Mike and Lindsey’s Edward Durell Stone “House of Good Taste”
Kate - Updated: September 16, 2020
Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.
Their first report on their new Retro Renovation journey
Mike and Lindsey — known here as the careful caretakers of two vintage pink bathrooms — have started a new Retro Renovation adventure: The couple recently closed on their new home, a 1964 mid-century modern adapted from a famous “House of Good Taste” design by architect Edward Durell Stone for the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. The house needs some TLC, and Mike asked us if we’d like for him to document this new, labor-of-love project. Heck to the yeah, we said! Here’s his first report on this jewel of a house… some historical photos we dug up… and their epic restoration plans ahead.
We asked Mike and Lindsey to share the story of how they decided to become the new custodians of this special home.
Mike wrote:
Shortly after moving into our current 1950’s ranch four years ago, we became enamored with everything mid-century. While we love our current home, it’s definitely more mid-century “modest” than mid-century “modern”, and previous renovations done by various different owners removed most of its original character (except the two pink bathrooms of course). We decided that one day we wanted to renovate and restore a authentic mid-century modern home.
Looking for this “dream” home became a sort of hobby and obsession of ours. We didn’t have any real NEED to move, but thought if just the “right” house came along, we might take the plunge. Owning a special mid-century home soon became a “bucket list item” for us to hopefully fulfill one day. In the meantime, we continued to love our current house, always in the midst of one project or another, while keeping our eyes out for the “one.”
We would go to open houses and search the MLS, and every once in awhile, something would grab our attention only to be eliminated due to location, size, being “updated”, or one of the other million reasons. Again, we did not need to move so we were super picky about our dream mid century home. It seemed nothing met the requirements of our list.
Photo courtesy OKCmod.comThe house while it was on the market. Photo courtesy OKCmod.com
When we saw the post on Okie Mod Squad about “The House of Good Taste possibly coming on the market, we were very interested, but had experienced enough “dead ends” to know not to get our hopes up. We decided to get the contact information and emailed the owner. The owner, who had been there for 25 years and truly knew the value of the home, wanted to make sure the next owners appreciated and would take proper care of it. In our minds, this probably wasn’t the one, the location was a little suburban for us, but what could it hurt to look right?
[Editor’s Note: The Okie Mod Squad article by Lynne Rostochil provides lots more great into about this history of this exact house — take a look! Thank you, too, Lynne, for giving us permission to feature some of your photos!]
Note, Mike told us this brick is NOT painted: “The stone on the interior has not been painted. We believe it might be concrete that was poured into forms. The is white, and I think that is what makes it look like to could have been painted.”
Long story short, we were wrong. This was very much “the one.” It checked almost every item on our “dream home” list. While the location wasn’t a complete slam dunk, the fact that the house backs up to a private park quickly canceled out any location reservations we had.The house was not technically on the market yet, so we knew we had a chance to snatch it up before others caught wind.
We took a deep breath, took the plunge and recently closed on our new home. We are now the proud owners of a “The House of Good Taste”.
The house has been cared for and protected the last 25 years, but it’s in need of a little Retro Renovation love! So we are diving in with both feet and have a complete renovation planned over the next few months. We are excited to share the entire process with the Retro Renovation family…. who knows, there might be some original terrazzo floors hiding under all of that carpet?
Thanks, Mike and Lindsey, for offering to bring us along for your Retro Renovation journey. This is the kind of vicarious pleasure we adore!
I will eagerly be following the updates on this home, we are in the process of purchasing a home in NC, the majority of the 4000 sq ft home is terrazzo flooring, which is one of our favorite features!
I will be very interested in seeing the process for restoring the flooring as it will be something we too will need to do.
We lucked out, only a small section of our flooring was carpeted.
Mike and Lindseysays
when we get to the installment on the floors, we will give a outline of the step by step process on the terrazzo
Sam Rsays
The complete exterior of my 1954 house in SW Missouri, and large portions of the street-visible elevations of the 15 or so other houses in the neighborhood built by the same person in the following years, are made of that “concrete made to look like Roman/Carthage stone” material. Mine is kind of a light khaki color, but some of the other houses have more unusual tints such as pink and green. Your “stone” looks to be from the same molds as mine.
