• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Kitchens
  • Bathrooms
  • Blog
  • Exterior
  • Other Rooms
  • Decorate
  • The “Museum”
  • Be Safe/Renovate Safe
Retro Renovation
Retro Renovation

Retro Renovation

Remodel & decorate in Mid Century Style

  • Home
  • Kitchens
  • Bathrooms
  • Blog
  • Exterior
  • Other Rooms
  • Decorate
  • The “Museum”
  • Be Safe/Renovate Safe
Home / The Museum of Mid Century Material Culture / time capsule homes

Warm and beautiful 1962 mid-century modern brick ranch time capsule house — Norfolk, Virginia

Kate - Updated: August 22, 2020

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

retro-room-dividerTour-a-Time-CapsuleSnaps to reader Andrew, who let us know about this 1962 Norfolk, Virginia time capsule home, listed for sale by realtor Mick Shaw. The home retains most of its original details, including a fabulous mid-century modern room divider/planter, an amazing built-in Nutone entertainment system, original lighting, and two sets of sparkle gold laminate counter tops — one white, one pink. Thanks to some great photography courtesy of Tom Benvenuto, real estate agent and architectural photographer in Virginia Beach, Virginia, we can all admire this home’s classic mid-century charm.

mid century modern ranch houseAbove: The house is lovely on the outside… but wait ’til you get inside…

mid-century-room-dividerYou’ve gotta love that slate flooring in the entryway and those original pendant light fixtures, but the real showpiece of the space is this unusual mid-century modern room divider. Not only does the divider add pattern and interest to the home’s entry, it also is a planter with a floor to ceiling shelf detail.

  • Our story on random-color slate tile available today.

mid-century-entry

From the listing:

  • Price: $175,000
  • Year built: 1962
  • Square footage: 1,973
  • Bedrooms: 3
  • Bathrooms: 2.5

Stunning mid century modern brick ranch with an incredible retro personality. Very unique architecture and gardens. Cathedral ceilings, huge windows, new roof-carport and double patio on wood lot.

built-in-nutone-retroThe home’s main living space boasts a huge brick fireplace and a super cool built in Nutone radio/intercom system.

nutone-intercom-systemCould those doors be for a built-in record player and record storage? Looks like there might be even a speaker built into the fireplace.

vintage-blue-bathroomA blue and white vintage bathroom with a mosaic floor tile pattern we’ve never seen before – nice!… Hall Mack integrated toothbrush holder and what looks to be a sleek laminate vanity that appears to be original.

pink-vintage-bathroomDon’t worry, there’s a pink bathroom too — one that has a pink sparkle laminate counter top.

mid-century-front-doorThe home’s exterior  landscaping details like the unusual circular cement raised garden bed near the front door. I’m already trying to figure out how to construct one of these at my house.

mid-century-brick-ranchWhat a beautiful — and livable — mid-century house. Clearly loved, and maintained by its owners over the years. 🙂

Mega thanks to Realtor Mick Shaw for allowing us to feature this home and to real estate agent and architectural photographer Tom Benvenuto for supplying us with a photo tour of the property.

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:

mid-century-ranch-house
mid-century-landscaping
mid-century-front-door
mid-century-entryway
retro-room-divider-planter
mid-century-room-divider
mid-century-dining-room
pinch-pleat-curtains
vintage-teal-carpet
mid-century-living-room
mid-century-fireplace
retro-nutone-intercom-system
nutone-intercom-system-retro
mid-century-kitchen-retro
retro-brown-cooktop
sparkle-laminate-counter-tops-retro
retro-kitchen
vintage-wallpaper-kitchen
mid-century-sparkle-laminate-counter
mid-century-light-fixtures
mid-century-master-bedroom
mid-century-pink-bathroom
vintage-pink-bathroom
vintage-blue-tile-bathroom
mid-century-blue-bathroom
mid-century-bedroom
retro-bedroom
vintage-wood-paneling
mid-century-carport
mid-century-porch
mid-century-brick-ranch

CATEGORIES:
The Museum of Mid Century Material Culture time capsule homes

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

  • mid century door
    14 Places to Buy or DIY Mid Century Modern Front Doors
  • retro bathroom tile
    Tile in retro colors for your mid century bathroom -- 36 places to find them
  • rolls-of-fabric
    Mid century modern and retro upholstery fabrics at discount prices -- Maharam, Knoll, Herman Miller & more
  • landscaping a mid century house
    10 ideas for landscaping a mid century home
  • mid-century-escutcheons
    2019 Update: 5 places to buy escutcheons for mid century modern front doors

Reader Interactions

Comments are closed. 

