Bedazzled with turquoise trim, pink flamingos — and sporting a vintage Chrysler Imperial in the driveway — the curb appeal of this midcentury modern house on the recent Las Vegas Home & History Tour only began to hint at the vintage delights inside. An avocado kitchen! Two sputnik lights! Rooms full of mid mod furniture! And three — yes, count ’em — three bars! Come on in for a look — I took oodles of photos.
About this house, Nevada Preservation said:
This 1964 ranch home was built in Paradise Palms Unit 15, which was developed by Eastern Enterprises. The tract is dubbed the Fontainebleau Estates, showcasing two models known as the Parisienne and the Marquis, the latter of which is shown today. While the home is no longer original, the current homeowner has renovated the house back to what can be imagined was its original splendor, with period appropriate finishes, fixtures and appliances. Like other homes in the area, the floorplan of the two models are repeated throughout the development, but different elevations of the houses give the streets of Unit 15 a varied look that was common in midcentury tract developments.
The front entry:
Wow! Fantastic curb appeal, what with that roofline … the orange door to complement the turquoise trim … the stone trim … the house numbers, each set in their own triangles (great idea!), and even those lovely little palm trees. I also like how the homeowner used two different shades of gravel for the zeriscaping — and created a little garden for the flamboyance (yes, that’s the word for it!) of flamingos.
The kitchen:
Take your first left once you’re inside the front door, and … squeal with delight at the kitchen.
One of the reasons I loved this house so much was because it seemed clear that the owner was a longtime collector who first and foremost wanted to preserve what could be preserved and not remodel anything if it still had life in it. For example, the floors and backsplash do not appear to be original to the kitchen — I believe someone told me that they came with the house when the current owner bought it. Since they were in good shape, he/she (?) made them work. Avocado and bittersweet orange go quite nicely with terracotta, don’t you think?
Ooooh, I just noticed the arabesque cutout in the base cabinet to the right of the stove.
Suddenly, I neeeeed a little round television like this to hang in my kitchen!
It’s hard to see in the photos but I’m pretty sure this was the laminate on the countertops — Wilsonart’s Go Wavy in “Sprout.”
Clearly, there is some serious avocado appliance collecting going. No detail, too small.
Above: I was told that the homeowner — tired of waiting for a double oven in avocado to come up on craigslist — painted the existing oven themselves. Nicely played! Note: I’m not an expert but would think that if you do this you want to make sure the paint is heat-resistant, specified for such use; consult with a pro!
The dining room:
The kitchen opened up to the dining room. Oh my. TWO sputnik lights! Note the use of curtains to create separation between the dining room and the living room.
The living room:
Heidi Swank, Executive Director of Nevada Preservation, was promoting the National Trust for Preservation’s campaign, “This Place Matters”. The idea — take photos at historic places holding the This Place Matters sign, then post and hashtag them on social media sites.
Above: Kinda hard to see in this photo, but the homeowner also hung little starbursts from the ceiling throughout the room. Fun — and it broke up the expanse nicely.
Bedroom:
The bedroom was beautifully decorated, chock full of vintage.
Can anyone name the furniture line? Nice set!
The bathroom:
The Retro Decorating Gods did not bestow a pink bathroom unto this homeowner — so they painted the cabinets pink, and voila, they are in the club!
The RGDs DID bestow a glitter laminate countertop and hudee-rimmed sink!
Above: I’m thinking that is NOT wallpaper — it’s wrapping paper. Hey, go for it!
The bars:
Above: The first bar was a real cutie, situated in a corner of the step-down living room.
The owner used pieces of Armstrong 12″ flooring to create the bar top.
I need to do a whole uploader just about vintage shadow boxes.
Bar #2 was in an adjacent room — a bedroom, I think, that had been converted into a bar and fun room.
Did I mention “fun”!
There was also a vintage cigarette machine in the room. I wonder what has happened to all of these. There must have been thousands across America.
Bar #3 was under the awning in the backyard patio. To the right, complete with vintage fridge and dinette…
… And to the left, whiskey barrel furniture and a vintage Pepsi machine. See! This house had it goin’ on!
