in one of the only three remaining concrete wigwam motels in the U.S., Wigwam Village No. 2, in Cave City, Kentucky. At one time there were seven of these motels; they were built in the 30s. Here’s the website: wigwamvillage.com. We had a great time; they were still furnished with the original unpeeled twig furniture, and had the original bathrooms. The lumpy mattress was pretty uncomfortable, but it was worth it. One of the funniest things about the place was that a bunch of little kids were playing cowboys and indians around the campfires their parents had built that night. It reminded me of my youth! These kids were dressed up with guns in holsters and Indian feather headdresses and war paint (all available for sale in the gift shop!). All incredibly non-PC but so much fun for those kids.

The towns surrounding Mammoth Cave are full of the sort of old roadside Americana that I just love. I’ve taken a bunch of photos of some of the MCM motel signs.

Oh yeah…and Mammoth Cave was pretty spectacular too!

Deb

Click on through… 6 photos in all… Heck yeah there is more →