Update, Monday, May 31: We have a winner — congratulations, Robin L. — who has been notified and is whoopdedoo happy. 🙂 Watch for another contest – different question – same prize – a “Love The House You’re In” custom collage made by our collage artist laureate Mel Kolstad – in June.
Amy was the first winner of a “Love The House You’re In” custom collage made by our collage artist laureate Mel. That’s Amy’s wonderful house… and Amy’s husband’s vintage truck… all interpreted by Mel. This is such a fun contest — let’s do it again. To enter this month:
- Leave a comment on this post answering the question: What year was your house was built? If you like, I’d love to hear about what era/style you are decorating it in… but this is not required.
- And, subscribe to my newsletter. Yes, this helps me build my newsletter list… I send ’em out max twice per week.
Please read all the rules here before entering. I’ll pick a reader next Monday morning.
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my moms house was built in 1958 the modern L shape ranch coverd porch. it has a detacted 2car garage with a porgila / weather vane on top . was built. by del webb. Clairemont park unit 1 . we moved in in 1965 ,as my mom says you can only be original once . it has the pink bathroom,s original light fixtures, hings, door handles , brick fire place wall i repainted the front ranch door orange for mom and restored the schalge hardware .every one is redoing there house’s on the street we are restoring ours back to the 50s, we still have a 1959 rivera convertible sofa that my mom bought new we took it to los angles to the factory for them to rebuild it. we bought a new dining room set in 1969 i took down the 1970 walnut paneling to brightin up the room there are pink flamingos and a 1950s tiki bar { needs work} in the back yard
My mother in laws house (she passed away in 2005) was built for her in 1959 on land given to her from her father. Rita was a newlywed and her and her husband lived in her parents’ house across the street from her house while it was being built. Rita loved this house and cared for it in the best way possible. It is a time capsule of sorts with a history of minor updates like wall-to-wall carpeting over the hardwood floors so that she could preserve them. One seafoam green tiled bathroom and a browny-beige tiled bathroom.
New vinyl on the kitchen floors, however the cabinets, appliances, and countertops are all original.
The basement is full of my husbands’ grand parents, great and great, great grandparents farm tools and kitchen accessories including a Hoosier.
Needless to say we have a lot of renovations to accomplish starting with re-wiring and plumbing as well as enlarging the half bath to a full for the master bath. We are working to be true to the period and what my MIL would love to have had done. She was a practical woman and when my husband her only child asked her what she would like to see done with the house, she said two things and one was “just have some good windows”.
We know that she could have asked for more and we know the house needed(s) more. Our goal is to honor her memory and the person she was and is to our family by preserving the house that was built for Rita.
My house was built in 1954 custom designed for a single lady and her daughter. In our renovations we have searched for photos of what the house originally looked like for reference. Unfortunately, the original owners have passed away and the second owners of the house lost all of their photos in the hurricane (Katrina). My house is most certainly Mid-Century Modest at 1550 sq ft, 3 bedrooms and 1 bath. We love our home but are looking forward to the renovations being finished. 🙂 Our house is leaning more 1950s although you can see touches of the late 1940s and the early 1960s in certain accents.
I live in a 90 yr old stone Normandy in the Mt Airy Philadelphia suburbs. While the house is mostly original, the kitchen was renovated in the ’60’s with St Charles Cabinets. I absolutely love them. Wish I could find more of them so I could put them on the one bare wall that’s left. Imagine being surrounded by these cabinets! After being part of the retro renovator’s page, I’ve decided to put down linoleum to finish the “look”. It was originally installed with the St Charles cabinets, but the last owner of the house took it out and finished the wood floors, which look really out of place.
All the bathrooms are still original and I plan on keeping them that way.
I’ve put a great deal of time and labor into re-landscaping the lot. I have a hedge that’s fabulous. While out pruning it yesterday, the folks from the Germantown Historical Society stopped by and asked if I would consider letting the house be on their Historic House tour. Wow. Cool. My hard work is starting to pay off. Still so much to do….. God I love this place.
We just bought a wonderful 1962 mid-century California style ranch house in an outparcel of Columbia, Maryland (mid way between Baltimore and DC) – we are SO thrilled with finding this hidden-away gem! Lots of work to be done on it, but we’ve got 30 years on the mortgage to get it all accomplished! Just found out that the original architect of the house (and neighborhood) is still alive – we have plans to contact him and invite to the house!
