READER SAMANTHA now is the proud owner of a vintage brochure that includes houses in her own mid-century San Mateo, Florida, neighborhood. I am sure we will all be very jealous, because once you get into retro renovating your home, it seems like you want to know its complete history. Read on for Samantha’s story and for links to her blog, where you can also access the complete catalog.
Samantha writes:
Hey there Pam! Wanted to share my latest treasure, an original brochure from the builder of my home/neighborhood.
My house was built in ”61, so I’d say this is at least circa 1960. It’s full of fun details, made especially wonderful because I see these exact homes every day! I’m so jazzed! 🙂
I also have an original newspaper ad for the neighborhood (which came out of our bomb shelter!), and on my website I’ve transcribed the introduction from this cookbook. It’s a wonderful description of how things were at the very beginning of the community.
I’ve been told that Mrs. Mathias is still a resident in the same house – she’s also the present of the larger Northside Civic Association. I’ve not yet met her, though! We have a small, monthly community newspaper that has been doing a historical series lately, and San Mateo is supposed to be the next feature. Hopefully they will use some of this stuff as well! 🙂
Thanks Pam! I visit RetroRenovation every day – keep up the awesome work!
Thank you, Samantha! It’s very inspiring to see and share all of your detective work.