We start year two of RetroRenovation.com with a perfect time capsule. But this one’s not for sale.
In fact, Russell is closing on it today (if all goes right)! Yoo haah, Russell, congratulations — fantastic house!
Don’t dare tear out the pink bathrooms, or those living room pinch pleats. And – the fish wallpaper – it’s AWESOME!
On the blog every day for four months, you say? We’ll, you are sucked in, for sure — and know that owning such a treasure now binds you to our retro renovator’s code starting with, “Don’t rip ANYTHING out ’til you are 100% positive you won’t regret it later!” Evil laugh ha ha ha ha.
Will he get to keep the pink bathroom? Or will she win, and rip it out? (Horrors!) Plus – GREAT kitchen — read on!
Dear Pam,
My wife and I are moments away from being able to call this one owner custom time capsule our home. It was love at first sight, and this is coming from someone who at the time had no appreciation at all for mid-century ranches. So of course I had to go straight to the computer and do some homework. It didn’t take long to find your site. You have been a tremendous resource. I now fully understand how lucky I am to come across such a gem. Thank You. More about the house…
The house was built by the owner and his buddies who were all Seabees in WWII. The Seabees are the Construction Battalions of the United States Navy. They were all engineers and builders. The house is really a testament to their skillful hands. Everything about the house is solid and well built. They were obviously also very in tune with the trends in house architecture at the time. Radiant heating (check), coral skylark laminate (check), Nutone food center and hood (check), retractable fixture (check), pink bathroom (check), cedar closet (check). I could go on and on. My absolute favorite detail is the stylized attic vents that mimics the slope of the roof. In addition, according the owners son the wood siding is all original. Not one shake has ever been replaced! Apparently the wife hand dipped each and every one. WOW
…. Yes, I have been to your other site [SaveThePinkBathrooms.com]. I have been going to retrorenovation-com-staging.enwf9w61-liquidwebsites.com everyday for the last four months. Some of the things I have noted about the bathroom include: The custom cabinets slope back just like in the kitchen, The wallpaper has a underwater theme with fish swimming around pink treasure chests, the built-in next to the toilet has magazine racks and also gives access to the bath plumbing, the wall tile continues between the closet and the door (what attention to detail), there is a cup/toothbrush/soap holder on both ends. Given the condition of the wallpaper I think it has to go. Saving the pink bathroom is a battle that has already started between my wife and I. Yep, the man wants to keep the pink, she thinks it has got to go. I’m making progress!
One more story…..Also attached a photo of the Nutone food center. When we first saw the house I asked the realtor what it was. He told me it was a built-in blender and that it still worked. When I laughed and said “but what about the parts” he opened a kitchen cabinet, and there were all the original parts and attachments including the manual/cookbook. All in perfect condition.
We are glad you like the house. Thank you again for your wonderful site and I will keep you updated on some of the renovations we plan to do in the coming months.
Russell
Thank you, Russell. You are so fortunate to have this home – and it sounds so fortunate to have you. I am for sure going to come visit soon!