Retro Renovation » kentucky http://retrorenovation.com A place for your postwar 40s 50s 60s and 70s style kitchens, bathrooms and mid century modern home aesthetic. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:27:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Midcentury modern Lexington, Kentucky: Huckleberry’s Chair Fetish http://retrorenovation.com/2009/07/20/midcentury-modern-lexington-kentucky-huckleberrys-chair-fetish/ http://retrorenovation.com/2009/07/20/midcentury-modern-lexington-kentucky-huckleberrys-chair-fetish/#comments Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:00:42 +0000 pam kueber http://retrorenovation.com/?p=15216
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    • ]]>     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.

    huckleberrys-chair-fetish

    The sign out front. Please note, I do think that mid-century with the hyphen is the correct spelling. I usually write midcentury, though. Because it’s my blog, and hyphens annoy me. I also am really trying to lay off the exclamation points, as well as the excessive use of adjectives and adverbs. Em dashes, though, I’m all about em dashes.

    driving-to-lexington

    This is my my sister Jenni driving, she gets major snaps for coming along, and despite the fact I made her pose in the pink bathroom shot here, I think she even had fun. That’s Judi in the passenger seat. I don’t for a minute believe they are both natural blondes at this point, but who am I to talk? I plan to never ever know what my natural hair color is again.

    earlene-huckleberry

    This is Earlene. She basically told us that she had recently discovered mid century modern , and was immediately, irrevocably sucked into the retro vortex. There was no stopping it. She had to open the shop and seek out all she could find. Earlene is a force of nature to be reckoned with. The shop is normally closed on Sundays, the day we came, and Judi had called her ahead of time to see if we could get in. Thanks, Earlene, for hosting us! You get an exclamation point!

    70s-white-leather-lounge-chair

    This white leather lounge chair was definitely my #1 object of desire. So impractical.

    retro-Lexington

    A lucite bar and matching bar stools.

    60s-club-chair

    This upholstered Danish club chair (I think you’d call it) was upstairs. I really like the stripes and the pukey colors. Really.

    1959-formic-vanity809

    Thayer-Coggin, maybe? I’m just starting to get to know the high style designers. These kind of remind me of baseball mitts.

    miniature-ball-chair

    Earlene had a collection of tiny chairs. See the label inside? That’s a 3/4″-1″ price tag. So it gives you a sense of the size of this piece. As I recall, this miniature was worth more than most of us would consider paying for a fullsized chair…

    80s-chrome-bed

    There were other kinds of furniture, too, like this poster bed. 80s? So fabulous. And I like how Earlene backs the whole thing with a mirror to play up the silvery metal. I am not keen on the placement in a real life bedroom, though — bad feng shui, as I recall.  For that matter, feng shui masters wouldn’t advise a metal bed, anyway. Too cold. Beds must be made of natural materials, as I recall. Oh well.

    50s-lamp

    Sweet lamp and shade. As you can begin to tell, it doesn’t appear that Earlene is a slave to any one niche. Just quality, wonderful stuff.

    midcentury-buffet

    This buffet was in the entry way. Darnit, I think I noted the maker somewhere. Usually I just take a photo of any labels I see, but hmmmm, not there.

    estate-sale

    And of course I snooped around. Out the upstairs back window I spotted stuff out back waiting to be brought inside. If you look closely – there are some fab looking mod orange pinch pleats in a pile by the blue containers. I hinted to Earlene about taking a look. But she didn’t bite. So, I restrained myself. Drats.

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    2. Midcentury modern post lantern from Besa Lighting Jennifer gets snaps for sending us this very nice midcentury...
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    ]]>     http://retrorenovation.com/2009/07/20/midcentury-modern-lexington-kentucky-huckleberrys-chair-fetish/feed/ 6     Sumac Sue and her Gardenside way of life – a Retro Renovation re-run http://retrorenovation.com/2009/05/16/sumac-sue-and-her-gardenside-way-of-life/ http://retrorenovation.com/2009/05/16/sumac-sue-and-her-gardenside-way-of-life/#comments Sat, 16 May 2009 08:00:55 +0000 Pam Kueber http://retrorenovation.com/?p=2020
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    • ]]>     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!

