My husband Paul & I bought the house just a few months after we were married. Paul is a jack-of-all trades/ handyman/ renaissance man and I’m pretty artsy so we make a good design team.
We know a lot of history about the house. We know that it was built in 1899 and is considered to be a modest American FourSquare home with Craftsman details. We have original blueprints from one of the major remodels in the 30s.
My husband and I purchased the house in 2001 from a sweet elderly lady that had lived there since 1947. Before she lived there, only one other family had lived there before her, so we know that we are only the 3rd owners of this big beautiful 2,500 square foot house!
Another interesting detail was that each previous family had only had one child each and the little old lady we purchased from had lived there by herself since 1961 when her husband passed away. All the woodwork & trim was perfect and well preserved over the years!!!
The home was originally one residence, then a doctor’s office in the 1930s, then converted into three apartments in the 50s (although they were only rented out for a few short years while her husband was still alive). The last major remodel must have been during the late 1940s or 1950s.
When we looked at the home for the first time with a realtor it looked as though many of the rooms had been closed off for decades… newspapers in the windows, electricity shut off, no running water to parts of the house. The realtor kept apologizing and saying everything could be modernized… but I thought NO WAY! It was only the 4th house that we looked at, but we knew it was meant to be ours!!
So we had a VERY nice time capsule house to start with! Not only did I walk into a home that had a furnished 50s kitchen with original stove & cabinets…
I now had THREE 50s kitchens from the former apartments!!! Over the last 11 years we have slowly converted it back to a one residence home.
Here is a list of just some of the major projects we have undertaken over the years:
- Converted 2nd downstairs kitchen into a spacious vintage laundry room
- Removed lots of asbestos flooring [Precautionary Pam reminds: Find and consult with properly licensed professionals, dear readers!]
- Resanded some of the beautiful wood floors
- Restored all electricity & plumbing
- Paint — lots of paint!
- Added more white metal cabinets here & there (mostly found in heavy trash)
- Put the grand pocket doors back in (they had been walled over when they converted to the 3 apartments)
Cool story — when we knocked a hole in the wall hoping to find the pocket doors hidden inside — they weren’t there!!! Shortly after, we coincidently went to a garage sale at a neighbors house and they had these pocket doors shown in my photos for sale for $100!!! When we brought them home, the bolts in the doors threaded perfectly into the holes in our track… we think they might have been ours. Maybe neighbors traded them years ago… who knows!!
And of course there have been tons more decorating and redecorating over the years.
At times, I have dreamed about saving up for a “real” 50s ranch in a better neighborhood. However we have put so much of our heart & souls into remodeling this house… we have really grown attached to it. In some ways, I feel like I have the best of both worlds… original 50s fixtures, built-ins & wallpaper AND turn of the century woodwork, clawfoot tubs and high ceilings. And I honestly don’t know that I would ever find another time capsule home as great as this one… especially for the price — Since it is in a depressed neighborhood, we purchased it for less than $50K! I still dream of fixing up a long & lean rambling 1950s ranch one day, but I have learned to love the house I’m in!! It is so large with plenty of elbow room.
Yes, I did use Pam’s kitchen curtain fabric to spruce up my kitchen recently!
Tappan Stove is a 1961 model. (Same year the previous owner’s husband passed away, so the owner said she never used it much *sad*.) Very clean works perfect!
We love the original pegboard wall in our small kitchen — I don’t know why pegboard hasn’t made a big comeback yet!
The original mermaid wall paper in my upstairs bathroom is my favorite wall paper ever.
One other interesting note is that we have done most of the projects on a shoestring budget! We are full time ebayers, so we don’t have huge amounts of money to buy the best every time. (Despite people thinking that we are making millions on Ebay.) We have had to be really creative and work slowly over years at a time. It does help that we are constantly at thrift shops, estate sales & garage sales constantly for our work… it does make it easier to find things inexpensively… but not always on demand when you need it. I’m still waiting for the right pink 50s clothing hamper to come along to me at a sale for a dollar or two! I can’t bear to spend $80 for one on Ebay! My dining room is home to all of our Ebay storage… that’s what’s hidden behind all those colorful bins!
The bins are just large cardboard boxes covered with fabric — I’m cheap, but I think they turned out looking really custom!
