Retro Renovation» ranch

Jsnugbear paints his ranch house

pam kueber — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 08:00:32 +0000

READER JSNUGBEAR adds his paint colors for a ranch house to our growing list of real-life reader stories. In addition, he has been a great reporter and taken lots of before, during, and after photos that show the transformation. Jsnugbear aka John also gets to show off his vintage cloth awnings, I am jealous. Above: A shot of the house, completed. And, do I spy with my little eye: Don Featherstone flamingoes to celebrate a major major item crossed off the “to do” list?

John writes:

I recently had 2 sides of my home painted. Here are a few pics to share with your readers per your request for renovation pics and stories. I included a before pic so you can see what it looked like when I bought it in Oct 2007.

Above and left: Original look when I bought home in Oct 2007. Not bad but I personally don’t like shutters especially on either side of the front door!! Neighbors couldn’t remember last time it had been painted. Needless to say they LOVE me!!!! I love the original door. Hope to paint that as well.The inside of door is natural wood but the exterior has already been painted.

Above: West side primed and ready for paint.

Above: South side needed lots of primer!!!

Above and left: Front before trim painted and awnings put back up. Looks much cleaner and MCM without the shutters!! I … removed one of the exterior lights by the door as it originally only had one.

Above and left: South side. The awnings make SUCH a difference in the summer. I rarely use air conditioning and only in my bedroom at night. I love the natural breezes that flow thru the house.

Above: Front(west side)

Pam, I used Behr paint. Body is called Spiceberry and trim is Mojave Sunset. I tried to play the trim off the brick fireplace under carport. Its a terra cotta color rather than red brick. I tried looking into Eichler colors since I love the Eichler homes but I didn’t find one I liked. I have a Benjamin Moore store where I live so they had all the color cards for Eichler.

John

John, thank you so much for recording all this and for sharing. Have I ever mentioned that I love shingled ranches? The house looks great!

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Samantha and Dave paint their mid-century house jadeite green

pam kueber — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 08:00:01 +0000

Here’s an inspiring story from readers – Samantha and Dave – who told beige to bite the dust and instead painted their Colorado bungalow / ranch a fabulous shade of Burma Jade — jadeite green — from the Sherwin-Williams Suburban Modern palette. A note on the brick detailing on this house. By the early 50s architects and builders were looking to create a “long and low” ranch house feel on designs of every ilk. Adding a half-wall trim like the brick that runs along the front of this house — and in some cases beyond, as in this house — accentuates the horizontal, even though this house appears to be pretty much a square box. A classic classic mid-century house design trick. Click thru for Samantha’s explanation of their journey.

She writes:

Hi, Pam,

Love, love, love your web site! I am writing to tell you our experience with using the Sherwin Williams Suburban Modern palette for our home’s exterior. Our house is a 1300 square foot ranch built in 1959 There are many classic midcentury modern houses in our neighborhood–some “cooler” than others; that is, some have bolder color choices and seem to stand out.

Our house before painting was yellow with maroon trim. It has a brick facade that was originally pinkish-beige. We chose Burma Jade for the body of the house, and white for the trim. This was a classic combination according to the Sherwin Williams Suburban Modern palette. We also painted the brick facade white. When we finished, we received nice compliments from the neighbors. One woman who raised here family in the neighborhood said that it reminded her of when the neighborhood was first built. That was a big compliment, in our opinion! Some didn’t “get it.” One friend said it was an “old” color. Most people said that it went with the style of the neighborhood, so we chalked that one disparaging comment up to a matter of taste. The house looks amazing. We love the color and the fact that we don’t fit in with most of the brown and beige houses on our street.

As for taking a courageous step…..it really was. We went through many color combinations before deciding to “go bold.” Initially, we wanted to use the beige color on the Suburban Modern palette, but when we tested it on the house, it looked pinkish. Not good. So after much discussion about colors, our “final” decision was white with the trim in Burma Jade. But then….we noticed that the house kitty corner from us was white with teal trim….a little too close to what we had in mind. So, at the last minute, we switched, deciding to go bold with Burma Jade as the body color and white as the trim. We love the way it turned out, even if some don’t get it.