    With so much emphasis on gizmos and gadgets and other facets or retro interior decorating, I really hadn’t thought much about how simple the facades are on most mid-century homes. I find our house, and the houses in our neighborhood of modest, mostly one-story brick ranches, to be sort of sturdy and cute, like freckle-faced boys. It’s a look I find appealing.

    But, if someone like Madison Sarah wants a bit more oomph, then maybe she could try an approach such as looking for a house with a really pronounced modern style, such as Anne and Gary’s house, which has been mentioned on this site. Sure, it has some flatness to it, but, it has angles and overhangs and lots of glass, which makes it cool.

    Interesting decorative block and wrought iron on a mid-century apartment complex in the neighborhood. I like the little touches like the eagle.

    If Madison Sarah can’t find a house like that, then, my only other suggestion is to try to think of the mid-century houses not as a look, but, as a way of life. Sounds cliched, I know, but, we have found that living in our ‘59 ranch, in our ‘59 era neighborhood, to be really pleasant.

    We weren’t really looking for a mid-century house when we found this one. We were looking for a house that was well built, of good materials, one that would be pretty easy to maintain, and one that was in a neighborhood that would be a pleasant place to walk with our dog in the evenings. And, we had a tight budget, but we wanted at least 1.5 bathrooms. So, we found our house in a nice neighborhood of 1,000 to 1,500 square-foot houses, most with carports or garages. Some have basements, but ours has a roomy, dry crawlspace — either way, they are all easy to get under to work on plumbing, the furnace, etc. (A previous house had virtually no crawlspace, and we had to scoot on our stomachs in the damp dirt. No more of that!) Houses this size are pretty easy to care for, and the utilities aren’t outrageous.

    The rest of the shopping center has been updated, but they left this 50s look at one end. It\'s so neat.

    Like many such mid-century neighborhoods, ours includes a shopping area with a grocery store, bank, post office, and some other stores. We have enjoyed being able to walk to this shopping area, and now that gas prices have risen so much, we like it even more.

    I can’t speak for other such neighborhoods, but ours is really stable. People buy these houses and hold onto them. We still have four people on our little street who are the original owners of their houses! They are all in their 80s. We bought our house last summer from the original owner, who was 86. We joke that these houses are good for your health, because people live so long in them.

    Duck pond is a pleasant place to go -- to feed the ducks, of course.

    But, maybe it is no joke — they really are nice places to live. We are in our 50s, and there are other middle-aged people on the street, and there are a few young couples with kids. The ones we have met have said the same thing as us — they moved here because they were looking for a well-built house. They also say they didn’t want to buy a cheaply built new house way out on the edge of town.

    Our neighborhood is called Gardenside — doesn’t that just sound like a nice place to live? Madison Sarah, I hope you find a nice place to live, too.

    Landscaping with spring-flowering trees and perennials. (Much better planned than what you usually see, I hate to say.)

    I know I’ve gushed on about our neighborhood like a real estate agent with too many houses to unload. The thing I want to stress is, like you, we really weren’t looking for a mid-century house, but it has worked out really well for us, much better than expected.

    We once lived in a quaint 1910 era frame house, but it was hard to maintain, and closer to downtown and the university, so traffic was terrible. We then bought some land in the country with a mobile home on it. We wanted to build a farmhouse or cabin. But traffic was terrible there too! All of those other city people moving to the country just like us, causing so much traffic on the winding rural roads. We just couldn’t commit to building a house there and putting up with the traffic forever. It seemed pretty nutty — so wasteful of time and resources. When Wayne changed jobs and his commute got even longer, that’s when we decided to move back into town.

    I had once lived in a 1970s era suburb, and it was OK. I admit, we were a bit like Madison Sarah when we started looking at houses in the suburbs. We thought of them as being sort of boring. But the main thing we wanted was a well-built house — after living in an elderly cottage, and then a mobile home, we wanted a house that didn’t have something breaking every other day! A mid-century house fit the bill. And you know, we have not found one other house in the whole neighborhood just like ours. So, it’s really not boring, it’s unique!

    The only story-and-a-half on my block. I like how they have used a cream-colored trim rather than the more conventional stark white. In the background, you see a ranch with cream trim and sage-colored shutters and front door. It\'s nice too. When we change our white trim, we are thinking of going to something like this, or maybe a light gray. We don\'t plan to rush into anything. Hope to get more tips from your site!