Rather interestingly, both the main floor and basement fireplace facings are real cut stone, and the basement level stone features heavy fossil inclusions.
Nice find – good luck on your renovation endeavor!
Joe Felicesays
I will enjoy following this reno. There is simply too-much potential for serious beauty here! Not sure if money is an object, but I think the entire kitchen has to go. (And we didn’t get to see the bathrooms.) I wish all that beautiful Miami brick inside had not been painted. The carpet needs to go, as do the slatted window coverings and the painted interior doors. All those surface-mounted, track spotlights will be gone, of course. I envision concealed lighting in that “cove” at the top of the walls–oh, so beautiful, especially if that space is painted a slightly-different color from the walls themselves. How often will we get updates? I for one, would like to follow as this goes along, rather than just a “before” and “after.” (And, by the way, what is that “cove” at the top of the walls called, architecturally speaking?)
MikeDsays
Joe
We will be doing multiple installments on this project, somewhere between 5-8 I would guess?, not just a before and after.
It is not a “money is no object” situation, but I can tell you that we feel its a once in a life time sort of thing, so we will be doing it full on and not cutting corners. To give you a hint, this is a big enough project that we are keeping our current home during the renovations because the place will not be livable.
pam kuebersays
Joe, the brick is not painted. In a previous comment Mike explained:
The stone on the interior has not been painted. We believe it might be concrete that was poured into forms. The is white, and I think that is what makes it look like to could have been painted
I am going to add this to the story.
Joe Felicesays
I did see that after I posted. Thanks for clarifying. In that case, maybe painting the mortar between the bricks a slightly-different color would be the solution. Not anything drastic, but just-enough variation to show off the brick. It is so beautiful. A friend had her 1964 ranch clad in that, in a light rose shade. That was probably the most-popular color back then.
pam kuebersays
No, Joe, you are just wrong on this! If it’s original, leave it!
pam kuebersays
“Tray” – tray ceiling or tray lighting – something like that, I am not sure which is more correct.
Joe Felicesays
It does look like a tray. Thanks. But on HGTV, what they call a “tray ceiling” is always up higher, in the center of the room/ceiling. It appears to be a step-down sort of arrangement. Anyway, what I had in mind was what these owners currently have in the living room. You can do a lot with lighting, as we all know, and maybe even a soft pastel shade would be attractive, just so it’s not so glaring.
As that article does, some decorators insist the spelling of this architectural detail is “trey ceiling” rather than T-R-A-Y. I was curious and researched; I can find no significant support for that from a linguistic perspective. The Merriam-Webster dictionary uses “tray” with no variations listed. The etymology of the word “tray,” flat pieces of wood (from the word “tree”), certainly appears to apply here. The Oxford English Dictionary’s only definitions for the word “trey” are meanings related to the number “three.” So I suppose if there are three trays, the ceiling might be referred to as a “trey” ceiling, otherwise, I’d stick to “tray.”
Florettsays
I am just THRILLED with this project, and your publishing of it! thank yo so much. The house is quite beautiful, and the sellers must be delighted you found it…
Mary Elizabethsays
Really exciting news for serious retro restoration fans such as yourselves!
OK, I hate to admit it. But I was at the ’64-’65 World’s Fair during my teenage years and saw the original house. My family weren’t big fans (we were living in and restoring a Victorian house then), but I got kind of dreamy eyed, especially over the kitchen and the central atrium with the skylight.
One thing: I don’t remember everything being white, but maybe the decor was brighter than that shown in the staged house. It really needs some color pops somewhere, IMHO.
Congratulations! We can’t wait to see the reports.
pam kuebersays
WOW!
Mary Elizabethsays
Yes, wow! I really am that old, and wow! I got the MCM bug way back then.
