Thanks to Betsy for sending along this wonderful 1962 time capsule house, she writes:
Check out this beautiful plaid kitchen! But oh, the fireplace….
I love this kitchen not only because it is bold and uses my favorite color, orange, but also because it shows how you can combine wallpaper patterns effectively. Yes: You can mix plaids and flowers; the key, I think, is getting the “scale” and of course, the colors, right. This kitchen also does a fantastic job of using wallpaper to tie together the harvest gold appliances and the orange countertops. And even the kitchen cabinets have a yellow cast. I wish we could see the floor.
I spoke to the listing agent Bill Livingston by phone this morning. In addition to giving me permission to feature a few photos from the listing, he was super appreciative of efforts today to recognize and preserve the quality of midcentury houses. He said he’s been in the business 42 years, and in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area where he does business, he’s seeing the desire to maintain well-made original features of vintage houses “coming back around.” That’s great news!
This house, which is for sale for $150,000 in a suburb about 25 miles north of Harrisburg, is a one-owner home. It was built by a builder, for himself, Bill said, so you can imagine it’s well built. It’s also quite the groove palace — with a two-way fireplace, cool built-ins and… a kitchen of my dreams.
Thanks, Betsy, for the tip, and Bill, for being an appreciative agent.
See more photos of the house here on Bill’s website. (link now gone)
linda blackmore says
I had wallpaper almost identical to the plaid in one house. I had roman shades made out of coordinating stripe–quite bold for the time. Then I bought another house with plaid wallpaper. Same colors. I didn’t realize how trendy I really was.
pam kueber says
hehe, this story and this kitchen have been featured on CNBC.com Extreme Kitchens — in a good way! http://www.cnbc.com/id/46605634/slide/6/?slide=6
paula says
This house is in my town just a few blocks away from me. I was going to send you a link to this when I saw it. I near about died. It’s my dream home.
I hope that it’s preserved. The market is really tough here right now – not a lot of inventory in that price range.
Jana (Berniecat) says
awesome! the kitchen reminds me of mine when I was growing up. We moved in 1964 from a wonderful small house built in the ’50’s to a huge ranch style house that my folks had built. The kitchen was done in orange, browns and harvest golds. We had wallpaper that was very similar to the flowers — only it was orange, brown and gold teardrop patterns. My mom then put on a border above it that was brown and orange triangles. Loved it! 🙂 I hope the real estate agents include the comments as a “sentimental” selling feature of the house.
lynda says
Let us hope the real estate agent prints out these comments and gives them to the new owner. What a sweet history of this house!
bulleteyes says
You are most welcome. It is wonderful to see the house being appreciated!
There are actually two fireplaces. On your bottom picture you can see one in the living room, and in back of that is the aqua colored dining room which has another stone fireplace that opens in the dining room and on the other side it opens into the kitchen.
My mother-in-law was the most wonderful cook. Her kitchen was full of fascinating things specifically picked so they went with the colors in the room. She had bright yellow curtains on the windows, and enjoyed finding richly colored pot holders and dish towels to hang off the side of the island. The stove on the island has the then very innovative flat topped glass burners. The island has a double metal sink and I remember when I first saw that kitchen almost 40 years ago now I was in awe. I had not seen many of the design elements in anything other than magazines.
Ann-Marie Meyers says
bulleteyes, I noticed the greenhouse right away. Looked the the outside wall near it had a moisture problem, but that can be dealt with. I hope the future buyer does investigates solutions to the problem instead of going the easy, cheap route of tearing the greenhouse down.
I have a feeling if a bunch of us retro ren fans lived in Harrisburg, the realtor would have a bidding war on his hands, and would end up selling the house at higher than the asking price!
If I didn’t have a 1962 house in Wisconsin (soon to be for sale, if anyone is interested) and one in Texas, I would think about moving to Pennsylvania for this one.
bulleteyes says
That greenhouse had all of it’s orchids bloom in November the year I got married (so they graced the wedding) and they never bloomed at that time of year again.
bulleteyes says
This home belonged to my in-laws, Wonderful people. My mother-in-law was a dress designer and my father-in-law was a master builder so they both did everything with artistic flair. The house had one open house when it was originally built and they both decided they could not sell it. They loved it too much.
The kitchen is as it was originally designed. The refrigerator and the dishwasher had been updated a number of years ago.
When the sun comes through the windows that room positively glows with warm, bright light. Everyone always gravitated to that kitchen and it was a wonderful place to sit and visit. What you can’t see is off to the side in the kitchen is a door that leads to a small spiral staircase that leads downstairs to a workshop that is connected to a greenhouse.
I also hope whoever buys this house appreciates it!
pam kueber says
It’s so nice to hear from you, bulleteyes, and to learn more about the history of the house. I ADORE IT! Yes, let’s hope the house gets an appreciative new buyer who does not remuddle it.
Brian GadgetSponge says
You would HAVE to be in a good mood walking into that kitchen in the morning on a bright sunny day. Orange juice anyone!