    I just wanted to let Madison Sarah know that living in a mid-century house was more than just about the facade of one particular house — at least that is what I am finding out. We love living here not just because of our particular house, but because the whole neighborhood is a nice place to be. Our house, and the entire neighborhood, is built on a scale that seems so liveable.

    When we walk our dog, in a few blocks we get onto some streets of bigger houses, from about 1,800 to 3,000 square feet. (I was a bit incorrect when I said our neighborhood was 1,000 to 1,500 sf houses — that’s the size of most of the houses on the streets right around our house. But there are many larger houses within the Gardenside neighborhood.) These larger houses, ranches, split levels, Cape Cods, and two-story Colonials, were built in the late 50s to late 60s. We have crushes on several of these beauties. They still are built on a scale that seems right.

    This shot shows a mix of styles as the mid-century neighborhood ends and the mega-mansions begin. You can see a two-story colonial, a stone-and-glass ranch, and in the background, a great big \'ol place. (While I think people should have the freedom to build what they want, I just wish they wanted something that didn\'t dwarf the existing homes. Sort of like getting your cake -- a many-tiered cake -- while everyone else has cupcakes...

    THEN we can walk into a neighborhood of brand new homes — some over 6,000 square feet, with half-million to million-dollar price tags. We feel like the Monty Python knights approaching a castle when we venture into that neighborhood! We always are happy to walk back to our street.

    Hope this extra information is helpful, and doesn’t bog you down. I know you are busy…. knowing you also have family, career, and your house to tend to. So, I am happy to pitch in with some material for you. Maybe you could start a semi-regular neighborhoods feature, and others can send in photos of their communities. I think it would be a hit. But you know, we love it all, whatever you do!

    60s era house with a log cabin addition! Which came first? Maybe Abe Lincoln lived here!

    I hope I got the right descriptions with the right photos — I’m having to hurry because I need to go get some pine mulch from a neighbor who offered it to me. Another reason it is nice to live here. I think because the place is on a nice scale, people actually see each other and visit and share things.

    Judi

    This post originally ran on April 28, 2008

    My house. Hattie, my cat, is jumping out of the flowerbed, by the way. Typical house owned by a longtime resident of the neighborhood -- white trim, black shutters, row of carefully trimmed taxus. I love the roofline of this house across from ours. It has a modern flair, while ours is sort of colonial. This house is owned by a couple in their 30s. Home of my buddy Mr. Bartlett, original owner, in his mid-80s. House built circa 1960. Duck pond is a pleasant place to go -- to feed the ducks, of course. Interesting decorative block and wrought iron on a mid-century apartment complex in the neighborhood. I like the little touches like the eagle. Photos of my favorite landmark, the bus stop. It's looking a little tired, but I've been thinking of starting a campaign to get it spruced up. The rest of the shopping center has been updated, but they left this 50s look at one end. It's so neat. This is a former 60s-era gas station turned into a bar and restaurant. I love that notion, for some reason. It isn't done in some tacky theme way, of being decorated like a gas station. Instead, it has a horsey theme, since we are only a few miles from Keeneland race track. 60s modern office building, but with a colonial style sign. There's that combination again. I like the look of both. Series of apartment buildings combining stone and brick, and they have names -- Queen Carol, Queen Anne, Queen Alice, and Queen Elizabeth. How royal! 60s era house with a log cabin addition! Which came first? Maybe Abe Lincoln lived here! A colorful house two blocks from mine -- orange brick, green roof, at least two shades of pink trim, and a purple door. I actually like this house; I am not posting it to make fun. I think it all works pretty well together except the purple door -- I wish it was lavender instead of deep purple, so that it would show up better. (What do you think the homeowners would said if I knocked on the door and gave them this suggestion?) I don't think I could be this bold with color, but I enjoy looking at it. This shot shows a mix of styles as the mid-century neighborhood ends and the mega-mansions begin. You can see a two-story colonial, a stone-and-glass ranch, and in the background, a great big 'ol place. (While I think people should have the freedom to build what they want, I just wish they wanted something that didn't dwarf the existing homes. Sort of like getting your cake -- a many-tiered cake -- while everyone else has cupcakes... Landscaping with spring-flowering trees and perennials. (Much better planned than what you usually see, I hate to say.) The only story-and-a-half on my block. I like how they have used a cream-colored trim rather than the more conventional stark white. In the background, you see a ranch with cream trim and sage-colored shutters and front door. It's nice too. When we change our white trim, we are thinking of going to something like this, or maybe a light gray. We don't plan to rush into anything. Hope to get more tips from your site!