70 comments

Comments

  1. Jenny says

    February 26, 2014 at 2:19 am

    Homina homina homina…

    Love everything about this house.

  2. Ky Sanders says

    February 26, 2014 at 12:14 am

    The raised concrete bed is easily done. Use bender board to make an inner and outer circle form for concrete. It’s flexible so it is easily bent into curves. Any lumber store should have it, but here is one source:
    http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-1-4-in-x-3-3-4-in-x-97-in-MDF-Bender-Board-487404/202297474.
    After the circles are created and staked down, mix up some concrete, fill, and finish. Here is how one person did it, although their border was a slightly curvy border. Same concept, just different shape:
    http://ouradventuresinhomeimprovement.blogspot.com/2011/06/diy-curbing-for-backyard.html

    • Kate says

      February 26, 2014 at 9:36 am

      Very cool Ky — I’ll have to see if I can find some of this bender board locally and try my hand at making a circular planter! Thanks for the tip!

  3. Rob C says

    February 25, 2014 at 10:49 pm

    I believe the grate on the fireplace is what my FIL used to refer to as a “heatilator” – he had two on his fireplace but they didn’t have grates on them, they were made from leaving out bricks. Apparently the idea was to vent extra heat from some outer chamber of the chimney back into the room. Have no idea whether they worked well but he specifically requested them on his.

    • Rob C says

      February 25, 2014 at 10:52 pm

      I think this is people talking about the same thing

      http://www.oldhouseweb.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8240

  4. Kara says

    February 25, 2014 at 10:46 pm

    God. I sure hope the new owner doesn’t flatten that. 🙁

  5. cebette murphy says

    February 25, 2014 at 10:28 pm

    I am going to start packing now. It is absolutely perfect.

    • Cynthia says

      February 26, 2014 at 2:50 pm

      I totally agree!! This may be one of the best ones I’ve seen here…so many authentic features, I would love to move right in! Such a reasonable price, too….

  6. Kathy M says

    February 25, 2014 at 8:51 pm

    I want that turquoise carpet!! Wow love the built in electronics.

  7. Blondie7 says

    February 25, 2014 at 3:07 pm

    Wow! I am so very proud! My hometown is Virginia Beach and only minutes away from Norfolk VA. What a beautiful home! Awesome!

    Thanks a zillion for posting this! Smooches!

  8. Jonny says

    February 25, 2014 at 1:33 pm

    175K! This house is a steal, looks like a big wooded lot, too. I’m also impressed with how nice of condition everything is in. I would wonder if they didn’t paint everything one color before putting it up for sale, I don’t see a single painted wall that isn’t off-white. Wouldn’t bother me one bit though, all the “goods” are still in place!

  9. LREKing says

    February 25, 2014 at 1:12 pm

    I have seen the small concrete cylinders made using cans or bottles as molds. It used to be common here in southern Arizona.

    • Stephanie says

      April 30, 2015 at 12:19 am

      Molds for what?

  10. MsKittyMuses says

    February 25, 2014 at 12:49 pm

    What a gorgeous house! I really wish houses with this level of character and detail were around our area and that price range when my husband and I were looking a few years ago! Someone is going to be very lucky indeed!

    And I can attest that the doors on NuTone system do in fact house a record player and a record holder. My husband and I miraculously scored a whole system that a dealer had pulled out himself at an estate sale. It has everything shown in this house, plus 5 speakers, all for $100! We’re still trying to figure out where to install it all in our house.

    • Nina462 says

      February 26, 2014 at 8:03 pm

      Where do you live? I knew of a time capsule house last summer in South West Michigan. It was just loaded with style – I wanted Pam & realtor to connect, but it didn’t happen. House was sold- but it was quite reasonably priced too (about $170).

      I saw another one a couple weeks ago – and nearly cried when they said it was sold & the people were going to renovate it.

      I’ve seen several time capsule homes in SW Michigan – mostly when I go to estate sales.

« Older Comments
Newer Comments »

Primary Sidebar


Footer

Follow Along

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RENOVATE SAFE
  • About
  • Blog
  • The “Museum”
  • Kitchens
  • Bathrooms
  • Exterior
  • Other Rooms
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Notice
  • Disclosures
  • Contact

© 2026 Retro Renovation® • All Rights Reserved • Website by Anchored Design
Please do not use any materials without prior permission. Portrait by Keith Talley Photography