Lisa Composays
Congratulations on finding “The One”, and thank you so much for sharing it with us. I can’t wait to follow along on your Retro Renovation journey. Not that I want it to happen….but maybe you will run into a “Design Dilemma” and we can all submit a suggestion or two. 😉 Is all of the brickwork on the inside a natural white or has it been painted? Just wondering.
Thanks again, also to Pam and Kate for featuring your story. I look forward to seeing your progress and wish you the best of luck as you move along with restorations. I am excited to see the next set of pictures already.
MikeDsays
Lisa, thank you for your kind words
The stone on the interior has not been painted. We believe it might be concrete that was poured into forms. The is white, and I think that is what makes it look like to could have been painted
Sarah Madden Schildknechtsays
Congrats on the new home!!! It is gorgeous and I can’t wait to see how the space transforms! Making the switch from my current mid-modest 1958 split level to a true mid modern rambler is on my bucket list. Best of luck!
Mike and Lindsey — known here as the careful caretakers of two vintage pink bathrooms — have started a new Retro Renovation adventure: The couple recently closed on their new home, a 1964 mid-century modern adapted from a famous “House of Good Taste” design by architect Edward Durell Stone for the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. The house needs some TLC, and Mike asked us if we’d like for him to document this new, labor-of-love project. Heck to the yeah, we said! Here’s his first report on this jewel of a house… some historical photos we dug up… and their epic restoration plans ahead. 
We asked Mike and Lindsey to share the story of how they decided to become the new custodians of this special home.Looking for this “dream” home became a sort of hobby and obsession of ours. We didn’t have any real NEED to move, but thought if just the “right” house came along, we might take the plunge. Owning a special mid-century home soon became a “bucket list item” for us to hopefully fulfill one day. In the meantime, we continued to love our current house, always in the midst of one project or another, while keeping our eyes out for the “one.”
We would go to open houses and search the MLS, and every once in awhile, something would grab our attention only to be eliminated due to location, size, being “updated”, or one of the other million reasons. Again, we did not need to move so we were super picky about our dream mid century home. It seemed nothing met the requirements of our list.
We took a deep breath, took the plunge and recently closed on our new home. We are now the proud owners of a “The House of Good Taste”.
Thanks, Mike and Lindsey, for offering to bring us along for your Retro Renovation journey. This is the kind of vicarious pleasure we adore!
Paige says
I will eagerly be following the updates on this home, we are in the process of purchasing a home in NC, the majority of the 4000 sq ft home is terrazzo flooring, which is one of our favorite features!
I will be very interested in seeing the process for restoring the flooring as it will be something we too will need to do.
We lucked out, only a small section of our flooring was carpeted.
Mike and Lindsey says
when we get to the installment on the floors, we will give a outline of the step by step process on the terrazzo
Sam R says
The complete exterior of my 1954 house in SW Missouri, and large portions of the street-visible elevations of the 15 or so other houses in the neighborhood built by the same person in the following years, are made of that “concrete made to look like Roman/Carthage stone” material. Mine is kind of a light khaki color, but some of the other houses have more unusual tints such as pink and green. Your “stone” looks to be from the same molds as mine.
Rather interestingly, both the main floor and basement fireplace facings are real cut stone, and the basement level stone features heavy fossil inclusions.
Ed Murchison says
What great potential. I can’t wait to see how it comes together.
Douglas Camin @ House on Rynkus Hill says
Nice find – good luck on your renovation endeavor!
Joe Felice says
I will enjoy following this reno. There is simply too-much potential for serious beauty here! Not sure if money is an object, but I think the entire kitchen has to go. (And we didn’t get to see the bathrooms.) I wish all that beautiful Miami brick inside had not been painted. The carpet needs to go, as do the slatted window coverings and the painted interior doors. All those surface-mounted, track spotlights will be gone, of course. I envision concealed lighting in that “cove” at the top of the walls–oh, so beautiful, especially if that space is painted a slightly-different color from the walls themselves. How often will we get updates? I for one, would like to follow as this goes along, rather than just a “before” and “after.” (And, by the way, what is that “cove” at the top of the walls called, architecturally speaking?)
