Chris and Angela wrote to me a few months ago, excited because they were about to close on a beautiful 1964 mid-century modern home in Wisconsin. Well, the deal went through successfully, and now this cute-overload couple is happily playing house in their stunning, designer-built house — a time capsule with mint-condition original lighting, Nutone, basement bar and heavens to betsy: two flocked wallpapers.
Before I launch Chris, let me explain that when he originally wrote, the couple was concerned about the sunset tan bathroom — didn’t quite know what to do with it even though they are “designer types.” I pointed them to a photo of one of my bathrooms, in which I used Home Depot “rose beige” tiles, and suggested something akin to the mint green, aqua and brown combination I used for wallpaper, linens and accessories. You can see how they picked up and ran with the suggestion in their bathroom design experiment to date.
So here’s the story and all the awesome 1964 time capsule eye candy. Chris writes:
Hi Pam,
My wife and I were lucky enough to just purchase this beautiful 1964 home. Our house is an original one of a kind. The original owners we bought the house from designed the floor plan and many of the details were constructed by the owner himself. Beautiful features, fixtures, stonework.
We are not finished decorating any of this yet, but had to share now since it will be a while until it’s finished. These are all just items we already had that we’re using until we find better suited ones, along with nice drapes.
The chocolate & mint accessories in the bathroom will work once we find ones we like, thanks for the color tip!
As you can see, right now we’re experimenting with chocolate, green and cyan.
The bathroom is nearly as-new with hardly any wear (they used the similar but smaller blue bathroom which will be undergoing restoration shortly). About the only non-original item is the faucet.
Note long sliding medicine cabinet under the mirror with an electrical outlet inside. Slanted cabinets. Also we have the NuTone 3-in-1 heater, light and fan.
Needless to say, this room will stay as-is forever. We need to find a chair appropriate for the dressing area,
and I need to clean that floor grout. Pretty easy restoration, I’d say!
Next up is our main hall with what we call
our “UFO” light fixture 🙂
And our cozy fireplace room that we’ve accessorized temporarily with some Danish Modern influences.
We love our dotted light fixtures here, too. NuTone built-in doorbell here, too. This room’s flooring is an interesting laminate that is clear with laminate chips in it that looks like pebbles in water. Unfortunately there is a lot of damage, so will need to be replaced eventually.
Entry tile. Pink/green, though camera flash brings out the
color. It’s more subdued. [Pam adds: I like the look of that wallpaper, too.]
Last up is our basement 1960’s paneled family room. We are starting to furnish and accessorize this room now in all oranges and greens. Need to find some orange barstools!
Oh, and can’t forget a couple samples of our flocked bedroom wallpaper, one orange… [Pam adds: I couldn’t resist putting these images in super-size. Blow your mind, mon!]
…one blue.
Great site, it’s our favorite… keep up the good work!
Chris & Angela, near Milwaukee, WI
Thank you, Chris and Angela, for doing this great archiving of your home and for sharing it with us. Fantastic house — and you two sound like you are the perfect caretakers. I can’t wait to see what else you do with it, over time. xoxo
Bonus quiz:
Christine says
Amazing house. I’m so glad you’re preserving its character. Plus you can really imagine a scene from Mad Men happening in your home!!
Queen of Fifty Cents says
Love that spacey ceiling light! Congrats on your house, you’ll have a lot of fun with it!
Emi + Mark says
Angie and Chris! Your place looks spectacular!!! Great photos, and we love how you left much of the vintage detail that makes your place a real charmer. Great job guys!! 🙂
Barbara says
Seriously, SERIOUSLY jealous of your house. I guess before my life is over, I’ll have to move to Wisconsin, Michigan or wherever these cool houses seem to reign supreme. California is a “tear down” state – none of these houses really haven’t been touched.
That bathroom is without a doubt one of the coolest I’ve ever seen.
Barbara
Chris says
Hi James, sorry, I don’t know anything about the wallpaper. It was there when we moved in.
Our other bathroom looks very much like this, but is about half the size and has blue floor tiles like these, white salt-and-pepper wall tiles, and tiled shower with diagonally-placed ceiling tiles.
(Shower is identical to this one except for soap dish placement):
https://retrorenovation.com/2009/05/12/a-1964-blue-bathroom-with-built-in-hall-mack-nutone-textolite-more/
Unfortunately, the vanity, sink, mirror, and lighting was replaced in probably the ’80s, but I found a mint powder blue ’50s/’60s Kohler sink with chrome legs (Kohler is appropriate for Wisconsin) already, and looking for the rest. Re-Store had the matching stool, but it was sold. This bathroom will be a stunner once it’s restored as well.
sumac sue says
It makes me happy to read about all of these young couples who are loving and caring for their great mid-century houses. This is a great house. Nicely furnished and so comfy and warm looking, which is good because it sure looks frosty outside!
The crazy suburban mom says
Oh wow. See these are the houses I see on the HGTV shows and everyone is turning their noses up and saying words like…gut…and tear-down… and the ever popular – We’ll redo it in stainless.
Makes me wanna cry.
Loving this house! wow
Tracy
James says
Chris and Angela- Wow. We have the exact same bathroom floor tile, and the exact same wall tiles in the master bathroom of our 1963 colonial. The tub is in an alcove and the wall tiles go up the full length of the alcove walls and cover the ceiling in the alcove area. Our sink is oval, same color as wall tiles. The doors and cabinetry are original but more “colonial” in style (6 panel). Can you give me info on the wallpaper used in your bathroom?
Alice says
Yowza! What a great place. There is much to cherish…but for today I will choose your slanted bathroom cabinet (so cool!) and your family room/orange crush bar! I can just imagine having “drambuie on the rocks” while listening to Joan Baez…have fun in your new treasure!
Baz MCM says
Rebecca and Kersten,
Love the notion of multiple Crash Party cities. I’m in the process of building atomiccrashparty.com where we can list and share all the events around the country. Several other cities are already on board. Want to play?
Hit me up: bazmcm [at] gmail [dot] com
Cheers,
-Baz