Last September, reader Tina sent me a tip that there was a mint-in-box Welbilt stove at the Re-Store in Alexandria, Virginia. I immediately did a post, but never found out what happened. Well… nearly nine months later, I hear from longtime reader Lawrence Bill — he snapped it up … relocated it to his home in Kansas … and shares the whole story with us today. Goodness, I sure do love hearing the end of these stories! 🙂 Bill writes:
Hi Pam,
Well … as promised, attached are some photos of the gas stove I mentioned. The project is now complete as you can see, and the stove is sitting snugly in our kitchen, already cookin’ up some righteous grub. Do you recognize it? You should. For in fact, I found out about this stove after “Tina” (I need to thank her personally) sent an email + pics to you regarding the stove last year and you posted it. As it happened, I was in the area where the stove was for sale, took a quick trip over to have a look it, and bought it on the spot. It’s a brand new 1962 Welbilt Tiara gas stove. That’s right, brand new as in unrestored, not refurbished, not gently used, not mint condition, but never out of the box! Indeed, parts of the stove were still in the box … had all the original papers, owners manual, even the factory tags. All mint, unmolested. The Restore people had no idea where it came from, it just appeared … poof! This was the non-Ebay MIB find of my dreams. I’d been searching for quite some time to find a mint gas stove that would fit our 50s kitchen and not cost me an arm and a leg, and this was it, at the very attractive low price of $75. Of course, I spent $350 to ship it halfway across the country but hey, all in all, a lot cheaper than buying a new stove or breaking the bank with the restoration specialists out in California. At least, that’s how I sold the idea to my wife, who thought the whole thing was absurd. “What’s wrong with the stove we’ve got now?” (Technically, there was nothing wrong with our old Whirlpool electric stove, just that I liked this stove better.) Her words killed my enthusiasm for a long time, and the stove sat in our garage all winter and spring while I debated whether I should go through with swapping out our stoves. Not an easy decision as it turned out. I love gas, but it has its downsides. Anyway, to make a long story short, I finally I installed the stove a couple weeks ago. To my surprise, it required only minimal adjustment on set-up and is a real joy to operate and cook with. It’s not on the same level as an O’Keefe Merritt or Wedgewood or Chambers, which are superior vintage stoves, but it does the job and looks cool. I love it. My wife has come around and fallen for it as well. So thanks much to Tina (wherever she is) and retrorenovation for making it happen. It’s been fun.
As you can see, this is very much a galley type kitchen. It has a lot of built-ins, particularly a very large pantry which is not shown in any of the photos. The more I learn about modern houses the more I understand the importance of built-ins. I encourage you to think of a post you could do just on that subject alone. Well-designed modern houses (and they don’t have to be ranches) will typically have a lot of built-ins.
I’m particularly proud of this kitchen for its originality. Aside from the appliances and the faucet, nothing has been messed with since the house was built. The knotty pine, the Armstrong 5352 linoleum, the pale green (sea foam?) formica countertops, and of course the “Hudee ring”, are original. The kitchen is not perfect but generally speaking I think good quality and design holds up and resists the urge to rip out and renovate.
Bill
🙂 You know I love it. This story warms my heart soooo much. Thanks, Bill!
Jen says
Great find! It looks right at home in your kitchen.
Tera says
My Grandmother had this exact stove in her knotty pine kitchen when I was a kid. She has since had to replace it twice. This is truly a MadMen kitchen and absolutely dreamy!
Mark says
Lawrence,
Nice stove! I’m a huge fan of Chambers stoves and love the way they look and work but any vintage stove is such a pleasure to use. look at all the elbow room you’ve got to play with!
I think they look better and I know they out perform and will out last any of the new stoves.
Great score!
Still amazing to me that it was brand new after 47 years, how does that happen?
lady brett says
your kitchen is just lovely! the pattern on the floor is especially great – is that tile or linoleum? and, while knotty pine has never really been my “thing”, the cabinets look like really top-notch craftsmanship – it all fits together so beautifully. kudos!
Lawrence Bill says
lady brett,
Yes, the floor is actual, real, genuine linoleum, the so-called “Christmas pattern” Armstrong 5352 that the company sold millions–perhaps even billions–of cubic yards spanning the 1930s – 1970s. I maintain that someone, somewhere, has a cache of this stuff that’s waiting to be installed in someone’s retro kitchen. It’s a wonderful pattern.
pam kueber says
I think that Armstrong made this pattern in all kinds of materials over the years – from genuine linoleum to vinyl asbestos sheet to vinyl sheet …. it was an amazingly long running pattern — and I agree, a real keeper that I wish they would bring back today!
MidCMitzi says
What a beautiful kitchen!
Shane Walp says
Good job man. Looks great, you can’t go wrong with knotty pine and period appliances. I’m in the same predicament – I have a 1949 GE electric range in 90% perfect condition, and a 1948 Magic Chef gas range that needs a little TLC (but I restore so no biggie).
Gas…..or electric???
MCMeg says
I had that same lino in my last house. I looooved it. I saw that Armstrong still makes that pattern in different colors and was thinking of getting a light one to brighten up our knotty pine kitchen when we replace the current (1980’s) floor.
Thanks for sharing.
Annie B. says
A fabulous stove. And, a great vintage lino pattern on the floor!
Martha says
The stove is fantastic…love the clock and whirly design!
Kelly says
The stove is absolutely stunning! – and the kitchen is gorgeous….wow….I love the scalloped detail and the open shelving – and that color of green is perfect with the pine.