What a fabulous week it’s been — topped off last night with a great phone call with Pennsylvania real estate agent Jeffrey Hogue, who gave me permission to feature his photos from his listing of this fabulous 1965 time capsule house. Yes, complete with a professional beauty parlor in the basement. Thank you, Jeffrey. Snaps, too, to reader Jamie, who sent me this tip. Luv.
This fun and fabulous in-home bar makes it on to the homepage, too. Golly, did I just use the word “fabulous” a third time? I guess I’m excited by the orange-and-brown (wood?) stripes … the tic-tac-toe wine bottle holder … the scalloped indoor awning designed to hold can lights … those yellow shelves behind orange arches. Who thought this space up? They were fabulous.
Above: Setting the scene before I further amaze you with…
… the kitchen. Are those authentic Saarinen tulip chairs, do ya think?
The ceiling in this kitchen has pushed me over the top: I neeeeeeed to wallpaper a ceiling, stat. I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna.
The living room is sedate, by comparison. Love the chartreuse upholstery. S0 1965. So 2012. And the window treatments: Please, new owners, don’t change them! Fortunately, Jeffrey says that houses like this — retro time capsules with style — usually find appreciative buyers. This house is in Reading, Pa, about 50 miles outside Philadelphia. I was so pleased to talk to Jeffrey, who said he tells sellers of houses like this not to change anything. Buyers either want completely renovated — or completely original; no middle ground, he said, because a house can’t be half-one and half-the-other. It just does not compute. Love the house you’re in. Sell the house you’ve loved.
Original 1965 George Nelson bubble light — on a pulley? Any experts out there to confirm?
You know what else Jeffrey said that made me really happy? He said that very typically, the owners of these older homes … original or longtime owners … almost always took care of the houses, impeccably. “If anything broke, they fixed it right away.” Theirs was not a disposable, “oh if it breaks, I’ll just get a new one” generation. Stuff was made to last if you took care of it, and they took care of it.
Link love:
- This home in Reading, Pa., is for sale for $164,900
- See all the homes for sale by Jeffrey Hogue, Realtor, Berks County, Penn.