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Amazing 1960s “Storybook Ranch” time capsule house — 42 photos

Kate - Updated: May 29, 2021

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

Mid-century-house-exteriorTour-a-Time-CapsulePam and I are over the moon about our latest time capsule house — a 1960 time capsule Storybook Ranch house in Dedham, Mass. — thanks to reader Jason on our Facebook Page for this awesome tip! Yes, we call this style “Storybook Ranch” or “Cinderella Ranch” — we adore them. But what’s extra special about this one is that it’s on the East Coast, which we think is pretty rare; we tend to think Cindy’s were mostly a west coast phenom, although Pam spotted this one in Pittsfield, Mass.  Back to today’s time capsule, just by looking at the front of the house, you can guess that the inside is also going to be something special. And yes, it does not disappoint — let’s step inside and take the tour — 42 photos in all!

hidden-mid-century-house-landscapingThe rounded decorative shrubs mimic the round stones that make up the edge of the property and act as friendly guardians over this lovely house.

mid-century-house-with-zeroscapingAfter moving past the wall of greenery, it is as if we are transported into a magical mid century land. Look at the cheery aqua awnings and shutters complete with decorative cut outs of horse drawn carriages that dress up the neutral stone facade.

mid-century-landscaping-and-front-porch

From the listing:

Come see this 8 Room/2 bath custom Ranch where Mad Men meets Greenlodge! Inlaid slate and marble floors with radiant heat. Vermont Quartz fireplace and accent walls in living and family rooms. Stained glass windows, beamed ceilings in huge great room. Oversize lot designed for entertaining. Updated windows, 3 zone heat and 200 amp electric 1 car garage. New roof.

  • Price: $349,900
  • Year built: 1960
  • Square feet: 2,354
  • Bedrooms: 3
  • Bathrooms: 2

I should note that I spoke with the listing agent — Diane Capodilupo from ReMax Real Estate — who told us that this house received a tremendous response, and that there is already a buyer lined up. Thanks, Diane, for giving us permission to add these delicious photos to our archive of time capsule houses.

Mid-century-stone-porch-with-decorative-cement-blockA gorgeous front porch — stone wall, decorative concrete block, colorful hanging light, charming entry door with rounded windows and stained glass side panel. It appears that the floor of the front porch is random pattern slate. We also want the cast iron bench, please!

Mid-century-retro-stone-alcove-wallThe random slate floor continues to the entryway and through the house. We wonder whether beautiful stone wall with niche and built-in ledges was designed to hold religious items. Remember this time capsule (also a romantic revival “storybook” style) —  that’s what its niches were for.

Mid-century-living-room-with-slate-floor-and-stone-wallsThere is so much texture, natural materials and interest in the living room — the generous size and high ceilings give it a very grand feeling. Is that wood wall… pieced together in squares? It look like it! Pam interjects here: I love lOvE LOVE this house!!!!

mid-century-retro-living-room-and-entry-wayAnother great aspect of this room’s design — that fabulous picture window — framed with smaller rectangles to make an interesting geometric pattern that repeats the shapes of the stone and slate throughout the room.

retro-mid-century-living-room-stone-wallmid-century-retro-living-room-stone-wall-and-picture-windowmid-century-stone-wall-vaulted-ceiling-wall-muralPam noticed the gorgeous monochromatic landscape wall mural in the dining room right away.

mid-century-dining-room-with-wall-muralYou can still get authentic wallpaper murals like this — very old skool designs — from Thibaut today. One of the Thibaut designs — might be this one. What do you think?

mid-century-marble-floor-dining-roommid-century-marble-floored-dining-roomThere are so many wonderful details in this house — such as the scalloped trim over the doorways. In the dining room, it is marble to match the floors and other trim.

mid-century-kitchen-with-slate-floorHowever, on the kitchen side — the trim matches the wooden cabinets. Do I spy a vintage built in microwave?

Mid-century-kitchen-vintage-chrome-microwaveOther details in this terrific vintage kitchen — yellow laminate counter tops, avocado green sink, scalloped open shelving, a pass through and more of the random slate flooring that meanders through the house.

mid-century-retro-stone-fireplace-with-slate-floor

Yes, you can still get random color slate today, too.

mid-century-retro-wood-walls-and-random-slate-floorThe skylight in this den is amazing — large enough to let in oodles of natural light and even framed in the same wood paneling that is on the walls in the room.

built-in-wood-and-marble-desk-mid-centuryThe built in desk and adjacent laundry room.

Mid-century-midieval-room-vaulted-ceilingsOkay, so now here’s the really good part: A gothic, story book sitting room. Assuming the carpet is not smelly, would you keep it? Pam says she would.

madonna inn
See our two stories on the bedrooms at the Madonna Inn.

