By now, most of us have seen the inspiring photos from Sarah’s Gilbert Spindel round house, but did you know: Sarah’s parents also became new owners of a marvelous 1953 mid century ranch house last year. The house boasts many of the original details, including furniture and decor left by the original owner. And, when the kitchen and bathroom needed some attention before Robert and Caroline could move in, Sarah was able to give them some great decor advice and also point them in the direction of the many resources available here on Retro Renovation. The result: Another retro remodel well done.
It all started last Christmas, when my parents and I were invited to a new friend’s house for a party. Immediately my Mom and I started drooling over the architecture and period details in the house. The house was exactly my parents’ style. We joked with the owners that whenever they plan to sell in the future to give us a call. Little did my parents know that three months later that very call would come. Even though it was sudden my parents jumped on the opportunity. My parents ‘refreshed’ the kitchen and one of the bathrooms last year before moving in.
[The house was ] built in 1953 by an heiress to a lumber fortune. She had the house built with the best quality lumber, but insisted on planting no trees. Trees were simply for making money not enjoying. She only lived in the house for a couple of years before moving. She left everything. She took her clothes and a few personal mementos and left everything else! That is why a few pieces have been left behind from all of the past owners.
The house features a central courtyard with a beautiful marble statue of a ‘teaching Buddha’ that Mrs. McGehee may have bought or had commissioned along with the marble mantle in the formal living room.The shell motif on the mantle is also repeated on the original table and mirror sets in the entrance. The previous owners installed the slate flooring in the home, it was originally wall to wall carpeting in those rooms. According to those who remember, the house was originally mainly painted and decorated in green.
Although the paint colors have changed over the years, luckily for having had four or five previous owners, no major renovations were ever made to the house. The house was in overall great condition, it only needed a little bit of TLC.
Kitchen freshening — original St. Charles steel kitchen cabinets
The kitchen is any Retro Renovation reader’s dream. 1953 St. Charles cabinets as far as the eye can see! This is a big kitchen by today’s standards, so I imagine that it must have been quite the show stopper in its day.
But after 60 years of daily use some of the original paint was worn down to the primer, especially around the handles. And the peel n stick vinyl floor was peeling up and needed to go.
Because I’m a regular Retro Renovation reader, I knew exactly what needed to be done. One of our friend’s husband is an auto body painter and was up for the job, even though he had never painted metal cabinets before. He and his friend worked on the project on the weekends. The doors and drawers were removed and painted at their booth. They also worked on any dents or warps. The cabinet boxes were painted on site. Everything was taped off and overall it didn’t create much of a mess. We used PPG auto paint and it really shines just like a new car off the assembly line.
Precautionary Pam pops in: Sarah and her parents used professionals; another reminder that when working with old materials, be sure to get with your own properly licensed professionals to determine what you are working with so that you can make informed decisions how to handle, become familiar with and use recommended best practices, and also learn about the proper disposal of debris, etc. Be Safe / Renovate Safe
We used Armstrong’s Striations line in the “atmosphere” color for the floor. It’s streaky like vintage VCT but comes in the modern 12″x24″ size. We experimented with about five different ways of laying out the floor tile and went with a herringbone pattern.
The floor was sealed and a matte coating applied.
The countertop is the original laminate or maybe cusheen? Its a very thick laminate and it has a slight give, that’s why I think it may be cusheen but I have no basis of comparison. The stove area has a stainless steel countertop. The backsplash is the same material as the countertop, maybe 3 or 4 inches high, then edged in aluminum or stainless, then a solid black glass the rest of the way up. (all original) Mom placed the remaining liner tiles on that edge just for decoration, they aren’t secured.
The vintage dining set is the same table and chair set that was in the kitchen on The Golden Girls.
The finishing detail was replacing the old light fixture for the new chrome Sputnik chandelier — which was purchased from Practical Props — a company I also found through Retro Renovation. The kitchen has endured 60 years of use and is now ready for 60 more!
Bathroom Remodel
The house has 3 1/2 bathrooms. A bathroom for every bedroom, which must have been quite the luxury. All of the bathrooms were original and so unique but the brown and white bathroom left much to be desired. The brown tile seemed to have a permanent layer of hard water residue, some of the tiles were cracked and overall we weren’t fans of the color scheme.
This is also the only bathroom with a standing shower, so it was going to be used the most. We decided to just redo the tile work and to keep the new look in style with the other bathrooms in the house. We kept the tub, toilet, sink and medicine cabinet as well as the layout. We tossed around several design ideas and shopped around town and the Internet for inspiration.
While browsing the vintage tile selection on eBay I stumbled upon a massive lot of vintage sizzle strips in a multitude of colors and patterns. From that I thought it would be a really fun look to go wild with a crazy assortment of strips while keeping the rest of the look classic and clean.
We sampled several colors of grout but went with light gray.
The advantage of using the white subway tile and bullnose is that it’s easy to find and relatively cheap. We pulled ours straight off the shelf at Lowe’s. Now the bathroom is very customizable. Just about any color can be pulled from the sizzle strips for wall and towel colors.
The bumble bee yellow bathroom is a twin of the redone bathroom, same size and layout. One can’t help but perk up in such a sunshiny space!