MikeD says
Joe
We will be doing multiple installments on this project, somewhere between 5-8 I would guess?, not just a before and after.
It is not a “money is no object” situation, but I can tell you that we feel its a once in a life time sort of thing, so we will be doing it full on and not cutting corners. To give you a hint, this is a big enough project that we are keeping our current home during the renovations because the place will not be livable.
pam kueber says
Joe, the brick is not painted. In a previous comment Mike explained:
Joe Felice says
I did see that after I posted. Thanks for clarifying. In that case, maybe painting the mortar between the bricks a slightly-different color would be the solution. Not anything drastic, but just-enough variation to show off the brick. It is so beautiful. A friend had her 1964 ranch clad in that, in a light rose shade. That was probably the most-popular color back then.
pam kueber says
No, Joe, you are just wrong on this! If it’s original, leave it!
pam kueber says
“Tray” – tray ceiling or tray lighting – something like that, I am not sure which is more correct.
Joe Felice says
It does look like a tray. Thanks. But on HGTV, what they call a “tray ceiling” is always up higher, in the center of the room/ceiling. It appears to be a step-down sort of arrangement. Anyway, what I had in mind was what these owners currently have in the living room. You can do a lot with lighting, as we all know, and maybe even a soft pastel shade would be attractive, just so it’s not so glaring.
Jukesgrrl says
Whether or not the “trays” appears to be stepped up or down, they still a tray ceiling. Here’s a link that explains in more detail.
http://info.stantonhomes.com/bid/77723/Types-of-Ceilings-Guide-to-Common-Ceiling-Styles
As that article does, some decorators insist the spelling of this architectural detail is “trey ceiling” rather than T-R-A-Y. I was curious and researched; I can find no significant support for that from a linguistic perspective. The Merriam-Webster dictionary uses “tray” with no variations listed. The etymology of the word “tray,” flat pieces of wood (from the word “tree”), certainly appears to apply here. The Oxford English Dictionary’s only definitions for the word “trey” are meanings related to the number “three.” So I suppose if there are three trays, the ceiling might be referred to as a “trey” ceiling, otherwise, I’d stick to “tray.”
Florett says
I am just THRILLED with this project, and your publishing of it! thank yo so much. The house is quite beautiful, and the sellers must be delighted you found it…
Mary Elizabeth says
Really exciting news for serious retro restoration fans such as yourselves!
OK, I hate to admit it. But I was at the ’64-’65 World’s Fair during my teenage years and saw the original house. My family weren’t big fans (we were living in and restoring a Victorian house then), but I got kind of dreamy eyed, especially over the kitchen and the central atrium with the skylight.
One thing: I don’t remember everything being white, but maybe the decor was brighter than that shown in the staged house. It really needs some color pops somewhere, IMHO.
Congratulations! We can’t wait to see the reports.
pam kueber says
WOW!
Mary Elizabeth says
Yes, wow! I really am that old, and wow! I got the MCM bug way back then.
Lisa Compo says
Congratulations on finding “The One”, and thank you so much for sharing it with us. I can’t wait to follow along on your Retro Renovation journey. Not that I want it to happen….but maybe you will run into a “Design Dilemma” and we can all submit a suggestion or two. 😉 Is all of the brickwork on the inside a natural white or has it been painted? Just wondering.
Thanks again, also to Pam and Kate for featuring your story. I look forward to seeing your progress and wish you the best of luck as you move along with restorations. I am excited to see the next set of pictures already.
MikeD says
Lisa, thank you for your kind words
The stone on the interior has not been painted. We believe it might be concrete that was poured into forms. The is white, and I think that is what makes it look like to could have been painted
Sarah Madden Schildknecht says
Congrats on the new home!!! It is gorgeous and I can’t wait to see how the space transforms! Making the switch from my current mid-modest 1958 split level to a true mid modern rambler is on my bucket list. Best of luck!
Tonya Newton says
Wow! I’m excited to see what you two do with this place. I loved your previous place but this one, I agree, is THE dream house. I’m jealous.