Lynn recently bought a 1960 ranch house and asked me whether I thought her wood parquet floors (small photo to the right) were original. Almost without a doubt I answer: Yes. The lead photo above is my dining room floor. This floor is original to my 1951 colonial-modern ranch. The parquets are each 12″ wide. They are made from fullsize pieces of wood flooring — this is not a thin veneer. In fact, somewhere in my travels I have heard that parquet flooring like mine was more expensive to purchase and install than the more common long runs of oak tongue-in-groove flooring. Wood parquet was more complicated, more fussy, and therefore, more expensive. The adjacent, step-down living room, by the way, got wall-to-wall carpet.
We have explored recently what color stain is most appropriate for your midcentury hardwood floors — the mass, we believe, were done in “natural”, like mine. But we’ve also seen darker stains.
Ranger Smith says
My folk’s home was built in 1961 and did not include parquet but they added them to the foyer in the 1980’s.
Loralei says
My 1962 ranch has parquet floors in the living/dining room and all of the bedrooms – pretty much the whole main floor. 12″ squares (not strips – just big squares. The floors had NEVER been refinished (they had carpeted over them in the bedrooms) and they were a golden yellow color. I had them refinished when I moved in last summer and they are now BEAUTIFUL! We did them in a natural, light oak color. It looked like that was the original color before the varnish aged. It’s only in the homes in my neighborhood that I’ve ever seen parquet like that. BTW – it cost $$$$.$$, but it was way worth it. Now I’d really like to know what’s under the press-on vinyl tiles in my bathroom and kitchen!
Kate H says
I live in the DC area. These floors are really common here — especially in older apartments.
Jocelyn W. says
Came here to say the same! I lived in two separate Colonial Revival-style garden apartment complexes built in the WWII era in Arlington, Va that had parquet floors. They had great black-and-white tiled bathrooms too. Unfortunately, 50+ years of Mid-Atlantic humidity meant that the parquet was gappy and loose…great for catching debris.
Annie B. says
Beautiful, beautiful floors – all of you. Parquet is so elegant, so classic.
Is that an Astro toy I spy on the braided rug in your dining room?
pam kueber says
🙂 yup, i left it there for fun
lady brett says
oh, yes, our house was built in the 40s, but was expanded in the 60s. our dining room (half of the “addition”) not only has a parquet floor, but it actually has *two* parquet floors.
we moved in in an alarmingly rainy year, and the extreme humidity caused the parquet to buckle. i had to remove some of it in order to open the back door, at which point i discovered that the floor that had been parqueted over…was a parquet floor.
not the strangest remodeling decision we’ve found in our house.
Greg says
Here’s our solid-tile parquet in our 1957 mid-mod house during our reno last year. They were covered with ugly, filthy carpet and peel and stick VCT tile that we had to remove layer by layer. The glue on them had disintegrated, and they all had to be taken up, hand scraped, and laid back down before they were refinished. I guess I don’t have any ‘now’ pictures, but we love our floors, and the neighborhood is jealous of them.
pam kueber says
Wow — Gorgeous!! A reminder to readers that before ripping up old vinyl or whatever – consult with a licensed professional to know what’s in the material and the adhesives and what the environmental/safety issues may be…
Greg says
Yah, we were lucky enough to have a guy who does floors for a living in our neighborhood, and had done plenty of these parquet floors. So he and his crew took over once we had uncovered them.
Marty says
All the wood floors in my parent’s house (built ’64) were like that.
Laura's Last Ditch--Vintage Kitchenwares says
My mom is a real estate agent and recently sold a gorgeous mid-mod house with this floor. I hope the new owners appreciate it!
Roseann says
I agree! Our 1st house a 1955 butterfly roof ranch had those same floors and an orange preway fireplace in the den!
terrihd says
I’ll remember that “top-of-the-line” business when I cough up the big bucks to have all my parquet floors refinished. They’re due but my bank account’s not ready!