It’s the most 70s room… not my favorite era, but I needed a challenge… now it’s one of my favorite rooms!
In the next couple of months I am getting ready to re-do the downstairs bath. It’s the one with the aqua blue wall board with faux tiles. The wall tiles are not holding up to splashes and it can’t really be cleaned. We are going to splurge and have a tiler do it basically in the same style, but with real tiles and adding a black border with pencil stick trim. I have the Daltile Aqua Glow tiles stacked in my garage just waiting till we save money for the flooring. I’m decorating with chalkware fish & have most of the decor! Thanks to you and your support of saving pink bathrooms… I gathered lots of inspiration from those articles!
A couple of years ago when we realized we were probably staying here for the long haul, we decided to buy the two houses on each side in order to make the neighborhood better and feed our hobby of fixing up old houses! 😉 They were not time capsules, but still had some cool features & old fireplaces. We fixed those up as well and they are now rented out to close friends of ours for very reasonable cost. We fenced in all three back yards to make one large backyard and we feel happy knowing we are improving the quality of this block. We have a lovely community patio in back — it really does feel like an oasis right in the middle of the city. It’s been cool!
Kristen and Paul — thanks so much for letting us take a peek into your character-filled home. You’ve done a terrific job with your remodeling and decorating — we think your mix of 1899-1930s-and-1950s is totally charming, totally homey, totally you! Kudos to you both for showing how we can create beautiful interiors on a shoestring, loving the house you’re in. From the looks of it, I’d say the house loves you back.
Link love:
Kristen and Paul’s ebay store, The Robot Parade. (*affiliate link)
- Want to make a collage wall like Kristen’s? See Kristen’s 7 step-by-step tips to make a pleasing gallery wall.
- Or shop the Etsy version of The Robot Parade.
Marianne says
Just curious – would you mind telling us where this house is located? Even just the state would do. Living in California I get so envious hearing of houses available for 50K, much less being able to buy the houses on either side! Plus, I’m curious if your climate was also a contributing factor as to helping keep the older elements of the house, both structural and decorative, in good shape over the years.
Love, love, love the house! Beautiful decorating!
Thanks,
Marianne
Kristen gubbins says
Marianne, Thank you!
We are located in southern Indiana… think ‘Parks & Recreation’ in the fictional town of Pawnee! An area very similar to ours. For the most part, people here would rather have a cheaply made, but new Jagoe Home (do they have those in other places or is that local?) than an old house with any historic charm. Don’t want to make your head spin, but we purchased the house on the north side of the property for $10K and the southside for $14K. They are a little smaller with a little more wear & tear, but after the fixing up… they are beautiful rental houses! The location is not without its problems though… In the past, we’ve seen drug deals, a strong arm robbery and a meth lab bust 2 houses away. We don’t see those things every day–and some years are really calm, but it’s kind of a trade off– all what you are willing to put up with I suppose.
Toni says
Do you really have TWO Formica dinette sets?? And I have NONE. A few years ago when I was really, really poor I saw the perfect yellow cracked ice set. It was only $50 but I didn’t have $50. I feel sad every time I think about it.
Kristen Gubbins says
Toni,
I hate it when that happens… I have passed up things many times… but the right set will come around to you when the time is right. I actually have 3 Formica dinette sets. The 3rd one is gray cracked ice– more utilitarian… it’s upstairs in our work studio. It’s a messy room, not pretty enough for photos, but it gets used for cutting fabric, crafting, taking photos for ebay and basically a landing spot for all our garbage bags full of goods we haul home from yard sales. It is the largest 50s chrome table I have ever seen. With the 2 leaves in, it measures a whopping 6.5 feel long. That cracked ice formica is the most durable, high hiding vintage finish I have ever seen. Had all my tables almost 15 years… no problems at all with any finishes and LOTS of use! Good stuff! =)
Lisa Gsellman says
I DIE over this house, and style. Probably the damn coolest people on the planet. I’m so inspired!
ninja_neer says
i’m so jealous now i could cry. why didn’t i move to a town with houses i could afford like this. here in arlington anything like this is torn down and a jive crackerbox with palladian windows is built in its place. that kitchen is rockin’.
oh Holland says
Love seeing your house, Kristen and Paul! I fell in love with your living room when I first saw it here.