Our “Little Boxes” home (the Westlake subdivision in Daly City, California, where we live, was the inspiration for Malvina Reynolds’ song about “little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky tacky…”) was built by the Henry Doelger company in 1956 (there’s an excellent book, “Little Boxes,” by our friend Rob Keil about the history of Doelger and the Westlake subdivision). It’s a two-story house (originally two bedrooms, one bathroom) with the entrance and main living quarters on the second floor, above a tandem garage and additional space (the lower levels were all unfinished when the houses originally were sold; many, like ours, now feature in-law apartments and an additional bathroom).
Our house is the one that my husband Jeff and his parents lived in from the time Jeff was born until he was 8 years old. His parents kept the house and rented it out after they moved to another home in Daly City, and luckily it had just become vacant again when Jeff and I were moving from Virginia to California four years ago. Many of the houses in Westlake, though the exteriors still look as they did in the 1950s, were renovated in the 70s and 80s; we’re very fortunate that ours actually has been maintained in very close to the original condition.
We have the original parquet hardwood floors throughout the upstairs; the original thin dark wood paneling in the living room, plant box and room divider at the entry, and original flagcrete fireplace; the original metal cabinets, ironing board cabinet and mirrored make-up cabinet in the kitchen, along with the original yellow tiles with chrome accents’ and the original pink tile with chrome accents, pink toilet, pink tub and separate pink shower in the bathroom (the original sink is no longer there, but we’re looking).
We’ve decorated in a mixture of mid-century and other modern styles, with some tiki elements as well.
Hey neighbor! I love looking at the Little Boxes from the freeway – I’m in Sunnyvale 🙂
My little modest ranch was built in 1958 to be a rental…and was a rental for 48 years until I purchased it in 2006. As for style…well, it’s a big mix of whatever strikes my fancy…funky French Provencal sofa…Duncan Phyfe dining set, the original kitchen is pretty much in tact, and it’s probably best described as Colonial…can’t wait until I get my Tappan Deluxe stove repaired and installed…throw in a few pieces of more modern styled mid century furniture and some Heywood Wakefield…like I said, just a big mix of things that I like!
Our new (old) home is a 1962 ramblin’ ranch. We decorate eclectically, but in this home, we are gradually steering towards a clean yet funky mid-60s aesthetic. We’re loving the original Frigidaire Flair, the flagstone fireplace and planter, and of course our pink, blue, and beige bathrooms! 🙂
We love our 1.5 story Cape Cod built in 1949. It is perfect for us (wood paneling and all!).
My house was built in the Spring of 1943, It was part of 2 bigger Montgomery Ward houses that were split into 3 little cabins. The main part of the house was built in 1943, with a later addition in 1956. Iv decorated it to the styles of both periods, “progressive collective” I guess you could call it. None of the applinaces match, but you can just feel how each one was lovingly picked out.
We live in a beautiful raised ranch that was built in 1964. It has nice mid-century details such as the hanging pendant lights in the entry (both inside and out) and the roman brick fireplace. I call it my “Brady Bunch” house! The main bathroom has its original “boomerang” pink formica. Our biggest challenge right now is to find a moderately priced, but appropriate bannister for the front stairwell. We took out the wrought iron and haven’t found a replacement, yet. Any suggestions?
1951.
My house was built in 1957. 3 Bedroom ranch with a full pink bathroom and a 1/2 blue bathroom. I bought it 7 years ago from the original owner – whose father was a master carpenter. Every bedroom has a lined cedar closet. One of my favorite things about the house is the stairs into the attic. They are hidden in the closet by the front door. You have to remove the coat bar (and coats) to get to the door. Also, there’s a sunroom that I’m tranforming into the tiki room.
Our house was built in 1950. We bought it two years ago at auction after the original owner/builder passed away. Everyone says “when are you going to get new kitchen cabinets?” I put on my horrified face and say “I LOVE my 1957 St. Charles blue kitchen!”
Our house was built in 1951 and is a red brick ranch. We’ve decorated the entire inside in mid cent modern on our shoestring budget. We LOVE IT!!!
What a lovely idea!
My husband and I just purchased our first home (a wideline high ranch) and this would be perfect to display in our living room! This would be a gift to my Husband for his Birthday as well <3
1948. A cottage influenced by some “Cliff May” ideas, though I don’t think an actual design from his company. We’re repairing it, mostly, at this stage. And we’re demolishing some poorly built or utterly worn-out later additions and changes. The interior will have 1930s and 1940s items in it–what might have been originally installed and what might have been brought in on moving day. 🙂
Our Cape Cod was built in 1955. It still has the original Youngstown Kitchen cabinets, which we love.