Reader Amanda over on our Facebook page reminded us that these rooms look like some of the bedrooms at the Madonna Inn. Yes! We meant to add that. We have to stories, get your eyeballs ready:

Mid-century-midieval-roomMid-century-midieval-room-with-wall-mount-fireplaceEven the built in cabinet and doorways are dog eared. The wall mounted fireplace — complete with a crest of armor — finishes off the room nicely. This is one stylin’ house!

grey-wood-panelled-walls-shag-carpet-retroThe window seat in this room is such a great detail — it allows for all the built in storage space on either side and below — as well as what must be a wonderful place to keep house plants or get a view of the landscaping outside.

grey-paneling-in-mid-century-houseLove the scallop trim.

black-and-green-marble-mid-century-bathroomHere is another bathroom — made up of the same greenish marble and slate flooring that is found in other parts of the house. The angled vanity maximizes every bit of space.

mid-century-bedroom-with-intercomMetallic wallpaper? We think so — it is hard to get metallics to photograph. Also, we spy an intercom system box on the wall.

mid-century-master-bedroom-with-mini-wall-muralHere in the master bedroom — there is another wall paper mural. The bed looks lovely, wish we could see more of the headboard.

mid-century-master-bedroomMore metallic wallpaper in the attached master bathroom?

mid-century-pink-and-black-bathroom-retroLove it! Go big, or go home.

mid-century-retro-black-and-pink-bathroomNotice how the small sink vanity is covered in laminate.

mid-century-retro-master-bath-laminate-vanityThere is also a second sink for the lady of the house and her Stuff.

retro-bedroommid-century-ranch-house-exteriorOutside in the back of the house, the same carefully planned landscaping is present.

Mid-century-house-back-yardLandscaping-mid-century-patioCharming curved walkways and patios fill the space and provide places to stop, relax and take in the garden.

mid-century-built-in-outdoor-BBQ

The barbecue is fantastic.

mid-century-house-landscaping-formalmid-century-shed-that-matches-houseWhat I assume is a potting shed seems built-in to the hedge and is even sided and painted to match the main house.

mid-century-yard-with-wellEvery self-respecting Storybook Ranch needs a wishing well.

outdoor-bbq-mid-century-retroretro-backyard-landscapingretro-patio-with-shed-and-gateWhat a fabulous mid century time capsule house — every square inch of the inside and outside have been thoughtfully designed and appear to have been impeccably maintained. Let’s hope the new owners appreciate the charming mid century character and attention to detail that is very much alive and well in this gem of a time capsule house.

Special thanks to photographer Demetri Papoulidis from Demetri Productions, LLC (link now gone) for allowing us to use his beautiful photos of this property.

Want to see more stories about Storybook Ranch houses:

To see the photos from this house tour twice as large, view our slide show below.

Tips to view slide show: Click on first image… it will enlarge and you can also read my captions… move forward or back via arrows below the photo… you can start or stop at any image:


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73 comments

Comments

  1. John says

    This is probably my favorite time capsule house, simply for the 2 gothic rooms. If I could, (and the new owners didn’t want them), I would dismantle these two rooms and bring everything down to Florida, red carpet and all, and figure out how to build it in my house, put an attachment… something. Absolutely love it!

  2. Anastasia says

    My boys will have claimed the gardens while the girls & I will never LEAVE the Master Bath! Laters!

  3. avery says

    My husband and I were lucky to see this house when we started looking for mid century styles in our area. It was a fantastic house but not practical for us long term :-/ it only had the one family that owned it. The original owner had been a stone mason and completed all of the stone work himself! The entire house had been lovingly maintained and cared for. I hope the owners love it just as much!

    • Barb S. says

      Avery, it must have been gorgeous in person. Thank you for pointing out the original owner was a stone mason. I wondered if anyone noticed the star in the slate in front of the fireplace, that must have been his personal touch. And I have never seen so many hard surfaces in a house! I LOVE IT!!

  6. stephanie leis says

    I am interested in the wall mural Does anyone have any information on it? I am looking for something similar and am out of ideas of where to look or what else to loook at. Name? Pattern? Artist? Cataloge? 1960? 1970?

  7. maude says

    Wouldn’t it be cool if we were able to read more about the history of the house. Things like who designed it, how they managed to keep it in it’s original state for all of those years..
    Maude

  8. joan says

    Hi Pam;
    Thanks for showcasing this beautiful house. I wouldn’t change a thing. I think the picture #24 of the sitting area would really have been used as a sort of in house Tavern/Bar. I can imagine many little sitting areas and even a booth under that big window/seat. I think the carpet is red to match the back of the built in bar. My parents had a built in bar complete with a small dance floor, mural and sitting area in Ontario. In NS they had a moveable padded bar in the rec room. There was probably a dance party once a month. Those were the good old days. Thanks for bringing back fond memories.
    Joan

  9. René Mowry says

    So interesting! But I have to admit that if I was walking through this house, I’d be groaning. Totally not my taste although I do appreciate the imagination put into it.