Buckle up, readers. Here is one of the most beautiful, glowy, dreamy vintage kitchens yet, and the story is still unfolding. This 1956 kitchen — with top-of-the-line St. Charles steel cabinets, in a soft gray with aquamarine countertops — first appeared on our metal kitchen cabinet buy/sell Forum (now defunct). Bonnie listed the cabinets for sale. She recently bought this house — a gorgeous c. 1900 Southern Victorian near Nashville — and she is going to create a 1900s-era kitchen for it. Within days of the listing, reader Pam snapped them up, with plans to put them into a house she recently purchased. Stunned by these beautiful photographs, I got permission to feature them from real estate agent Starling Davis and from Showcase Photographers. I also was connected to the original owner — Mrs. Starling Davis, mother of the real estate agent — who lived in this home for 50 years, from 1956 until a few years ago — and who, with her husband, had the kitchen designed and installed.
Mrs. Davis told me that when her family bought the house, it was a shambles. They renovated the entire home, including putting these grey St. Charles cabinets, aqua countertops, and turquoise stove into the kitchen. She said that her husband is the one who knew about St. Charles. He asked to put these in. The wallpaper and flooring as shown, is original. Mrs. Davis says the gray has a “touch of pink” in it. The cabinets are in perfect shape, except for a small gash in one place.
The side-by-side refrigerator, Mrs. Davis says, came later. She believes it was the first modern side-by-side available. Her husband bought it as a surprise — and he had it painted soft gray to match the cabinets before installing it.
Please, readers: No woe-is-me’s that Bonnie is not keeping the kitchen (I will expeditiously edit/delete such comments). I totally understand her desire to create a period-authentic 1900s kitchen. We are so happy she chose to list the cabinets on our Forum — and that an RR reader, Pam, snapped them up! Good retro karma! Thank you, Bonnie!
All the photos above are of the kitchen and the adjacent breakfast room. What else can I say? Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. Now, the four stunning bathrooms also installed in 1956:
This ivory-yellow bathroom, with its ivory colored fixtures, was Mrs. Davis’ bathroom. I marveled with her about how “glowy” this room was — she credits the wallpaper. Exquisite taste. This takes my breath away. I’ll even take it over Mamie pink. Gasp! Yes!
An angle on the vanity. Louver doors are good and righteous things. Mrs. Davis says, “We took good care of everything.” Well, yes, you did!
Beige tile, Mrs. Davis says. Notice how they did the shower entry — they tiled up three tiles before mounting the shower door. Louver doors again on the vanity. Hexes on the floors, as in the ladie’s bath and the blue bath coming up. Mrs. Davis says the fixtures are Crane. In her bathroom, though, they are American-Standard.
Blue bathroom. There Is Nothing Wrong About Tiling Your Bathroom Countertop. Wallpaper = yes. Peek into the hall to see the louver closet doors. I am going to do a follow-up story on this room alone, there are numerous design secrets within that Mrs. Davis told me about.
Even though the foreground of this photo reads blue, this is a very soft green tile, Mrs. Davis says. With a pink sink (remember Nora’s time capsule pink and blue bathroom?) Metallic wallpaper…. towel rings with bows on top… a little tile-in nook shelf above the vanity… a door with applied trim…. and teensy mosaic tiles — on the floor. This is the most amazing house ever.
Thanks again to Mrs. Starling Davis for talking to me about this house… to realtor Starling Davis, to Dan Raper of Showcase Photographers for permission to feature the photos, and to reader Bonnie and Pam, for helping with this story. Guess what? More to come.
vintigchik says
These color palettes are so timeless and absolutely breathtaking. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!
Marta says
One thing in particular that I love about all the bathrooms is the privacy half wall next to the toilets. A simple thing, but it lend a touch of elegance, I think.
gsciencechick says
Although I love the kitchen, I agree it doesn’t belong in an 1900 home, so win-win for the new and former owners. Looking forward to both remodels!
Rachael~The Thrifty Picker says
Can’t do the flooring in that first kitchen, but I will take everything else!
pam kueber says
I LOVE the visual complexity of the cabinets/countertops/wallpaper/flooring/trim — SPECTACULAR!
regreta says
In our 1952 ranch, we have the beautiful wallpaper featured in the above blue/green bath with the gorgeous pink sink. I’ve always wanted to know more about it, such as the designer or year it was issued. If anyone knows anything, please do tell.
pam kueber says
Wow! Lucky you! I will ask Mrs. Davis next time I talk to her if she remembers.
Marsha says
How absolutely beautiful! I can’t wait to see the renovations you make. The only thing that makes me sad is that I’m an apartment dweller, and can’t buy any of the appliances. (I’m also in the Nashville area). I NEED to buy a house this year!
Brini says
What exquisite taste she had! The subtle colors are really elegant. It’s great inspiration for my reno. I’m using similarly soft tints.
Pat M says
Just look at the ceiling height in these rooms! That alone says “not 1950s” to me. Indeed, I would say the kitchen and bathroom fixtures, cabinets, etc., look out of scale in these rooms. This “old house” is going to be magnificent, and anything moved to a mid-century building will look even better than it does now. Kudos to all involved.
DougH says
I’m lusting for this house!
Bonnie says
Hi! Bonnie (the new owner) here. Thanks Pam for the great article. Yes, we love our new house, and YES I am still pinching myself! To answer a couple of your questions:
1. We are redoing all the bathrooms too. Except the one with the shower. (It was the only shower in the house, and we are shower people!) I really wanted to save the gold damask wallpaper and the metallic in the downstairs bath, but the demo made that impossible. 🙁
2. I have the gray fridge, matching dishwasher, sandy pink toilet and sink on Craigslist. Just do a search on Nashville CL in appliances for “Columbia.” They should be near the top.
3. Listing the blue/gray toilet and sink soon and possibly that awesome turquoise stove (I may already have a buyer.)
We are SO excited about this house and are trying to make good design decisions to honor it’s past. Be glad to have Pam do a follow up in a few months!