New friends:
More new friends — more new-generation fans o’ the retro, hooray! If I’m remembering correctly, this is Nick and Sean. [Please correct me, fellows, if I am wrong!] Frankie’s Tiki Room (featured on Sean’s tee-shirt) is the go-to tiki bar in Vegas. Alas, I did not make it to Frankie’s, I was so whipped. What was I thinking! I can’t believe I didn’t drag my tired bones to Frankies! Argh!
Nick had brought his vintage Polaroid camera, and we took a pic. What a fun house — and great people!
Jay says
Gone to scrap heaps everywhere! That’s the answer to your question about juke boxes and cigarette machines. I was going to add old soda machines as well and what do I see in the last picture but a great vintage Pepsi machine. Often the items were not owned by the establishments that housed them so when new models came out, they were replaced by the distributer. Fun house, sure hits a high note for Retro Vegas Vibe.
Santiago says
That’s my neighbors home. Every week we get together in his bar and listen to 1950s Doo Wop vinyl 45s played on his 1964 Magnavox console furniture sound system. Thank you for passing through our proud vintage neighborhood of Paradise Palms LV.
Mary Elizabeth says
Not only does he have the console Magnavox hi-fi, but he also has a little portable record player in the bedroom. Has anyone guessed the bedroom furniture? Is it Brasilia or something else?
Courtney says
The owner of this home is a good friend of mine and up-street-street neighbor! The Armstrong tiles he used for the top of his bar, came from the extras I had from when we did our flooring! 🙂 I squealed when I saw you did this article on his house. Did you get to tour his office too? He’s put so much into that home, I’m just thrilled to see you love it as much as I and the whole community does. Yay! ????????
pam kueber says
No, I don’t think we saw the office. YES: Fabulous house, and thank him for all of us for sharing it on the home tour!
Oh, and thank you for sharing the extras!!!
Amarissa Parker says
My goodness this is fabulous! An inspiration for preserving the fun and fantastic glory that vintage homes are made of. LOVE!!!
Geronimom says
Now THAT is a fun house – fits my quirky personality to a “T”! I’ve been thinking of doing something along those colors in our kitchen – was awesome to see how awesome it can look! Now all I need to do is finagle a way to get on their party invitation list! 😉
Amy in Sacramento says
LOVE IT ALL!!! Thanks for the avocado and orange fix! 😉
Amber says
I need that round tv and that furniture set in the dining and bedroom area! I would never want to leave this house!
Uncle Atom says
I love it, a visual delight everywhere you look.
Carolyn says
Pam, you’re funny – will you be fondue-ing while watching your round tv? If you were “too whipped” to go to Frankie’s, I’m thinking “road trip!” in your future?
I’ve seen orange kitchens but because they used brown for trim, it read A&W instead of bright and cheery like this kitchen.
Steve and Edie over the bed, starbursts on the ceiling, I’d forgotten about barrel furniture!, curtains between the DR & LR, ash trays – oh, just too much to fill my eyes.
This is what I imagine when you say “swanky”.
Paul - CT says
Pam,
What countertop material was used in the kitchen and bath? It looks like a solid surface and not a laminate. I didn’t know that material would be available in retro avocado green and glitter. I also love the two tone kitchen cabinets. I did two tone in my kitchen (lighter background, darker drawers and doors) and loved the results.
What a house!
pam kueber says
The glitter laminate was original/vintage. The green countertop was laminate. There ARE sources for laminates in this color. See all our research here: https://retrorenovation.com/2011/09/19/8-places-to-find-retro-laminate-for-kitchen-or-bathroom-countertops-my-researchtips/
pam kueber says
Paul, I thought about this more and have updated the story. I am 99% sure this is the laminate they used, Wilsonart Go Wavy in Sprout: https://retrorenovation.com/2012/10/03/color-for-kitchen-counter-top-7-designs-wilsonart/
Paul - CT says
Thanks, Pam, but looking at the pictures again and making them larger, are you sure that’s laminate and not a solid Corian type of product? It looks like the 4 inch back splash with rounded top and the rounded from are all one seamless piece (especially the bathroom counter).
pam kueber says
That’s called post-formed laminate. See: https://retrorenovation.com/2013/05/28/curved-postformed-laminate-1952/
Paul - CT says
Thanks, I had absolutely no idea that could be done back then! I wonder how expensive it was and if anyone can do that with laminate today! I would have loved to do that with the Wilsonart in my kitchen!!
pam kueber says
It’s totally common today…