The master bathroom has the most amazing mirrored vanity. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.
And when you open one of the fabulous mirrored cabinets you will find a bottle of Windex because it is a daily necessity.
It also has a white princess tub and coke bottle green hex floor tiles.
The half bath is a wild little nook with its harlequin wallpaper, blue fixtures and pearloid toilet seat. I love the one playing guitar! I’m not sure if the toilet seat changed color over time but it is a bit greener than the toilet.
Although my parents love their new house’s welcoming layout and abundance of natural light, they really appreciate their new neighbors and neighborhood. Their neighborhood boasts charming cottages, mid century modern gems and older southern style homes all under a canopy of large mature oaks. The neighbors switch off on hosting monthly block parties and are most often seen jogging and walking their dogs. It’s a retro neighborhood in the best way.
Mega thanks to Sarah, for taking all of the photos and sending in the back story of her parent’s lovely house. Robert and Caroline — what a gem you have. Your kitchen is just to die for — and the bathrooms are superb. Thank you so much for opening up your home to all of us for this spectacular tour. It is great to know that this special home has caretakers that appreciate and preserve the fabulous original details.
Resource list:
- Kitchen cabinet paint — PPG Automotive paint — Boxes painted on-site, doors and drawer fronts painted offsite in professional spray booth
- Kitchen flooring — Armstrong Striations flooring
- Kitchen starburst light —
- Bathroom wall tile — Subway tile off the shelf from Home Depot
- Bathroom flooring — American Olean Chloe from Home Depot
- Bathroom decorative liner tiles — ebay
Nancy B says
What a treat for this Monday morning!! Just beautiful!! Great job & what wonderful keepers of such a treasure! Would love to just sit and have a cup of coffee & take in that incredible kitchen!! Mrs. Helen Weber McGehee would be so proud!
Melissa L. says
Beautiful house with thoughtful and tasteful renovations. I love the new bath and think it is a big improvement over the original. I was also surprised at how much I prefer the aqua color on the cabinets and the herringbone floor is perfect. I’d love to see the layout of the house and how it fits together. I think the courtyard faces the living room and maybe the master bedroom??
Roundhouse Sarah says
Yes, the courtyard has giant windows facing the living room and two doors, one in the master and the other in the hallway.
Robin, NV says
My goodness what an amazing home. The kitchen cabinets are SO lovely and the remodel of the brown bathroom is so fun and pretty. I love the use of multiple sizzle strips. I would never have thought to do that.
Robin, NV says
Oh and forgot to mention that the herringbone flooring in the kitchen looks like it was original to the house. I love it!! Every remodel in the home has given me so much food for thought.
Mary says
I am so happy they kept to kitchen cabinets and did not rip it out for today’s cookie cutter ones with granite counter tops. I am so sick of the home shows that all they want is that and stainless steel appliances. The white subway tile is the best to use, I put it in a kitchen and you can customize it any way you want! Thanks for showing such an amazing house!
Nora Stengrim says
What an amazing house!!!! Every time you show us another one, I think I’ve seen the best kitchen or bathroom or some room that there is. This house give me a seriou case of kitchen envy.
Mary Elizabeth says
Me, too, Mary! One of my favorite things are the exterior shape of the house (model by Sarah?), with its great architectural interest. Love the Zen-like central courtyard sheltered from the world. The interior layout with the tiled entrance, and the huge St. Charles kitchen with the rounded corners are also fabulous. I love the colors you picked in the kitchen.
I agree also with Basil that the liner tile is happy and parrot-friendly. The bright shower curtain “pulls” all the colors out of the tile. Are Sarah and Caroline quilters as well? There’s a quilting aesthetic to the color choices in that bath. Great MCM curators, all of you!
Mary Elizabeth says
Forgot to say I spied what looks like a model of a little camper on the kitchen display shelves. Hope that camping is another thing we have in common. 🙂
Lynne says
Wow. Amazing. I’m not sure I would ever leave the kitchen! Love the color choice on those cabinets.
I have one tiny piece of advice for the mirrored bathroom. Spray your windex or whatever cleaner ON THE TOWEL. Don’t squirt it on the mirror surface itself. You’ll get it just as clean, but you don’t want the liquid to seep into the cracks and get behind the silvering.
Teri Mills says
Love! That kitchen is HUGE and gorgeous. I adore the slate floor in the foyer. And those two huge front windows are to die for. I don’t know why, but big front windows are my passion. I would love to see them from an indoor perspective.
Great job!
brenda reamy says
OMG…LOVE!
Andi says
What a fabulous house! I can see why your parents made the “random” comment about the owners calling them if ever they wished to sell…clearly they were ready to sell (even if they didn’t realize it until they heard that comment), and it wasn’t a coincidence that your parents ended up in such a wonderful home!
I love all of it (the aqua cabinets made me gasp in admiration, and the entire kitchen is full of perfectly made decisions) but I have to say I can’t believe how much I love the way you used the multi-color, non-matching liner tiles in that bathroom remodel! Wow! I LOVE the way that looks—brilliant, as they would say across the pond!!
Congratulations all around—to your parents, to the previous owners, and to the house, for lucking out once again with appreciative new owners.