Our first midcentury house with a ballroom. Yes, a ballroom! I’ll say it again: A ballroom! Minnesota Michelle writes:
Dear Pam,
My husband and I weren’t even looking for a new house. We were quite happy with our 1956 Marvin Anderson Rambler. There was only one problem: My husband’s menagerie of vintage pinball machines and jukeboxes was taking over the 2,300 sq. ft. One day his best friend was browsing the MLS for homes comparable to his own and found this beauty for us. The home was bank owned and had been vacant for a few years. We were sold on it when we found out it had a ballroom as DH and I met ballroom dancing. After speaking with the original neighbors we were told that an Iranian family had custom designed the home to be a “mini palace.” It was certainly an adjustment going from 50s mod to 70s opulence, but we’ve grown to love it!
How did Michelle find RetroRenovation.com, I asked? I’m always curious. She answers:
I’ve been searching for online pictures of retro kitchens and baths to determine if there is any value in keeping these original or not. It seems that there are a lot of people interested in restoring theirs to original 50s glory, but the 70s is still too recent for people to be reminiscent about. Your website is perhaps the only one that features pictures from this era without knocking it or joking about it.
We have actually been in the house a little over a year now. It took us a lot longer to sell our old house than we anticipated so very little has changed. I am redoing the kitchen, but I’m trying to stay true to the style of the home with chocolate cherry cabinets and Carrera marble countertops which will match the existing floors in the dining room and the foyer. We knocked down the cabinets above the island almost right away to make the kitchen more open. If you stand at the island and look out from the kitchen you see the fireplace in the family room.
While having a time capsule kitchen is kind of kitsch, there are a lot of major downfalls. I do a lot of cooking so we want higher end appliances (steam wall ovens, induction cooktop, etc.) which requires a major reconstruction. The existing cabinets may look nice, but they have no bearings in the drawers so you hear a loud crunching noise when they are opened, there aren’t any backs to the cabinets inside so you just see the sheetrock, the hinges are not adjustable, they were stained in place along with the rest of the woodwork and the inside of the cabinets are really sloppy and the soffits are completely unnecessary and take up storage space. We will replace the existing gas grill (old pilot light style) with a new gas grill, but we are totally keeping the hammered brass Thermador hood above it.
Hurray for wallpaper! Just so’s everyone knows, anything with foil or flocked is THE most collectible. NOS rolls of vintage wallpaper like this can go for $200!
I like the wallpaper in the hallway upstairs, but the master bath is a little too much so eventually we will redo that. The toilets weren’t anything special (just plain old white) so we replaced those with tall, elongated bowls. We love the chandeliers, though and I will always keep those. I also don’t want to modify any of the bricks around the fireplaces much to my husband’s chagrin.
We had to rip out all of the carpet in the basement and some of the sheetrock (including the wallpaper) due to major water damage that had occurred. We plan on replacing the ballroom’s old blue carpet with new blue carpet to match the remaining wallpaper and window treatment. When I redo the window treatments off the kitchen and family room, I’m going to stay with pinch pleat curtains on a track to keep with the style of the house. We are also not going to touch any of the woodwork or the Amerock carriage house hardware in antique brass.
One of the biggest pluses to this house was the really large deck off of the kitchen which overlooks about a 1/2 acre lot with mature oak, maple, cottonwood, river birch, and box elder trees which abuts a small park. You just can’t find a new house on such a prime lot.
Oh, and here’s a picture of his 1978 Lincoln Mark V Diamond Jubilee Edition, however. Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Michelle
Woah. I have some very serious lust going on. Suddenly living small doesn’t seem so exciting – not when faced with the possibility of living in a house with a ballroom. Thanks so much for sharing, Michelle — and let us see your kitchen “after”. Your vision of adding modern functionality while still preserving and respecting your home’s original — and absolutely fabulous — design aesthetic, is, in my mind, spot-on.
nina462 says
Where in MN is this lovely home? I’ve seen several there, when I lived there and went to estate sales. I distinctly remember one in the Edina area with a sunkin’ in living room. While I’m more of a 40-early 60’s style, that palace you have is an homage to the 70’s.
MTV had a show one time called that 70’s house … your house would’ve been a *STAR*!
David W. says
The finishes remind me so much of my parent’s house when we got it in 1979! It had some pretty rad (at least I think so now) wallpaper, but unfortunately, much of it was destroyed or taken down in the 80s. One bathroom still has some avocado and gold flocked paper, and I think there may still be rolls of it in the basement, I know there used to be, I’ll have to check next time I go home!!
Guy H. says
Can you post more pictures of the ballroom? How big is it? I have never heard of a house with a ballroom before.
In the photo I can see a couple of beautiful chandeliers, that would be a great place to entertain!
RetroSandie says
Wow! Any kind of dance space with a huge bar in the home is a super plus!!! Although the 70s era is the time when I first went “housekeeping”, it’s not my favorite era. I grew up in the 50s and 60s so that is the time that is MINE! LOL But I think it’s wonderful that this house has found owners that truly love it and respect all of the 70s decor it holds. Best of luck to Michelle and her DH in renovating their “new” home to become their “own”. More pix as the reno goes along would be nice! 🙂
Amy Hill says
What I can’t get over is the fire extinguisher attached to the fireplace. Bet there’s a story there!
The outside of the house looks very traditional and the inside is so delightfully decadent! Is there a mirrored disco ball in the ballroom?You need to get a dvd of Saturday Night Fever and keep it on a loop!
Kristal says
There’s just a small dance floor – that’s not a ballroom. It’s a nightclub!
Gavin Hastings says
Wowie Kuzowie! I just love it!
Hold on for ten years and you will be living in the apex of fashion!
Becky Leach says
Oooh, the ballroom is amazing. There was a house in Sioux City a while ago, that had the entire 3rd floor turned into something similar (although more 30’s deco).
But, I’m sorry, I’m TOO OLD to live in the ’70’s again. 😀 That’s not “retro” to me; that’s just “I’m a teenager!” That kitchen. Those colors. Those fireplaces. SCREAM! I’m getting the urge to flip my hair back in a Farrah and do some macrame….is that the BeeGees I hear? Help. Oh, noooooooooooooooo………………
pam kueber says
Me too grew up in the 70s, Becky. I initially felt like you but over time have come to love the outrageousness of it all!
Teresa Halpert says
I know Pam has mentioned Thomas Hine’s “Populuxe”, but I can’t remember if this blog has discussed Hine’s other wonderful book, “The Great Funk”. He will make you love the wallpaper. (I found this book after my teenage daughter expressed utter disbelief upon seeing a picture of my 1977 “prairie bohemian maxi” prom dress. I was trying to explain the aesthetic of the era, which I remembered vaguely as a wretched, yet tacky time.) But Hines made me appreciate the exuberance and individuality that followed on the heels of political, economic, and social uncertainty. (And this house seems SO ’70’s.) As Thomas Hine’s says in the book, “When the forces of order are revealed to be a malign conspiracy, it’s a good time for a party. “
Shane Walp says
That basement picture reminds me of my Aunt Patty’s house. She was in a mansion built in 1975 – 76, and until she moved in 2002ish it was STILL 1975 in that place. Everything was clean and new as it always had been while I was growing up. The basement was a rust color mainly, and had a lighted fountain in one corner, and a full bar on the other side.
She had a horse farm which boarded race horses here in the Columbus area.
My focus is the ’50s but man, you just can’t beat a time capsule from any year.
Guy H. says
What an awesome house! I am a big fan of the 1970s style. I especailly love that wallpaper. It looks like it is in good shape!