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29 places to buy restored vintage stoves

pam kueber - Updated: April 19, 2022

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

vintage stoveStove: From Dream Stoves

I have been blogging about midcentury home design since 2006, but my very first piece of published writing about home design in 1995 — an article about vintage stoves for the now-defunct Ann Arbor News. Vintage stoves were first becoming popular around then. I have been a fan ever since and today, have a circa-1959 GE Pushbutton electric in my kitchen. When we did a story a while ago about where to get your vintage appliances fixed, a number of readers had suggestions and experiences to share about vintage stove restoration experts. Karl T. also suggested suppliers. I did some additional research and came up with an expanded list — and readers continue to more in their comments, below, be sure to read them — and we now have 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28  29 places to get your vintage stove restored… to buy a restored vintage stove… and to find parts and service for vintage stoves:

Note, before you buy, understand what you are paying for — this includes consulting with a properly licensed professional to assess the stove for environmental and safety issues. Be Safe / Renovate Safe — for more info see our Be Safe/Renovate Safe page. 

Restored vintage stoves — West and Southwest

Restored vintage stoves — Midwest

Vintage stove restoration — Southeast

Vintage stove restoration — East Coast

Note: Thanks so many readers for the contributions to build this list — keep ’em coming. Also, thanks to Todd at chambers.net for a number of these leads. This seems to be the go-to place for Chambers’ info!

Please know: I do not have personal experience with these resources, so I am not endorsing them…. Please make sure that you do your own research to verify that you are working with safe, experienced, properly licensed professionals with a proven reputation. And, as Lara Jane commented in the original story:

To follow up on Pam’s post, I know a lot of people on other home improvement sites were scammed by a guy restoring vintage stoves (some they’d sent to him, some were advertised on his site). Be careful who you give your money to, and if possible, use a credit card with buyer protection!

Yes, as with any purchase of this magnitude — please do due diligence regarding the companies you are engaging with.

Other stories of interest:

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204 comments

Comments

  1. Chris H says

    I hope this doesn’t upset anyone – here’s a new GE electric with enough retro style to get by

    http://products.geappliances.com/ApplProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=SpecPage&Sku=JBP15DMWW

    Not nearly as fab as an authentic vintage stove, but if you’re doing retro on a tight budget this might work. No digital clock, no electronic keypad. It’s white, but let’s be honest, most vintage appliances were white.

    I’m considering it for an upcoming kitchen retro-remodel. I couldn’t find a gas model w/o the tell-tale electronics on the “dashboard”. My wife prefers electric anyway.

    I do not work for GE, nor am I in any way connected with the appliance industry.

  2. mary tompkins says

    I am looking for burner grates for my dixie stove has a griddle in the middle. I live in NYC. Can anyone help with this. Thank You

  3. Toni says

    For just a few minutes I couldn’t breath! Who do I have to kill for that stove?

    Lauryn – I’m in Iowa, too. IF I would have known three years ago what I know now, there would have been a bigger space allotted for a stove. Duh! At the time all I found were the ubber expensive ones and I couldn’t pay as much for a stove as the rest of the kitchen renovation was going to cost.

    Where do I find this blog?
    “Berkshire County Used Furniture has a gorgeous 30-incher right now. I’ve shown it on the blog…60s-beautiful!”

    • pam kueber says

      i’m practicing tough love, use the SEARCH! “berkshire county used furniture” and it comes up in the stories presented

  4. Debbie says

    Here is #18 Aircon Vintage Appliances, Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Regin in North Carolina. I just purchase parts for my vintage stove. He says he has 100s in stock. Check him out.

  5. TappanTrailerTami says

    Hi Pam,

    Great post. Here is a website with LOTS of Chamber’s stove info, and another handy dandy link list towards the bottom of stove places by region in the U.S.

    http://www.chamberstoves.net/Parts&Service.html

    I can personally vouch for Christian of Dream Stoves, I had him restore my Tappan and it is just beautiful. Normally, a top-to-bottom custom color (read: new porcelain on the whole stove) will be MEGA bucks anywhere you go. I found a very good condition Tappan, and had Christian completely go through it, rechrome my drip pans and oven door interior, and reporcelain the grates. Plus new insulation, rebuild valves and thermostat, go through the wiring/timer/clock, do a couple of porcelain chip repairs, and clean, clean, clean. My total bill was $1800, and I paid $400 for the stove. I’m in now at $2400 vs. the $6k-7k price tag of buying an “off-the-shelf” already restored stove from a stove place.

    I concur with the reader above: Craigslist, Craigslist, Craigslist, and THEN take your stove for restoration if you don’t want to do it yourself. It will be cheaper doing it that way.

  7. Mark says

    I’ve posted here before about the best stoves ever made, Chambers.
    O&M’s are great as well and nothing beats cooking on and looking at a really good vintage stove.
    One thing I have learned in restoring a couple of Chambers stoves is that all the older stoves are pretty simple and basic. A few tools and some patience just about anyone can fix or restore one. (saves a ton of money too!)
    You can have parts re-chromed and there is a couple of places that does porcelain work as well.
    It’s not nearly as scarey as you might think and most parts are available on the net.

  8. Linda says

    There is Reliance Antiques in Berkeley, CA. They sell restored vintage stoves and will re-furbish them as well.

  9. mimi says

    When I thought the heating element on my wall oven was broken I called the company that bought ModernMaid. They didn’t have parts but she suggested that many times the heating element doesn’t change much from year to year. I could feasably go from repair shop to repair shop and eventually find one that fits.

  10. Kathryn says

    Hi Pam,

    I’ve been lurking for years, but couldn’t resist writing in on this one! In San Diego/OC/L.A., the best place to buy these is Craiglist! They are everywhere and people are unloading them to make a few bucks…

    I was going to sell my working O’Keefe & Merrit (with Salt/Pepper drop in shakers, griddle, clock, etc.), but it had a few enamel dings and the griddle was well-used. There were so many on Craigstlist, I donated it to the Salvation Army in San Diego a few weeks ago!

    I’m looking forward to getting a restored one down the road again,

    Love this site 🙂

      • Kathryn says

        Hi Pam!

        When I’m ready, I will be going to this place in the Inland Empire area of Southern California/Riverside County: http://www.antiquegasstoves.com.

        I got as far before as finding a “guy named Mike in Ocean Beach who works on these”, but gave up on the restoration before I followed the lead.

        I’ve fallen in love with the Apartment Stoves (the mini O”Keefes) and the All-In-One units (Stove/Fridge/Sink and/or Oven). I’d be perfectly happen living in a small beach bungalow with one of these:
        http://www.antiquegasstoves.com/pages/wedgewoodapt.html

        Best,
        ~K