During last week’s laminate ramblings, I stumbled on this incredible 1959 house in Texas – it’s the original home of the founder of Wilsonart laminates, and it’s now owned by the company, serving as their archives and a space for corporate events.

All photos: Courtesy Wilsonart – who were fabulous, very responsive! Thank you, Diana Z.!

The story of the Wilson House’s salvation is right out of a retro renovation suspense novel. 10 years ago, when there was little appreciation for this type of mid century modern design and certainly not for something as pedestrian as laminates, the company decided to sell the house. But, it needed to gut it first due to the “problem” interior. The house had been built as a showcase for the use of laminates – so the stuff is everywhere but the ceilings and floors. It’s truly incredible.

Then — someone brand new to the company is taken over to the house on the very day they are going to start demolition.  She has historical sensibility – and passion – and stands in front of the bulldozer. Well, there was no bulldozer. But she did stop the demo…convinced the company to keep the house…and went on to lead the restoration of what is now the youngest-ever National Historic Landmark.

Her name, by the way, is Grace Jeffers - and I will do more features on her soon. She is my new idol (along with Courtney and so many of you readers!) She has gone on to many other fabulous projects in the world of man-made materials.

Holyoke Cindy was the first one to mention here that laminate kitchen cabinets are a great solution for our midmod kitchens – and she is absolutely positively right. Cindy’s kitchen is totally appropriate to her early 60s contemporary…and this Wilson kitchen, with its Mondrian influences, undeniably gorgeous, is further proof that laminates are a great and worth alternative for our retro renovations.

Thank you, Grace. You did a good thing.

Click here for a history of the house on the Wilsonart website, and here to a New York Times story circa 1998 on the Wilson House – well worth it.

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More today from the Wilsonart laminate history archives. In the 60s, laminate colors got, at one end of the spectrum richer and earthier – and at the other end, pop-art bold.  Some of the defining trends from the period, this article says:

• Color TV was introduced in 1965, bringing us closer in touch with design inspiration from other cultures.
• The Mediterranean look – more specifically, Spanish Colonial — gave us both colors and textures like faux leather. “Corinthian leather!”
• The op-art, pop-art world was a-flutter. Hence, the iconic oranges, yellows and lime greens of the period.
• We loved faux everything. The future is Plastics.
• Oh yeah: Squint and you can see avocado green and harvest gold… two colors that stayed with us well into the 70s.

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As follow up to my post yesterday – with a round up of all the laminates for bathroom counters that are on my radar today – I also recently found this great little history of laminate in the 1950s, from Wilsonart. 2011 update, Wilsonart has taken story down, but here are a few highlights:

• Laminate was so popular in the 50s, that a chrome-and-metal dinette cost four-times more than a wood dinette.
• Plastic laminate was desirable for its impermeability – easy to clean up.
• Another reason for the bright, exuberant colors of the 50s: Colors were rationed in the 40s during the war, when the color du jour was battleship gray.
• Speckled laminate — also known as lame’ — was made with real glitter, which was invented in the 30s.
• Marble and wood-grain were popular – with many choices still available today.

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