Kristen you might remember me commenting on your fantastic wall assemblages. Items I found on eBay to add to things I already have are arriving and soon I’ll be able to make my lay-out and get ’em up, following your guide.
But, I have both a confession and question: in a couple of shop photos you show a foursome of diamond-shaped plaques with chess pieces. I bought a set on eBay and was surprised to see the chess pieces are molded INTO the plaques rather than bas relief — they really fool the eye! Anyway, I want to copycat your harlequin treatment by painting two plaques a dark grey and the other two a lighter grey, and detailing each chess piece in gold. Any tips on your method and the products you used to achieve that crisp look?
Kristen says
Sounds cool! I would use a high quality spray paint. They have really neat color selections now at most home improvement stores– I know I have used a Dove Gray(can’t remember the brand)– you may have to search other brands to find a lighter shade, but you shouldn’t have much trouble finding it. I love Valspar brand for the smoothness & coverage– you won’t need as many coats with it & it just looks like a million bucks every time. I would paint the entire diamond with the spray paint and then after it dries I would go back in with some metallic gold craft paint using an artist’s paint brush to paint the concave design– being careful around the edges. The craft paint is usually not the best quality, however, if you spray the entire piece with a clear coat… it will unify the finishes. Another trick I like if you don’t like a shiny top coat… You can purchase matte spray finish at an art supply store & coat all finished pieces with that. Thank you, thank you for your kind words & good luck with your project!
oh Holland says
Super advice and inspiration, Kristen. Again, thank you.
Karen says
Love!
The red table/chairs thrills me too.
I use a yellow table similar to yours in my kitchen
and have for years, but no chairs. Difficult to find
vintage.
In the barn I have someone’s one owner
steel cabinets in need of countertops and
sanding/paint. Hubby won’t let me use them
but only paid $15 for them. I have the upper
curved end shelves but he is using in garage
and I worry about them. I like steel kitchens-
you can use magnets to hold things up.
Thank you for sharing your remarkable home.
karen608 at yahoo dot com
Kristen says
Wow, thanks everyone! It really has been a decade long labor of love fixing up this old house. It’s been a work in progress… when life gets busy… we lay off the home improvements for a while, but before I know it… I start getting the decorating bug and behold, there’s always another room in my house waiting to be spruced up. It’s funny how we all want something other than what we have… If I had my druthers… my kitchen would be much more like Pam’s (if not exactly the same— just stunning & inspiring pam!). I lean toward the 60s mod a bit more and for a while I felt my 50s kitchen was a little bit “country” if you know what I mean. However, I think adding the atomic aqua valances was one small thing I could do to go that direction. (The previous window coverings were red & white gingham.) I still have one more bathroom to tackle… I’ll send photos when it’s complete!
Jean says
Please do! I want to see all the pictures of everything you do with your home. You clearly have such natural talent at rolling diverse vintage styles into eminently lovable, livable space!
Jen says
Wow, what a wonderful job they’ve done! The blend of eras really works out beautifully…some of it is unexpected, but in a really great way that works and sort of…I don’t know, sets off fireworks of “ooooooo, I like that!” in your head.
Also…the house reminds me so much of my great-grandmother’s home in Michigan’s UP. It was built around the same time and had almost an identical kitchen and of course some 50s touches, too. So this was an extra treat to see. 🙂
Great job!
Lisa9000 says
Love this house! I’m one of those button down, formal living room, want everything to match kind of people – who’da thunk I’d love the mix of eras in your lovely home. Until I saw it I didn’t know I’d love it. Best feature of all – those pocket doors. Please, please, please Pam do a feature on pocket doors! Maybe something for a future weekend uploader? And how to add them to your house if you weren’t lucky enough to get some with the house you’re in.
modernT says
What a lovely home! It’s so charming and warm. The owners did a wonderful job with decorating on a budget–oh the power of paint! While I lean more towards the “modern” side of mid-century for my own home, I really appreciate the vintage style–it perfectly suits the home. I love when I see couples who appreciate their vintage home and don’t feel the need to make it trendy. Thanks for featuring it!