Thanks again for your wonderful website. I am addicted!

Samantha and Dave

Thank you, Samantha and Dave, for sharing your story. It will give courage to all of us who struggle with taking a bold step when it comes to color.

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Who are the original owners of your home? Averyl’s story.

pam kueber — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:00:40 +0000

Reader Averyl is a new owner of a mid-century home. She recently wrote to share how she had researched — then met – the home’s original owners. I asked her to tell us more… Read on for Averyl’s wonderful story.

She writes:

I’ve always dreamed of living in a mid-century ranch house like my grandmother’s where I spent many happy days as a young child, eating lunch at her chrome dinette set, admiring her figurines in her curio cabinet, watching “I Love Lucy” on her large TV with rabbit ears or looking out of her large multi-pane window onto the tree lined suburban street of Fort Lee, New Jersey in the late 1960’s.

Two months ago I bought my dream ranch house in Maine after years of looking. As soon as I walked inside the house I knew right away it would be my home. There had only been a few cosmetic updates and they were compatible with mid-century décor; no one tried to make the house look 2009. I looked outside the large multi-pane living room window and wondered about who had lived there before the seller from whom I would purchase the house. I knew she had been there fifteen years, but what about the original owners? There was an indescribably good energy to whole house. Almost like an episode of “The Twilight Zone” I felt transported back in time and I could almost see and hear “Leave it to Beaver” showing on a black and white television set as a mother cooked in the kitchen wearing an apron and her kids played in the front yard. I decided I wanted to look up the people who had lived there to see if I could tap into some of the history of the house and thank them for taking such good care of it.

After we moved in I called the town office where public records of ownership are maintained, and it turned out that the original owners lived in the house for over forty years! I really wanted to meet them, but I hesitated; what would they think? Would I sound like a nut? To some people a house is just that but to me it’s a home filled with history and stories. I figured, what did I have to lose other than a pretty daydream?

I looked them up and saw they were still living in my town. I introduced myself via email and invited them over to see their house (I didn’t call it “my” house). They were very receptive and offered to bring old photos- bonus!

When they arrived the following Saturday morning we walked around the grounds and they told us about the old neighborhood and people in it. Inside we walked from room to room, and I asked them what was original and what had been replaced. I heard many stories and they said my television is in the same spot where they had theirs and that they indeed watched the first runs of “Leave it to Beaver” and “I Love Lucy.”

The best part of the visit was when we all sat down at my chrome dinette set in the kitchen with the large stack of photo albums they had brought over. I saw pictures of my house being built, family pictures taken inside the house throughout the years, bridge games played in my living room and my favorite, Christmastime.

Although only 1,200 square feet they raised two children in the house, and judging from the excellent condition inside, they were very well behaved. We talked about the changes in ways people are able to finance homes now as compared to then and how a bigger house has somehow come to equate “better.” A smaller house is now usually perceived only as a starting point.

I explained: “I plan to live in this house a very long time, yet people often refer to it as a ‘starter home.’”

“This was our starter home for forty-two years,” the former Lady of the House replied.

I learned about some of the local business history and even saw a picture of the businessman whose name is on the thermometer outside my door. It seemed that back then everything was locally owned and you could shake hands (or even go bowling) with the person whose name was on the shop.

After a lovely two hour visit they needed to get going and they were kind enough to let me scan some of the photos. I plan to have them over for my Christmas party so they can see the house with my 1950’s Christmas decorations.

“We approve,” they said as they left. I do, too.

Copyright Averyl Hill, All Rights Reserved. www.averyl.com

Thank you, Averyl! Averyl also has a blog: The Way Life Used to Be. And more photos of her home in her photosets on Flickr. Check them out.

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