    Related posts:

    1. Shopping for a midcentury home — and what to do about postwar homes lacking curb appeal In this RetroRenovation classic re-run from April 2008, Madison...
    2. Retro Renovation readers’ Charlotte road trip I have a fancy picture of this group — Retro...
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    ]]>     http://retrorenovation.com/2009/05/16/sumac-sue-and-her-gardenside-way-of-life/feed/ 19     Outrageous Oriental retro lamps and decor spotted at the Louisville Antiques Mall http://retrorenovation.com/2008/12/04/outrageous-oriental-retro-lamps-and-decor-spotted-at-the-louisville-antiques-mall/ http://retrorenovation.com/2008/12/04/outrageous-oriental-retro-lamps-and-decor-spotted-at-the-louisville-antiques-mall/#comments Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:00:47 +0000 pam kueber http://retrorenovation.com/?p=7383
  • Antiques in the Berkshires – midcentury treasure hunt If you are looking for antiques in the Berkshires… and...
    • ]]>     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.

    I have decided that I quite love love love these. The watercolors aside (lovely!), they are so on the unbearable lightness of being end of the spectrum. Let’s not take ourselves too seriously, retro renovators.

    From Louisville Antique Market

    One of two lovely Japanese watercolors.

    From Louisville Antique Market

    The second Japanese watercolor.

    From Louisville Antique Market

    I think you would call kitschy Siamese cats with jeweltone eyes Oriental art?

    From Louisville Antique Market

    These two little oriental statuettes could light up many a corner. I am a real sucker for anything with metallic gold sprinkled throughout.

    From Louisville Antique Market

    I think this is a lantern of some sort.

    From Louisville Antique Market

    Not Outrageous Oriental… but, my mom Fran in an outrageous 50s hat that we spotted. Great hat! Great mom!

    From Louisville Antique Market

    Cheeky boudoir lamps, in pairs, make my heart sing.

    The only thing I bought all day: A fab 60s mod outfit for $10. We also had a memorable lunch in the Mall’s  5th-floor cafe, with good food, and views of downtown environs. What a fun day!

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    ]]>     http://retrorenovation.com/2008/12/04/outrageous-oriental-retro-lamps-and-decor-spotted-at-the-louisville-antiques-mall/feed/ 3     Willett maple furniture – native to Kentucky, I believe http://retrorenovation.com/2008/12/03/willett-maple-furniture-native-to-kentucky-i-believe/ http://retrorenovation.com/2008/12/03/willett-maple-furniture-native-to-kentucky-i-believe/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:59:52 +0000 Pam Kueber http://retrorenovation.com/?p=7367
  • 1952 Willett maple furniture I‘M FASCINATED by the midcentury midwest furniture companies. I have...
  • Midcentury modern Lexington, Kentucky: Huckleberry’s Chair Fetish This is not my house. It is the first...
    • ]]>     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

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    ]]>     http://retrorenovation.com/2008/12/03/willett-maple-furniture-native-to-kentucky-i-believe/feed/ 4     Sleep in a wigwam — Femme1 vacations at Wigwam Village outside Mammoth Cave http://retrorenovation.com/2008/09/19/sleep-in-a-wigwam-femme1-vacations-at-wigwam-village-outside-mammoth-cave/ http://retrorenovation.com/2008/09/19/sleep-in-a-wigwam-femme1-vacations-at-wigwam-village-outside-mammoth-cave/#comments Fri, 19 Sep 2008 08:00:42 +0000 pam kueber http://retrorenovation.com/?p=4641
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    • ]]>

    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…

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    ]]>     http://retrorenovation.com/2008/09/19/sleep-in-a-wigwam-femme1-vacations-at-wigwam-village-outside-mammoth-cave/feed/ 5